Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Severan Sylvain Jean-Michel Rault

Gur Kimchi

Brian C Beckman

Daniel Buchmueller

Amir Navot

Fabian Hensel

Scott A Green

Brandon William Porter

Scott M Isaacs

Avi Bar-Zeev

Avi Bar-zeev

This disclosure describes an unmanned aerial vehicle ('UAV') configured to autonomously deliver items of inventory to various destinations. The UAV may receive inventory information and a destination location and autonomously retrieve the inventory from a location within a materials handling facility, compute a route from the materials handling facility to a destination and travel to the destination to deliver the inventory.

Aerial vehicle delivery location

A system and method for operating an automated aerial vehicle are provided wherein influences of ground effects (e.g., which may increase the effective thrusts of propellers by interfering with the respective airflows) are utilized for sensing the ground or other surfaces. In various implementations, operating parameters of the automated aerial vehicle are monitored to determine when ground effects are influencing the parameters associated with the propellers, which correspondingly indicate proximities to a surface (e.g., the ground). Such ground effect sensing techniques may be utilized as a backup to other sensors (e.g., which may be determined to not be functioning properly and/or may be otherwise inhibited due factors such as to rain, snow, fog, reflections, bright sunlight, etc.).

Ground effect based surface sensing utilized with other sensing technologies in automated aerial vehicles

A system and method for operating an automated aerial vehicle are provided wherein influences of ground effects (e.g., which may increase the effective thrusts of propellers by interfering with the respective airflows) are utilized for sensing the ground or other surfaces. In various implementations, operating parameters of the automated aerial vehicle are monitored to determine when ground effects are influencing the parameters associated with each of the propellers, which correspondingly indicate proximities to a surface (e.g., the ground). Utilizing such techniques, proximities of different portions of an automated aerial vehicle to the ground or other surfaces may be determined (e.g., for detecting issues with an uneven landing area, a sloped ground, etc.).

Ground effect based surface sensing using propellers in automated aerial vehicles

Aerial vehicle delivery of items available through an E-commerce shopping site

This disclosure describes a system and method for operating an automated aerial vehicle wherein the battery life may be extended by performing one or more electricity generation procedures on the way to a destination (e.g., a delivery location for an item). In various implementations, the electricity generation procedure may include utilizing an airflow to rotate one or more of the propellers of the automated aerial vehicle so that the associated propeller motors will generate electricity (e.g., which can be utilized to recharge the battery, power one or more sensors of the automated aerial vehicle, etc.). In various implementations, the airflow may consist of a wind, or may be created by the kinetic energy of the automated aerial vehicle as it moves through the air (e.g., as part of a normal flight path and/or as part of an aerial maneuver).

Electricity generation in automated aerial vehicles

A system and method for operating an automated aerial vehicle are provided wherein influences of ground effects (e.g., which may increase the effective thrusts of propellers by interfering with the respective airflows) are utilized for sensing the ground or other surfaces. In various implementations, operating parameters of the automated aerial vehicle are monitored to determine when ground effects are influencing the parameters associated with each of the propellers, which correspondingly indicate proximities to a surface (e.g., the ground). Utilizing such techniques, different propellers of an automated aerial vehicle may provide different sensing data (e.g., for detecting issues with an uneven landing area, a sloped ground, determining an automated aerial vehicle's location based on a unique ground surface profile, etc.)

Ground effect based surface sensing using multiple propellers in automated aerial vehicles

This disclosure describes a system and method for operating an automated aerial vehicle wherein influences of a ground effect may be utilized for sensing the ground or other surfaces. In various implementations, an operating parameter of the automated aerial vehicle may be monitored to determine when a ground effect is influencing the parameter, which correspondingly indicates a proximity to a surface (e.g., the ground). In various implementations, the ground effect based sensing techniques may be utilized for determining a proximity to the ground, as a backup for a primary sensor system, for determining if a landing location is uneven, etc.

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Severan Sylvain Jean-Michel Rault