Systems and methods for delivering products to a customer via another customer and an autonomous transport vehicle
First Claim
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1. A system for delivering of products purchased by consumers over the internet from a retailer, the system comprising:
- a retailer computing device including a processor-based control circuit, the retailer computing device configured to;
receive a first electronic notification indicating availability of a first customer of the retailer for product pick up at a sales facility of the retailer;
transmit a second electronic notification to a computing device of the at least one other customer of the retailer, the second electronic notification permitting the at least one other customer of the retailer to place at least one order for at least one product to be picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer;
receive a third electronic notification from the customer device of the at least one other customer of the retailer, the third electronic notification indicating the at least one order, placed by the at least one other customer of the retailer for the at least one product to be picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer; and
receive an indication that the first customer of the retailer picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, at least one package containing the at least one order placed by the at least one other customer of the retailer; and
a plurality of autonomous transport vehicles each including an interior and configured to receive, at a home location of the first customer, in the interior, the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer for the at least one other customer of the retailer;
wherein the retailer computing device is configured to;
analyze at least a physical location, a maximum cargo capacity, and a delivery route of each of the autonomous transport vehicles to determine an availability ranking of the autonomous transport vehicles for delivering the at least one order to the at least one customer of the retailer;
select the autonomous transport vehicle determined by the retailer computing device to have a highest availability ranking for delivering the at least one order to the at least one customer of the retailer, andtransmit delivery route instructions to the selected autonomous transport vehicle; and
wherein the selected autonomous transport vehicle is configured, in response to receipt of the delivery route instructions from the retailer computing device, to;
detect, via at least one sensor of the selected autonomous transport vehicle, a product hand-off area at the home location of the first customer where the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up by the first customer of the retailer at the sales facility of the retailer is dropped off by the first customer of the retailer;
identify, via the at least one sensor of the selected autonomous transport vehicle, the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up by the first customer of the retailer for the at least one other customer of the retailer;
load the at least one package identified in the product hand-off area into the interior of the selected autonomous transport vehicle at the product hand-off area; and
deliver, based on the delivery instructions received from the retailer computing device, the at least one package loaded into the interior of the selected autonomous transport vehicle at the product hand-off area to the geographic location of the at least one other customer of the retailer.
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Abstract
In some embodiments, methods and systems are provided that provided for delivering products ordered by a customer of a retailer to a delivery destination designated by the ordering customer by way of having another customer pick up the ordered products at the store location of the retailer and then hand off the picked up products to an autonomous transport vehicle that delivers the handed off products to a delivery destination designated by the ordering customer.
103 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for delivering of products purchased by consumers over the internet from a retailer, the system comprising:
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a retailer computing device including a processor-based control circuit, the retailer computing device configured to; receive a first electronic notification indicating availability of a first customer of the retailer for product pick up at a sales facility of the retailer; transmit a second electronic notification to a computing device of the at least one other customer of the retailer, the second electronic notification permitting the at least one other customer of the retailer to place at least one order for at least one product to be picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer; receive a third electronic notification from the customer device of the at least one other customer of the retailer, the third electronic notification indicating the at least one order, placed by the at least one other customer of the retailer for the at least one product to be picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer; and receive an indication that the first customer of the retailer picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, at least one package containing the at least one order placed by the at least one other customer of the retailer; and a plurality of autonomous transport vehicles each including an interior and configured to receive, at a home location of the first customer, in the interior, the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer for the at least one other customer of the retailer; wherein the retailer computing device is configured to; analyze at least a physical location, a maximum cargo capacity, and a delivery route of each of the autonomous transport vehicles to determine an availability ranking of the autonomous transport vehicles for delivering the at least one order to the at least one customer of the retailer; select the autonomous transport vehicle determined by the retailer computing device to have a highest availability ranking for delivering the at least one order to the at least one customer of the retailer, and transmit delivery route instructions to the selected autonomous transport vehicle; and wherein the selected autonomous transport vehicle is configured, in response to receipt of the delivery route instructions from the retailer computing device, to; detect, via at least one sensor of the selected autonomous transport vehicle, a product hand-off area at the home location of the first customer where the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up by the first customer of the retailer at the sales facility of the retailer is dropped off by the first customer of the retailer; identify, via the at least one sensor of the selected autonomous transport vehicle, the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up by the first customer of the retailer for the at least one other customer of the retailer; load the at least one package identified in the product hand-off area into the interior of the selected autonomous transport vehicle at the product hand-off area; and deliver, based on the delivery instructions received from the retailer computing device, the at least one package loaded into the interior of the selected autonomous transport vehicle at the product hand-off area to the geographic location of the at least one other customer of the retailer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of delivering products purchased by consumers over the internet from a retailer, the method comprising:
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receiving, at a retailer computing device including a processor-based control circuit, a first electronic notification indicating availability of a first customer of the retailer for product pick up at a sales facility of the retailer; transmitting, via the retailer computing device, a second electronic notification to a computing device of the at least one other customer of the retailer, the second electronic notification permitting the at least one other customer of the retailer to place at least one order for at least one product to be picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer; receiving, via the retailer computing device, a third electronic notification from the computing device of the at least one other customer of the retailer, the third electronic notification indicating the at least one order, placed by the at least one other customer of the retailer for the at least one product to be picked up, at the sales facility of the retailer, by the first customer of the retailer; permitting the first customer of the retailer to pick up, at the sales facility of the retailer, at least one package containing the at least one order placed by the at least one other customer of the retailer; analyzing, via the retailer computing device, at least a physical location, a maximum cargo capacity, and a delivery route of a plurality of autonomous transport vehicles to determine an availability ranking of the autonomous transport vehicles for delivering the at least one package to the at least one customer of the retailer; selecting, via the retailer computing device, an autonomous transport vehicle determined by the retailer computing device to have a highest availability ranking for delivering the at least one package to the at least one other customer of the retailer; transmitting, via the retailer computing device, delivery route instructions to the selected autonomous transport vehicle; providing the selected autonomous transport vehicle at a home location of the first customer; in response to receipt by the selected autonomous transport vehicle of the delivery route instructions from the retailer computing device; detecting, via at least one sensor of the selected autonomous transport vehicle, a product hand-off area at the home location of the first customer where the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up by the first customer of the retailer at the sales facility of the retailer is dropped off by the first customer of the retailer; identifying, via the at least one sensor of the selected autonomous transport vehicle, the at least one package containing the at least one order picked up by the first customer of the retailer for the at least one other customer of the retailer; loading, via the selected autonomous transport vehicle, the at least one package identified in the product hand-off area into the interior of the selected autonomous transport vehicle at the product hand-off area; and delivering, via the selected autonomous transport vehicle and based on the delivery instructions received from the retailer computing device, the at least one package loaded into the interior of the selected autonomous transport vehicle at the product hand-off area to the geographic location of the at least one other customer of the retailer who placed the at least one order. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification