Abstract: A system that employs aerial drones for inventory management is disclosed. The system includes at least one aerial drone with an optical sensor, an indoor positioning system, and a controller on the aerial drone. The controller is communicatively coupled to the optical sensor and the indoor positioning system. The controller is configured to localize and navigate the aerial drone within a facility based on one or more signals from the indoor positioning system. The controller is further configured to detect identifiers attached to respective inventory items via the optical sensor and to store information associated with the detected identifiers in an onboard memory. The controller may be further configured to transmit the information associated with the detected identifiers to a warehouse management system.