A landing zone designation system is provided that includes a master and a slave landing strobes. A detector on an aircraft can detect master and slave optical signals, and a processor can be coupled to the detector to compute placement of the aircraft relative to the master and slave landing strobes. A method is provided for designating a landing zone for an aircraft. The method includes emitting first and second optical signals, where a determination is made whether the aircraft is to land at a first landing zone or a second landing zone depending on a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal. A distance to landing within the determined first landing zone or the second landing zone can also be determined.

A method for energy management robotic device includes providing a base station for mating with the robotic device, determining a quantity of energy stored in an energy storage unit of the robotic device, and performing a predetermined task based at least in part on the quantity of energy stored. Also disclosed are systems for emitting avoidance signals to prevent inadvertent contact between the robot and the base station, and systems for emitting homing signals to allow the robotic device to accurately dock with the base station.

A landing zone designation system is provided that includes a master and a slave landing strobes. A detector on an aircraft can detect master and slave optical signals, and a processor can be coupled to the detector to compute placement of the aircraft relative to the master and slave landing strobes. A method is provided for designating a landing zone for an aircraft. The method includes emitting first and second optical signals, where a determination is made whether the aircraft is to land at a first landing zone or a second landing zone depending on a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal. A distance to landing within the determined first landing zone or the second landing zone can also be determined.

A system (100) for informing a device (120) whether it is located in a sensing volume (112) of a sensor (104) is disclosed. The system (100) comprises the sensor (104) covering the sensing volume (112), the sensing volume (112) having a particular shape. The system further comprises one or more light sources (106) for emitting light having a light distribution (114) resembling the shape of the sensing volume (112), the one or more light sources (106) being arranged with respect to the sensor (104) such that the sensing volume (112) substantially overlaps the light distribution (114), and a driver (108) for driving the one or more light sources (106) to embed a code (116) in the light.

A delivery device includes an image capture device for generating delivery image data of a delivery at a service address. A processor executes a delivery application to bidirectionally communicate delivery data with the delivery data server via the network interface, wherein the delivery data includes a delivery tracking number and the delivery image data. The delivery data server processes the delivery data to provide a delivery confirmation to a customer at the service address, wherein the delivery confirmation includes the delivery tracking number and the delivery image data.

Disclosed is a positioning system and a node network. A terminal included in the present invention is characterized by an invisible light sensing unit that detects invisible light signals, that were emitted from one or more signaling nodes with the same intensity, carrying the location data of each signaling node; and a controller that calculates the user's position based on the location data included in one or more invisible light signals and their received signal strength.

Aspects of present disclosure relates to a mobile geotagging device, a mobile geotagging system, and methods of mobile geotagging system. In certain embodiments, mobile geotagging device includes: a display screen, a processor, and a non-volatile storage device storing a mobile geotagging application. When executed by processor, mobile geotagging application causes the processor to: generate a time-coded image containing an initial starting point of time, track timing and geolocation information of mobile geotagging device while a digital camera is in use, and store tracked timing and geolocation data, receive a set of images and videos from digital camera, append timing and geolocation information in EXIF into corresponding image files and video files based on a timing difference between digital camera and mobile geotagging device and tracked timing and geolocation information data stored in geolocation/timing tracking storage, and store the images and videos having updated timing and geolocation information in image/video storage.

A method for energy management robotic device includes providing a base station for mating with the robotic device, determining a quantity of energy stored in an energy storage unit of the robotic device, and performing a predetermined task based at least in part on the quantity of energy stored. Also disclosed are systems for emitting avoidance signals to prevent inadvertent contact between the robot and the base station, and systems for emitting homing signals to allow the robotic device to accurately dock with the base station.

Systems and methods are provided to address incorrectly placed items. Some systems comprise: a plurality of motorized transport units that are each configured to perform multiple different tasks at a retail shopping facility; and a central computer system configured to instruct various ones of the plurality of motorized transport units to implement at least one of the multiple different tasks relative to the retail shopping facility, receive and analyze input data detected and provided by the motorized transport units while the motorized transport units perform the at least one of the tasks, and detect and categorize each item of multiple items that are incorrectly placed within the retail shopping facility according to one of multiple different predefined categories.

Aspects of present disclosure relates to a mobile geotagging device, a mobile geotagging system, and methods of mobile geotagging system. In certain embodiments, mobile geotagging device includes: a display screen, a processor, and a non-volatile storage device storing a mobile geotagging application. When executed by processor, mobile geotagging application causes the processor to: generate a time-coded image containing an initial starting point of time, track timing and geolocation information of mobile geotagging device while a digital camera is in use, and store tracked timing and geolocation data, receive a set of images and videos from digital camera, append timing and geolocation information in EXIF into corresponding image files and video files based on a timing difference between digital camera and mobile geotagging device and tracked timing and geolocation information data stored in geolocation/timing tracking storage, and store the images and videos having updated timing and geolocation information in image/video storage.