Systems and methods to communicate with persons of interest

• US 10,446,149 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2017
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC (WalMart Inc.)
• Inventors: Mattingly, Todd D., Wilkinson, Bruce W., High, Donald R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Shreyans A
• Application Number:
  US15/726,134
• Publication Number:
  US 20180102128A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• 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: G05D 1/0276 using signals provided by a source external to the vehicle involving a plurality of vehicles G05D1/0287; automatically controlling vehicle speed responsive to externally generated signals B60K31/0058
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/227 of the speaker; Human-factor methodology

Abstract

In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided herein useful to communicate with a person of interest (“PoI”) via an autonomous ground vehicle (“AGV”) on a product delivery route. In some embodiments, autonomous product delivery systems are provided to enable communications with a PoI, comprises: an AGV on a product delivery route that includes one or more control circuits, one or more sensors in electrical communication with the one or more control circuits and configured to communicate sensor data to the one or more control circuits, and one or more emitters in electrical communication with the one or more control circuits. The control circuit uses sensor data to detect the presence of PoIs when they are positioned within a threshold distance relative to the AGV on the product delivery route, and in response thereof, cause the emitters to transmit a personalized message to the detected PoIs.

Claims

1. An autonomous product delivery system to communicate with a person during product delivery, comprising:

an autonomous ground vehicle (“

AGV”

) on a product delivery route, configured to transport a retail product to a delivery location to a recipient via the product delivery route, comprising;

a control circuit;

a sensor in electrical communication with the control circuit and configured to communicate sensor data to the control circuit; and

an emitter in electrical communication with the control circuit;

wherein the control circuit is configured to;

detect, based on sensor data, the presence of the person when the person is positioned within a threshold distance relative to the AGV on the product delivery route, wherein the person is not the recipient;

determine, based on occurrence of a communication from a mobile computing device, whether the person is a person of interest (PoI) or a pedestrian; and

if the communication is received from the mobile computing device,

determine that the person is a PoI, and

cause the emitter to transmit a personalized message to the PoI; and

if the communication is not received from the mobile computing device,

determine that the person is a pedestrian, and

cause the emitter to emit a non-personalized audible notification.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is configured to perform an action on objects positioned with the threshold distance, wherein the action is selected from a group consisting of capture an image, measure a distance, and measure a temperature.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the non-personalized audible notification is a greeting.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to utilize a data transmission received from the mobile computing device to identify the PoI.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein in causing the emitter to transmit the personalized message the control circuit is further configured to cause the emitter to transmit the personalized message when the control circuit receives a triggering event via a mobile application loaded on the mobile computing device associated with the PoI.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the personalized message comprises personalized information associated with the PoI, and wherein the personalized information is selected from the group consisting of a birthday, a delivery date, a spouse, a pet, and an heir.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the emitter is configured to transmit the personalized message to the mobile device associated with the PoI for conveyance thereon.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the emitter is configured to transmit the personalized message via an audible output.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the personalized message comprises at least one of a salutation and an advertisement.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein in detecting the presence of the person the control circuit is further configured to utilize geolocation data received from the mobile computing device associated with the person to confirm the person is positioned within the threshold distance relative to the AGV.

11. A method of communicating with a person via an autonomous product delivery system during product delivery, comprising:

detecting, through an autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) on a product delivery route, the presence of the person positioned within a threshold distance relative to the AGV on the product delivery route, the AGV configured to transport a retail product to a delivery location to a recipient via the product delivery route; and

determining, based on occurrence of a communication from a computing device, whether the person is a person of interest (PoI) or a pedestrian; and

if the communication is received from the mobile computing device, determining that the person is a PoI, and

causing the emitter to transmit a personalized message to the PoI; and

if the communication is not received from the mobile computing device, determining that the person is a pedestrian, and

causing the emitter to emit a non-personalized audible notification,

wherein the step of detecting the presence of the person is based on sensor data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of detecting the presence of the person comprises processing a captured image and detecting an object that has a threshold relationship to predefined parameters defining the person.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of transmitting the personalized message comprises retrieving the information from an external non-public data source.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of detecting the presence of the person comprises receiving a unique identification code from a mobile computing device associated with the person.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the personalized message includes information selected from the group consisting of a birthday, a delivery date, spousal information, pet information, and information concerning an heir.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of transmitting the personalized message comprises transmitting a wireless signal configured to only be detected by a mobile computing device associated the PoI.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of transmitting the personalized message comprises wirelessly transmitting the message to the mobile device associated with the PoI.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of transmitting the personalized message comprises generating an audible output from a speaker located on the AGV.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the personalized message comprises at least one of a salutation and an advertisement.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of detecting the presence of the person comprises determining when the person is positioned within the threshold distance using geolocation data that reflects a location of the person, wherein the geolocation data is received from the mobile computing device associated with the PoI.