Amazon Patent Reveals Warehouse Drones With Claws And Airbags

Another Amazon patent has appeared at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In the document, Amazon details a new type of drone designed specifically for its warehouses. Unlike quadcopters and similar drones consumers are familiar with, Amazon's illustrations show a unique bubble-like drone with a claw similar to the one found in crane arcade games.

Amazon owns a large number of warehouses where employees reportedly work at sometimes grueling paces to meet performance requirements and fill orders. The company has previously patented technology seemingly intended to increase their performance or make sure they're not slacking, including a wristband that reportedly snitches on employees.

This latest patent hints that the company may be turning to drones as a way to improve its warehouse performance. In the patent, which details a "Collaborative unmanned aerial vehicle for an inventory system," Amazon describes a UAV with a "buoyant airbag," "retention feature," "drive unit," and "an onboard control module."

The retention feature, which resembles a claw that drops downward, can be used to "retain one or more items for transport," with the drone itself moving the item from one location to another location. The patent describes usage scenarios that could help move items around, taking some of the burden off warehouse employees who otherwise may have to travel between warehouse levels. For example:

...a UAV can be controlled to obtain an item at one location in a warehouse such as a first floor, lift said item to a second location in the warehouse such as a second floor, and deposit the item at the second location.

The use of drones like this may enable Amazon to redesign its warehouses and the way inventory is placed. In its present form, human warehouse workers must be able to access all items, and getting to them can't take up too much time. A drone with a claw, however, can fly above an item and pluck it from a vast row that may otherwise be inaccessible to humans. Whether Amazon plans to actually deploy such drones is anyone's guess, however.

SOURCE: Gizmodo