Modular drone and methods for use

摘要

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a drone. The drone may include: a navigation unit configured to determine the location of the drone and navigate the drone to designated locations; a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to read RFID tag information from RFID tags; and a wireless network transceiver configured to periodically transmit the location of the drone and RFID tag information to an inventory management system. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a drone. The method may include: receiving navigation path information; navigating the drone along the navigation path based on satellite location signals; determining current position information based on the satellite location signals; reading RFID tag information from a first RFID tag; and transmitting the RFID tag information and the current position information via a wireless client to a central computing system.

主权项

1. A drone comprising:
a navigation unit configured to determine the location of the drone and navigate the drone to designated locations within a warehouse, wherein the designated locations form a first flight path that traverses the warehouse to pass within range of a plurality of inventory objects located inside the warehouse; a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to read RFID tag information from RFID tags associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse, wherein the RFID tag information comprises identifiers associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse; and a wireless network transceiver configured to:
periodically transmit the location of the drone and RFID tag information including the identifiers associated with the inventory objects located inside the warehouse to an inventory management system, andreceive a second flight path comprising a set of search locations indicating one or more locations to where a missing inventory object might have been moved, wherein the navigation unit is further configured to, after the wireless network transceiver receives the second flight path, navigate through the set of search locations to locate the missing inventory object using the RFID reader.