Managing package deliveries by robotic vehicles

• US 10,315,763 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2017
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Anand, Shankar, Gupta, Ashutosh, Banaudha, Ankit, Bedi, Amandeep Singh, Taveira, Michael Franco
• Primary Examiner(s): Kan, Yuri
• Application Number:
  US15/685,168
• Publication Number:
  US 20190061939A1
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/64 for parcel delivery or retrieval
• 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 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0835 Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication

Abstract

Various methods for performing package deliveries by a robotic vehicle may include determining whether an individual at a package delivery location is a requester or an authorized recipient of a package to be delivered by the robotic vehicle at the package delivery location, sending a notification to the requester of the package in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is not the requester or an authorized recipient, and delivering the package to the individual at the package delivery location in response to receiving authorization from the requester to deliver the package to the individual.

Claims

1. A method of performing a package delivery by a robotic vehicle, comprising:

capturing, by a camera of the robotic vehicle, an image of an individual at a package delivery location;

determining whether the individual at the package delivery location is a requester or a predetermined authorized recipient of a package to be delivered by the robotic vehicle at the package delivery location;

sending a notification from the robotic vehicle to the requester of the package in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is not the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient, the notification including the image captured at the package delivery location;

receiving an authorization at the robotic vehicle from the requester authorizing the individual at the package delivery location;

saving to a memory at the robotic vehicle, in response to receiving the authorization, the image captured at the package delivery location to indicate that the individual at the package delivery location is a predetermined authorized recipient for subsequent package deliveries; and

delivering the package to the individual at the package delivery location in response to receiving authorization from the requester to deliver the package to the individual.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining whether the individual at the package delivery location is the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient of the package comprises;

determining whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient comprises performing facial recognition processing of the image captured at the package delivery location.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient comprises:

sending the image captured at the package delivery location to a server; and

receiving, by the robotic vehicle and from the server, results of image processing performed by the server on the image captured at the package delivery location.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient comprises:

performing facial recognition processing on the image captured at the package delivery location to obtain facial features of the individual at the package delivery location; and

determining whether the obtained facial features match facial features obtained from the previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient within a threshold value of similarity.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient comprises performing, by a processor of the robotic vehicle, facial recognition processing on the image captured at the package delivery location by the robotic vehicle.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient was provided by the requester before the package delivery.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising delivering the package to the individual in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is either the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein delivering the package to the individual in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is either the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient further comprises:

determining that a validity duration for the previously provided image has not expired; and

determining that a location associated with the previously provided image matches the package delivery location.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient was previously captured by the robotic vehicle while performing a previous package delivery.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the robotic vehicle from the requester, an alternate package delivery location in response to the notification; and

proceeding to the alternate package delivery location to attempt the package delivery.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

proceeding to a determined location in response to receiving, by the robotic vehicle and from the requester, an indication that the package should not be delivered to the individual.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

proceeding to a determined location in response to not receiving a response from the requester to the notification within a predetermined amount of time.

14. A robotic vehicle, comprising:

a camera;

a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to;

capture, by the camera, an image at a package delivery location for a package delivery including an individual at the package delivery location;

determine whether the individual at the package delivery location is a requester or a predetermined authorized recipient of a package to be delivered by the robotic vehicle at the package delivery location;

send a notification from the robotic vehicle to the requester of the package in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is not the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient, the notification including the image captured at the package delivery location;

receiving an authorization at the robotic vehicle from the requester authorizing the individual at the package delivery location;

saving to a memory at the robotic vehicle, in response to receiving the authorization, the image captured at the package delivery location to indicate that the individual at the package delivery location is a predetermined authorized recipient for subsequent package deliveries; and

deliver the package to the individual at the package delivery location in response to receiving authorization from the requester to deliver the package to the individual.

15. The robotic vehicle of claim 14, wherein:

the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to determine whether the individual at the package delivery location is the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient of a package by;

determining whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient.

16. The robotic vehicle of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to determine whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient by performing facial recognition processing of the image captured at the package delivery location.

17. The robotic vehicle of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to determine whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient by:

sending the image captured at the package delivery location to a server; and

receiving, from the server, results of image processing performed by the server on the image captured at the package delivery location.

18. The robotic vehicle of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to determine whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient by:

performing facial recognition processing on the image captured at the package delivery location to obtain facial features of an individual; and

determining whether the obtained facial features match facial features obtained from the previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient within a threshold value of similarity.

19. The robotic vehicle of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to determine whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient by performing facial recognition processing on the image captured at the package delivery location.

20. The robotic vehicle of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to deliver the package to the individual in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is either the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient.

21. The robotic vehicle of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to:

receive, from the requester, an alternate package delivery location in response to the notification; and

proceed to the alternate package delivery location to attempt the delivery of the package.

22. The robotic vehicle of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to:

proceed to a determined location in response to receiving, from the requester, an indication that the package should not be delivered to the individual.

23. The robotic vehicle of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured with processor-executable instructions to:

proceed to a determined location in response to not receiving a response from the requester to the notification within a pre-determined amount of time.

24. A robotic vehicle, comprising:

means for capturing, by a camera of the robotic vehicle, an image at a package delivery location for a package delivery including an individual at the package delivery location;

means for determining whether the individual at the package delivery location is a requester or a predetermined authorized recipient of a package to be delivered by the robotic vehicle at the package delivery location;

means for sending a notification from the robotic vehicle to the requester of the package in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is not the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient, the notification including the image captured at the package delivery location;

means for receiving an authorization at the robotic vehicle from the requester authorizing the individual at the package delivery location;

means for saving to a memory at the robotic vehicle, in response to receiving the authorization, the image captured at the package delivery location to indicate that the individual at the package delivery location is a predetermined authorized recipient for subsequent package deliveries; and

means for delivering the package to the individual at the package delivery location in response to receiving authorization from the requester to deliver the package to the individual.

25. A processing device configured to:

capture, by a camera of a robotic vehicle, an image at a package delivery location for a package delivery including an individual at the package delivery location;

determine whether the individual at the package delivery location is a requester or a predetermined authorized recipient of a package to be delivered by the robotic vehicle at the package delivery location;

send a notification to the requester of the package in response to determining that the individual at the package delivery location is not the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient, the notification including the image captured at the package delivery location;

receive an authorization from the requester authorizing the individual at the package delivery location;

save to memory, in response to receiving the authorization, the image captured at the package delivery location to indicate that the individual at the package delivery location is a predetermined authorized recipient for subsequent package deliveries; and

deliver the package to the individual at the package delivery location in response to receiving authorization from the requester to deliver the package to the individual.

26. The processing device of claim 25, further configured to:

determine whether the individual at the package delivery location is the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient of a package by;

determine whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient.

27. The processing device of claim 26, further configured to determine whether any individual in the image captured at the package delivery location matches a previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient by performing facial recognition processing of the image captured at the package delivery location.

28. The processing device of claim 27, wherein the previously provided image of the requester or the predetermined authorized recipient was provided by the requester before the package delivery, and wherein the processing device is further configured to deliver the package to the individual in response to:

determining that the individual at the package delivery location is either the requester or an authorized recipient; and

determining that a validity duration for the previously provided image has not expired.

29. The processing device of claim 27, wherein the previously provided image of the requester or an authorized recipient was previously captured by the robotic vehicle, and wherein the processing device is further configured to deliver the package to the individual in response to:

determining that the individual at the package delivery location is either the requester or an authorized recipient; and

determining that a location associated with the previously provided image matches the package delivery location.

30. The processing device of claim 26, wherein the processing device is further configured to:

receive, by the robotic vehicle from the requester, an alternate package delivery location in response to the notification; and

proceed to the alternate package delivery location to attempt the package delivery.