Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Sachin Rajendra Kothari

Samuel Gardner Garrett

Timothy Alan Talda

Unnikrishnan Vadakkanmaruveedu

Seshachalamgupta Motamarri

Emilia Sorana Buneci

Josephine Ammer Bolotski

Roland J Menassa

Jungtao Liu

Sean C Murphy

Steven Eric Nuetzman

Christopher Mario Gil

Durgaprasad Kashinath Shamain

Nathan P O'neill

Celalettin Umit Bas

Ajay Kumar Ponnuswamy

Pyotr Belov

Wenbo Cui

Edwin Thorne, Iii

Adriana Reus

This disclosure describes, in part, systems for enabling a return of an item from an item-identification apparatus without requiring associate intervention. The systems and techniques herein provide for determining, based on first sensor data, that an item was placed in a receptacle and updating a virtual cart associated with a user operating the receptacle to indicate addition of the item. The system may then include a put back bin equipped with sensors to detect when an item is placed within a put back bin and thereby cause the system to update the virtual cart to indicate removal of the item before instructing to charge a payment instrument associated with the virtual cart.

Item return for customized retail environments

Described herein are systems and techniques for concurrently transmitting ultra-high-definition video data from multiple ultra-high-definition cameras to a single computing device without exceeding the bandwidth of the communication protocols on board the device. The systems use a serializer and deserializer configuration to serialize the multiple ultra-high-definition video streams and concurrently stream them to a deserializer located at the computing device, where a dual or quad deserializer is used to return the video data to a parallel format, the video data useful for making one or more determinations about an environment around the system.

Ultra-high resolution concurrent camera stream systems

A robot system includes a track that extends along an axis between a first location and a second location. The track includes a pair of rails and a power transmitter and a radiating cable each extending along the track. A carriage is configured to convey a robot arm along the track. The carriage includes a plurality of wheels configured to roll along the pair of rails, a motor configured to drive at least one of the wheels along one of the rails, a power collector configured to translate along the power transmitter while maintaining contact with the power transmitter so as to conduct electrical power from the power transmitter to the motor, and a transceiver configured to receive and send electronic information from and to the radiating cable.

Mobile robot-on-rail, and related systems and methods

Embodiments herein describe a system that includes a first Faraday cage defining a first aperture through which a first conveyor extends, a first wirelessly controlled machine disposed in the first Faraday cage, where the first wirelessly controlled machine is configured to transmit control signals using a first frequency range, a second Faraday cage defining a second aperture through which a second conveyor extends, and a second wirelessly controlled machine disposed in the second Faraday cage where the first wirelessly controlled machine is configured to transmit control signals using the first frequency range. Further, a portion of at least one of the first Faraday cage and the second Faraday cage is disposed between the first and second apertures.

Mitigating interference between wirelessly controlled machines using RF shielding

Embodiments herein describe a controller for a machine that wirelessly transmits a destination address to a robot which is tasked with transporting an item to the destination corresponding to the received address. Using the address, the robot can select a predefined path stored in its memory for that address. Because multiple robots can move items in the machine at the same time, the robots may collide if their predefined paths intersect. The machine can use a variety of different techniques to prevent collisions between the robots as the robots deliver items to different locations along their predefined paths.

Wireless communication with robots tasked with sorting items

Embodiments herein describe a scanning station for identifying an air gap between one or more items stored in a container (e.g., a cardboard box) and a surface of the container (e.g., a top lid of the cardboard box). After identifying the air gap, in one embodiment, the scanning station provides instructions to a downstream cutting station where the container is cut opened. In one embodiment, the scanning station includes one or more articulating arms that each includes a scanner (e.g., a radar sensor) attached on an end of the articulating arm facing the container. Moving the articulating arms along the boundaries of the container provides a 3D image of the inside of the container. By processing this image, the scanning station can identify an air gap along a desired cut line as well as a thickness of the sides of the container.

Radar based guidance system perceiving contents of a container

RF shielding techniques are employed to prevent wireless signals transmitted from one machine from reaching another machine using the same frequency range. If the machines are spaced closely together, the wireless signals emitted by one machine may be received by the other, thereby causing interference. In one embodiment, one of the machines is placed in a Faraday cage which prevents it from transmitting wireless signals to, and receiving signals from, the other machine. In another embodiment, machines that use different channels are grouped into a first Faraday cage while machines that use the same channels as the machines in the first Faraday cage are placed in a second Faraday cage. In this manner, the machines in the two cages can reuse the same communication channels while being disposed proximate to each other in the shared space.

Embodiments herein describe wireless transmission techniques for mitigating interference between wirelessly controlled machines in a shared space. To mitigate interference, the machines may be assigned different channels within the same frequency band. However, if machines using the same channel in a frequency band receive each other's wireless signals, the wireless signals can interfere. To free up additional bandwidth, in one embodiment, the command signals are transmitted using a different frequency band than a heartbeat signal used to stop the machines in case of emergencies. In another embodiment, time multiplexing or directional antennas can be used to mitigate interference. In another example, antenna diversity and multiple-input-multiple output (MIMO) can be used to further focus the radiation pattern onto the desired machine while avoiding transmitting wireless signals to neighboring machines. In one embodiment, the machines may use dual-channels to transmit and receive duplicate data.

Growing community of inventors

Issaquah, WA, United States of America

Sachin Rajendra Kothari