Airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method, comprising:
- under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions;
receiving an order for an item from a user located in a metropolitan area, wherein the item is maintained in an inventory of an aerial fulfillment center (“
AFC”
) that is airborne at an altitude;
instructing an unmanned aerial vehicle (“
UAV”
) located in the AFC to engage the item;
instructing the UAV to depart the AFC; and
instructing the UAV to navigate to a delivery location within the metropolitan area and disengage the item at the delivery location.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described is an airborne fulfillment center (“AFC”) and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAV”) to deliver items from the AFC to users. For example, the AFC may be an airship that remains at a high altitude (e.g., 45,000 feet) and UAVs with ordered items may be deployed from the AFC to deliver ordered items to user designated delivery locations. As the UAVs descend, they can navigate horizontally toward a user specified delivery location using little to no power, other than to stabilize the UAV and/or guide the direction of descent. Shuttles (smaller airships) may be used to replenish the AFC with inventory, UAVs, supplies, fuel, etc. Likewise, the shuttles may be utilized to transport workers to and from the AFC.
138 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A computer implemented method, comprising:
under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions; receiving an order for an item from a user located in a metropolitan area, wherein the item is maintained in an inventory of an aerial fulfillment center (“
AFC”
) that is airborne at an altitude;instructing an unmanned aerial vehicle (“
UAV”
) located in the AFC to engage the item;instructing the UAV to depart the AFC; and instructing the UAV to navigate to a delivery location within the metropolitan area and disengage the item at the delivery location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
6. A system for delivering an ordered item to a user, the system comprising:
-
an aerial fulfillment center (“
AFC”
) that is airborne at an altitude and configured to receive and store a plurality of inventory items;a shuttle configured to transport inbound items to the AFC while the AFC is airborne; a plurality of UAVs located at the AFC and configured to transport items from the AFC to delivery locations, while the AFC is airborne; and an inventory management system that sends an instruction directing a UAV of the plurality of UAVs to transport the ordered item from the AFC to a delivery location while the AFC is airborne. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor causing the processor to at least:
-
receive an order for an item; determine a delivery location for the item; determine an aerial fulfillment center (“
AFC”
) within a range of the delivery location, wherein the AFC is airborne at an altitude and configured to enable deliver of items using unmanned aerial vehicles (“
UAV”
) deployed from the AFC; anddesignating the AFC for delivery of the item. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification