Autonomous drone and tool selection and delivery

• US 10,126,746 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2017
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: O'Brien, John J., Winkle, David C., Atchley, Michael D., Antel, Nicholas Ray, High, Donald R., McHale, Brian G., Mattingly, Todd D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Khatib, Rami
• Application Number:
  US15/829,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20180157258A1
• Time in Patent Office: 347 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0027 involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products

Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to selecting tools and drones for completing a task. In some embodiments, the system comprises an autonomous vehicle configured to transport the tools and the drones including a plurality of sensors configured to detect properties of the tools and the drones, the drones, the tools, and a control circuit configured to receive, from the sensors, indications of the properties of the tools and the drones, select, based on the service requests and the indications of the properties of the tools and the drones, at least one of the tools and at least one of the drones to perform at least one of the service requests, cause the at least one of the drones to be equipped with the at least one of the tools, and transmit instructions that are based on the at least one of the service requests.

Claims

1. A system for selecting tools and drones for completing a task, the system comprising:

an autonomous vehicle, wherein the autonomous vehicle is configured to transport the tools and the drones to a location, and wherein the autonomous vehicle includes a plurality of sensors configured to detect properties of the tools and the drones;

the drones;

the tools; and

a control circuit, the control circuit configured to;

receive service requests;

receive, from the sensors, indications of the properties of the tools and the drones;

select, based on the service requests and the indications of the properties of the tools and the drones, at least one of the tools and at least one of the drones to perform at least one of the service requests;

cause the at least one of the drones to be equipped with the at least one of the tools; and

transmit instructions to the at least one of the drones, wherein the instructions are based on the at least one of the service requests.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

monitor, as the at least one drone performs the at least one of the service requests, the properties of the tools and the drones.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine that a change has occurred with respect to one or more of the properties of the tools and the drones; and

select, based on the change, at least one of a new drone and a new tool.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the properties of the tools include one or more of availability of the tools, condition of the tools, type of the tools, compatibility of the tools with one or more of the drones, compatibility of the tools with customer instructions, and compatibility of the tools with external conditions.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the properties of the drones include one or more of availability of the drones, condition of the drones, type of the drones, compatibility of the drones with one or more of the tools, compatibility of the drones with customer instructions, compatibility of the drones with external conditions, and power level of the drones.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the selection of the at least one of the tools and at least one of the drones is further based on external conditions.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the external conditions are one or more of weather, time of day, environmental conditions, proximity of objects, and customer instructions.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors include one or more of optical sensors, auditory sensors, motion sensors, haptic sensors, weight sensors, and temperature sensors.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

receive, from a customer, feedback, and wherein the selection of the at least one of the tools and at least one of the drones is further based on the customer feedback.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

receive, from a customer, customer feedback; and

modify, based on the customer feedback, the instructions.

11. A method for selecting tools and drones for completing a task, the method comprising:

receiving service requests;

transporting, via an autonomous vehicle, the tools and the drones to a location associated with at least one of the service requests;

receiving, from a plurality of sensors associated with the autonomous vehicle, indications of properties of the tools and the drones;

selecting, based on the at least one of the service requests and the indications of the properties of the tools and the drones, at least one of the tools and one of the drones to perform the at least one of the service requests;

causing the at least one of the drones to be equipped with the at least one of the tools; and

transmitting instructions to the at least one of the drones, wherein the instructions are based on the at least one of the service requests.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

monitoring, as the least one drone performs the at least one of the service requests, the properties of the tools and the drones.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining that a change has occurred with respect to one or more of the properties of the tools and the drones; and

selecting, based on the change, at least one of a new drone and a new tool.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the properties of the tools include one or more of availability of the tools, conditions of the tools, type of the tools, compatibility of the tools with the one or more of the drones, compatibility of the tools with the customer instructions, and compatibility of the tools with external conditions.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the properties of the drones include one or more of availability of the drones, conditions of the drones, type of the drones, compatibility of the drones with one or more of the tools, compatibility of the drones with customer instructions, compatibility of the drones with external conditions, and power level of the drones.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the selecting the at least one of the tools and at least one of the drones is further based on external conditions.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the external conditions are one or more of weather, time of day, environmental conditions, proximity of objects, and customer instructions.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of sensors include one or more of optical sensors, auditory sensors, motion sensors, haptic sensors, and temperature sensors.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from a customer, customer feedback, wherein the selection of the at least one of the tools and at least one of the drones is further based on the customer feedback.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from a customer, customer feedback; and

modifying, based on the customer feedback, the instructions.