E-commerce giant Amazon has filed a patent application in India to deploy drones that can deliver packages by tracking certain markers, the Business Standard reported on Monday.
The firm has sought exclusive rights on multi-scale fiducials, which are black and white markers that are put on an object so that a self-operating aerial vehicle can track the object. The drones that Amazon has proposed would also be able to identify aircraft and other objects in the Indian sky, the patent application has said.
Fiducials are features that can be optically recognisable and are used on computer vision applications. A fiducial marker is an object placed in the field of view of an imaging system and is used as a point of reference or a measure. With the patent, Amazon will be able to use fiducials for localisation, tracking and identifying the target, the report said.
The company, in its efforts to expand drone operations in India, had earlier also filed a patent application seeking approval for a technology with respect to propeller safety. The technology would ensure a quick response from the drone’s propellers if an object such as a human or animal is detected in its field so that it does not hit the object, the firm had said.
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