Identification and position sensor for payload bay
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsRamsey Gill, Walker Chamberlain Robb
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system including a payload bay having at least one sensor configured to determine the identity of an object being transported in the payload bay and verify that the object is properly seated within the payload bay. As an object is inserted into the payload bay of the vehicle, the sensor(s) detects a pattern located on the side of the object. As the sensor(s) detects the pattern, it transmits information that enables the system to determine both the identity of the object and position of the object within the payload bay. In this way, the sensor(s) enables the system to identify when a wrong object is loaded into the payload bay, and/or when the object is improperly seated within the payload bay.
Claims20
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising:
- a payload bay;
- a payload image sensor;
- one or more processors;
- and
- memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, performs acts comprising:
- detecting, by the sensor, that an object has been inserted into the payload bay;
- receiving, from the sensor and by the one or more processors, pattern data corresponding to a first portion of a pattern located on a side of the object;
- identifying the object based on the pattern data;
- and
- determining, based at least in part on a second portion of the pattern sensed by the sensor, a position and orientation of the object in the payload bay.
A method comprising:
- detecting, by a sensor, that an object has been inserted into a payload bay;
- detecting, by the sensor, a pattern located on a side of the object;
- identifying the object based on the pattern;
- and
- determining, based on at least one of a location of the pattern relative to the payload bay or an amount of the pattern sensed by the sensor, that the object is properly seated in the payload bay.
A vehicle comprising:
- a payload bay;
- a sensor;
- one or more processors;
- and
- memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, performs acts comprising:
- detecting that an object has been inserted into the payload bay;
- transmitting, by the sensor and to the one or more processors, pattern data corresponding to a pattern located on a side of the object;
- identifying the object based on the pattern data;
- and
- determining, based on the pattern data, that the object is properly seated in the payload bay.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.