The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Patent No.:

US 9494934 B1

PDF
Full Text
Expired
Date of Patent:
Nov. 15, 2016

Filed:

Jun. 06, 2014
Applicant:

Amazon Technologies, Inc., Reno, NV (US);

Inventors:

Jeremiah David Brazeau, Hudson, NH (US);

Andriy Palamarchuk, Winchester, MA (US);

Assignee:

Amazon Technologies, Inc., Reno, NV (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 7/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/02 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G05D 1/00 (2013.01); G05D 1/0234 (2013.01); G05D 1/0274 (2013.01); G05D 2201/0216 (2013.01);
Abstract

A system for managing inventory items includes a portable inventory holder and an unmanned drive unit configured to move the inventory holder between locations in an inventory facility. The inventory facility includes a plurality of light emitting elements. The drive unit captures an image of a subset of the light emitting elements. The captured image is processed to determine the location of the drive unit within the facility. A path is determined along which the drive unit moves to an inventory holder and moves the inventory holder to another location. The light emitting elements can be provided by optical fibers embedded in the floor of the inventory facility.


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