A payload coupling apparatus having a housing comprising an outer surface extending around a perimeter of the housing, an upper portion above the outer surface and including a tether attachment point, and a lower portion below the outer surface; a first slot extending into the outer surface of the housing thereby forming a first lower lip on the housing beneath the first slot; wherein the first slot is adapted to receive a handle of a payload; and a second slot extending into the outer surface of the housing thereby forming a second lower lip on the housing beneath the second slot; wherein the second slot is adapted to receive the handle of the payload.

Many different types of systems are utilized or tasks are performed in a marine environment. The present invention provides various configurations of unmanned vehicles, or drones, that can be operated and/or controlled for such systems or tasks. One or more unmanned vehicles can be integrated with a dedicated marine electronic device of a marine vessel for autonomous control and operation. Additionally or alternatively, the unmanned vehicle can be manually remote operated during use in the marine environment. Such unmanned vehicles can be utilized in many different marine environment systems or tasks, including, for example, navigation, sonar, radar, search and rescue, video streaming, alert functionality, among many others. However, as contemplated by the present invention, the marine environment provides many unique challenges that may be accounted for with operation and control of an unmanned vehicle.

An automated warehousing system for use in a warehouse having a storage racks includes drawers partitioned into multiple compartments to contain different parcels, the drawers being at designated locations of individual cells in the storage racks and adapted to be opened and closed. The system also has a plurality of drones configured to identify a designated one of the drawers at a designated location and a designated one compartment of the designated one drawer. The drones have gripper heads translatable relative to opened drawers to retrieve parcels therefrom. The system further has a communication subsystem communicating with the drones to control their flying and also to control their gripper heads relative to opened drawers and communicating with individual cells for opening and closing drawers as drones approach and depart the selected individual cells.

An overhead warehousing system for use in a warehouse having a ceiling and storage racks supported by the floor of a warehouse includes drawers configured to contain parcels at designated locations of individual cells in the storage racks and adapted to be opened and closed, flight corridors defined along the storage racks adjacent to the individual cells, drones having gripper heads translatable relative to opened drawers to retrieve parcels therefrom, and a communication subsystem communicating with the drones to control their flying on the flight trajectories along the flight corridors and between a designated docking station, selected ones of designated parcel retrieval locations and selected ones of designated parcel drop locations and also communicating with the drones to control their gripper heads relative to opened drawers and communicating with individual cells for opening and closing drawers as drones approach and depart the selected individual cells.

In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided to enable package delivery and interaction with customers. Some embodiments comprise unmanned aircraft system (UAS), comprising: a crane system comprising a first spool system and a crane motor, the first spool system comprises a first cord that is extended and retracted; a retractable interface system cooperated with the first cord; a package holder configured to hold a first package to be delivered by the UAS at a delivery location; a control circuit coupled with the crane motor to control the crane motor, and to activate the crane motor to extend the first cord and lower the retractable interface system while the UAS is maintained in flight at least at a threshold height; wherein the retractable interface system comprises an input interface to receive input from a customer at the delivery location.

In a delivery system S including an UAV 1 and a management server 2, the UAV 1 controls at least a position and/or an orientation of the UAV 1 so that a package placed in a release location and a peripheral region of the package fall within an angle of view of a camera. And then, the UAV 1 saves, as an image that proves delivery completion of the package, an image of the peripheral region including the package captured by the camera in a storage unit 15 of the UAV 1 or a storage unit 22 of the management server 2.

An overhead warehousing system for use in a warehouse having a ceiling and storage racks supported by the floor of a warehouse includes drawers configured to contain parcels at designated locations of individual cells in the storage racks and adapted to be opened and closed, flight corridors defined along the storage racks adjacent to the individual cells, drones having gripper heads translatable relative to opened drawers to retrieve parcels therefrom, and a communication subsystem communicating with the drones to control their flying on the flight trajectories along the flight corridors and between a designated docking station, selected ones of designated parcel retrieval locations and selected ones of designated parcel drop locations and also communicating with the drones to control their gripper heads relative to opened drawers and communicating with individual cells for opening and closing drawers as drones approach and depart the selected individual cells.

An automated system of airborne drones may be equipped with components for navigating within a warehouse environment, locating specific bins of product as assigned, retrieving a single item from the bin, and delivering the retrieved item to a central shipping area or disposing in a designated location including conveyor belts or mobile robotic platforms.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein for providing package release for an unmanned aerial system. An apparatus for releasing packages for retrieval by an unmanned aerial system comprises a plurality of arms configured to surround a plurality of packages stacked vertically in an extended position, a plurality of powered hinges at a base of each of the plurality of arms, and a control circuit coupled to the plurality of powered hinges. The control circuit being configured to: determine a height for a first lowered position for the plurality of arms at which the plurality arms do not obstruct an unmanned aerial vehicle from coupling with a coupling structure on a first package of the plurality of packages positioned at a top of the plurality of packages, and cause the plurality of powered hinges to pivot the plurality of arms from the extended position to the first lowered position.

An unmanned aerial vehicle includes: a mooring member capable of mooring an article; a linear member connected to the mooring member; a reel around which the linear member is wound. The unmanned aerial vehicle acquires information relating to wind strength around the article when the article is to be lowered from the unmanned aerial vehicle by controlling the reel; and controls the reel so as to provide a feeding amount of the linear member in dependence on the wind strength, on the basis of the acquired information.