Autonomous inventory management using battery swapping drones

An inventory aerial robot, comprising:

• one or more image sensors configured to capture images of a storage site;
• one or more processors;
• and
• memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
• receive a command for performing inventory management of the storage site based on inventory management data associated with the storage site;
• perform an inventory management trip based on the command, wherein the inventory management trip comprises:
• receiving an input that includes coordinates of a plurality of target locations in the storage site,
• departing from a base station,
• navigating through the storage site to the plurality of target locations,
• capturing, at one of the target locations, an image associated with an inventory item location at the one of the target locations, and
• returning to the base station, wherein upon returning to the base station, the inventory aerial robot transmits the image captured and receives a swap of a battery pack at the base station to prepare the inventory aerial robot for another inventory management trip.

A system for managing a storage site, the system comprising:

• a computing device configured to generate a command for performing inventory management of a storage site based on inventory management data associated with the storage site;
• an inventory aerial robot in communication with the computing device, the inventory aerial robot configured to perform an inventory management trip based on the command, wherein the inventory management trip comprises:
• receiving an input that includes coordinates of a plurality of target locations in the storage site,
• departing from a base station,
• navigating through the storage site to the plurality of target locations,
• capturing, at one of the target locations, an image associated with an inventory item location at the one of the target locations,
• returning to the base station, and
• transmitting the image to the computing device for performing an analysis of the image;
• and
• the base station, wherein the base station is configured to perform a swap of a battery pack of the inventory aerial robot at the base station to prepare the inventory aerial robot for another inventory management trip.