Location marker with retroreflectors

• US 10,482,775 B1
• Filed: 06/20/2018
• Issued: 11/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Boyd, Scott Patrick, Cui, Chengwu, Graber, Sarah, O'Brien, Barry James, Watson, Joshua John, Wilcox, Scott Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hung T
• Application Number:
  US16/013,639
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• Field of Search: 34053913, 3408154, 340948, 340953, 244114 R, 362183, 362237, 701 2
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/15 Aircraft landing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

A location marker that may be used to provide information to a vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The location marker may include a plurality of retroreflectors that may form a pattern readable by a vehicle or other device. The pattern may be read to extract an identifier of a location, such as an address or an identifier of a person. A global positioning system (GPS) device may transmit a general location of the location marker to the vehicle, while the location marker may provide a unique visual location identifier to a device within visual range of the location marker. In some embodiments, the location marker may also include lights that may be individually sequenced on and off at different times to create a time domain signal sequence that is readable by the vehicle.

Claims

1. A portable location marker, comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to determine a first location associated with the portable location marker;

a housing including a base and a surface opposite the base;

one or more visual indicators arranged about the surface, the one or more visual indicators readable by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and the one or more visual indicators to communicate first data indicating a second location that is different from the first location, the one or more visual indicators comprising at least one of;

one or more retroreflectors;

or

one or more lights; and

a wireless radio transceiver configured to;

receive instructions to rearrange the one or more visual indicators to generate rearranged one or more visual indicators, the rearranged one or more visual indicators to communicate second data indicating a third location that is different from the first location and the second location; and

transmit third data indicating the first location of the portable location marker to at least one other device.

2. The portable location marker as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

memory to store computer executable instructions executable by one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the portable location marker to;

receive, via the wireless radio transceiver, commands to disable the portable location marker preventing further transmission of fourth data from the portable location marker.

3. The portable location marker as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

one or more sensors, coupled to the housing, to detect a presence of objects, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a motion detector, a camera, or a microphone.

4. The portable location marker as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

memory to store computer executable instructions executable by one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the portable location marker to;

store, in a data store, at least one of customer data, location data, or obstacle data.

5. A location marker apparatus, comprising:

a receiver to determine a first location associated with the location marker apparatus;

a housing including a base and a surface opposite the base;

one or more visual indicators arranged about the surface, the one or more visual indicators readable by a vehicle, and the one or more visual indicators configured to communicate first data indicating a second location that is different from the first location, the one or more visual indicators comprising at least one of;

one or more retroreflectors;

or

one or more lights; and

a wireless radio transceiver, coupled to the housing, configured to;

receive instructions to rearrange the one or more visual indicators to generate rearranged one or more visual indicators, the rearranged one or more visual indicators to communicate second data to the vehicle; and

transmit third data indicating the first location of the location marker apparatus to at least one other device.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the wireless radio transceiver is further configured to receive one or more commands to disable the apparatus preventing further transmission of fourth data from the apparatus.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, further comprising:

one or more sensors, coupled to the housing, to detect a presence of objects, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a motion detector, a camera, or a microphone.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein the vehicle is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and the one or more sensors are configured detect at least another presence of the UAV.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the second location is a delivery location.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein the delivery location is based at least in part on a first size of the vehicle, a second size of a package, or an obstruction associated with the delivery location.

11. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the one or more visual indicators is further configured to communicate a customer identifier.

12. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the one other device is associated with a recipient of a package.

13. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the wireless radio transceiver is further configured to receive an initiation signal from the vehicle.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the vehicle is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

15. A location marker, comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to determine a first location of the location marker;

one or more visual indicators readable by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the one or more visual indicators to communicate first data indicating a second location that is different from the first location, the one or more visual indicators comprising at least one of;

one or more retroreflectors;

or

one or more lights; and

a wireless radio transceiver configured to;

receive instructions to rearrange the one or more visual indicators to generate rearranged one or more visual indicators, the rearranged one or more visual indicators to communicate second data; and

transmit third data indicating the first location of the location marker to at least one other device.

16. The location marker as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

memory to store computer executable instructions executable by one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the location marker to;

receive, via the wireless radio transceiver, commands to disable the location marker preventing further transmission of fourth data from the location marker.

17. The location marker as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

one or more sensors to detect a presence of at least the UAV, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a motion detector, a camera, or a microphone.

18. The location marker, as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

memory to store computer executable instructions executable by one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the location marker to;

store, in a data store, at least one of customer data, location data, or obstacle data.

19. The location marker as recited in claim 15, wherein the one other device is associated with a recipient of a package.

20. The location marker as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

memory to store computer executable instructions executable by one or more processors, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the location marker to;

receive, via the wireless radio transceiver, an initiation signal from the UAV.