Systems and methods of storing and retrieving retail store product inventory

A method of storing and retrieving products at a retail store, comprising:

• receiving, at a retail store inventory central control circuit, a request for a first product of hundreds of thousands of products stored and available for sale at a retail store;
• accessing an inventory tracking system of the retail store and obtaining a storage cell identifier from the inventory tracking system for a first storage cell within a rack system of the retail store positioned above a dropdown ceiling of the retail store and extending over at least a majority of a sales floor comprising product support devices supporting the products offered for sale and separated by aisles along which customers move in order to locate and select desired products for purchase from the retail store, wherein the rack system comprises:
• a plurality of racks, a rail system and a plurality of access passages;
• wherein the plurality of racks are organized in a plurality of rows with each row having a plurality of aligned racks, wherein each rack comprises a plurality of storage cells, including the first storage cell, with each of the plurality of storage cells being configured to receive a reusable storage tote that is configured to receive and maintain at least one product of the hundreds of thousands of products offered for sale by the retail store;
• and wherein the rail system comprises a grid of a plurality of pairs of rails that are cooperated and extending at least vertically and horizontally between rows of racks of the plurality of racks and the storage cells of racks;
• identifying an available first unmanned vehicle of a plurality of unmanned vehicles;
• directing the first unmanned vehicle to the first storage cell, wherein each of the unmanned vehicles comprises a vehicle control circuit, at least one motor controlled by the vehicle control circuit, a propulsion system operatively coupled with the at least one motor and configured to induce movement of the unmanned vehicle in response to being driven by the motor, and a tote retrieval system;
• receiving a confirmation that the first unmanned vehicle retrieved the first tote;
• identifying and directing the first unmanned vehicle to a first access station of a plurality of access stations to which the first product is to be routed, wherein each of the access stations is positioned at one of various different locations throughout the sales floor and an exterior of the retail store, wherein each of the access stations is physically cooperated with one of the plurality of access passages of the rack system, and causing the first unmanned vehicle to transport the first tote to a first access passage of the plurality of access passages that physically corresponds to the first access station, wherein each of the access passages cooperates the plurality of racks with at least one of the plurality of access stations and comprises some of the rail system enabling the unmanned vehicles to transport the totes between the racks and the corresponding access stations;
• receiving sensor data from one or more sensor systems of a plurality of sensor systems communicatively coupled with at least the central control circuit and configured to detect at least totes as they are moved through the rack system, and confirm a retrieval and transport of the first tote;
• and
• directing the first unmanned vehicle to utilize the first access passage and transport the first tote to the first access station.