Automated inventory management system

• US 9,216,857 B1
• Filed: 12/04/2014
• Issued: 12/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kalyan, Atishkumar, Dunn, Steven Gregory
• Primary Examiner(s): CUMBESS, YOLANDA RENEE
• Application Number:
  US14/561,034
• Time in Patent Office: 383 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1371 with data records
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

Some examples include an inventory system having both mobile drive units remotely controllable to transport inventory items and holders within a warehouse and automated aerial vehicles remotely controllable to identify and remove amnesty items from the storage region. In some implementations, the automated aerial vehicles are equipped with imaging components to monitor the floor of the warehouse to identify and engagement mechanisms to secure and remove the amnesty items that may otherwise impede the movement of the mobile drive units.

Claims

1. An inventory system comprising:

a plurality of mobile drive units (MDU) remotely controllable to transport inventory holders within a storage region;

a search automated aerial vehicle (AAV) and a retrieval AAV to identify and remove amnesty items from the storage region;

at least one management module in wireless communication with the plurality of MDUs, the search AAV, and the retrieval AAV, the at least one management module configured to;

receive image data from the search AAV;

process the image data to identify a location and type of an amnesty item within the storage region; and

provide instructions to the retrieval AAV to remove the amnesty item from the storage region.

2. The inventory system as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one management module is configured to provide instructions to at least one of the plurality of MDUs to cause the at least one of the plurality of MDUs to maintain a predefined distance from the location.

3. The inventory system as recited in claim 1, wherein the search AAV is configured to track a position of at least one inventory item within the inventory system.

4. The inventory system as recited in claim 1, wherein the retrieval AAV is the search AAV.

5. The inventory system as recited in claim 4, wherein the at least one management module is configured to provide instructions to at least one of the plurality of MDUs to assign a new task for the at least one of the plurality of MDUs based at least in part on the location.

6. An automated aerial vehicle (AAV) comprising:

an image component to collect image data of a physical environment;

a communication interface to communicate with a remote management module;

one or more processors; and

a computer-readable media maintaining instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the AAV to perform operations comprising;

traversing a predefined flight path above the physical environment;

processing the image data captured by the image component as the image data pertains to at least a portion of a warehouse floor; and

identifying, based at least in part on the image data, an amnesty item at a location of the warehouse floor.

7. The AAV as recited in claim 6, wherein the computer-readable media maintains instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the AAV to perform operations comprising providing data related to the amnesty item to the management module via the communication interface.

8. The AAV as recited in claim 7, wherein the data related to the amnesty item comprises the image data.

9. The AAV as recited in claim 7, wherein the data related to the amnesty item comprises the location of the amnesty item on the warehouse floor.

10. The AAV as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

an engagement mechanism for securing the amnesty item to the AAV; and

wherein the computer-readable media maintains instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the AAV to perform operations comprising aligning the AAV with the amnesty item and securing the amnesty item to the AAV with the engagement mechanism.

11. The AAV as recited in claim 6, wherein the computer-readable media maintains instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the AAV to perform operations comprising delivering the amnesty item to an amnesty drop station.

12. The AAV as recited in claim 6, wherein the computer-readable media maintains instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the AAV to perform operations comprising altering one or more MDUs of the location of the amnesty item.

13. The AAV as recited in claim 6, wherein the computer-readable media maintains instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the AAV to perform operations comprising deviating from the predefined flight path to monitor the amnesty item.

14. The AAV as recited in claim 6, wherein the predefined flight path is assigned by the management module.

15. A method comprising:

receiving image data, at a management module, from a search automated aerial vehicle (AAV), the image data related to a state of a storage region of an inventory system;

processing the image data to identify an amnesty item within the storage region;

selecting a retrieval AAV

instructing the retrieval AAV to remove the amnesty item from the storage region; and

receiving an indication from the retrieval AAV that the amnesty item has been removed.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the retrieval AAV is selected based at least in part on a type associated with the amnesty item.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the retrieval AAV is the search AAV.

18. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the search AAV is associated with a class of AAVs designed for the collection of image data and the retrieval AAV is associated with a class of AAVs equipped with one or more engagement mechanisms.

19. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising alerting one or more mobile drive units (MDUs) of the location of the amnesty item within the inventory system.

20. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising assigning flight paths to the search AAV.