US retail giant Walmart has been granted a patent to use drone inside its store to help customers get products they want in their basket. It is yet to be decided when the company will actually implement this as companies often file for patents to protect ideas they’ve never used.
The patent entitled ‘Method to carry an item within a retail shopping facility’ states, “In a typical application setting the flight path of the airborne drone will not include any traversals of open space.” Digging into the details reveals how the drones will avoid flying over customers’ heads.
“Since the airborne drone is moving higher than many of the obstacles in the retail shopping facility (such as people, shelves, and various product displays), to some extent a flight path can at least approximate a straight line.” Basically, the plan is for the drones to travel over the display shelving and avoid the aisles between product displays to “provide an increased feeling of security for those below”.
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According to media report, hooks or nets may be attached to drones for transportation of the items depending on the product’s shape and weight. If needed, employees would attach items to drones after getting specific instructions through text messages or through an app.