Unmanned aerial vehicle data collection for routing

• US 10,553,122 B1
• Filed: 03/22/2016
• Issued: 02/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gilboa-Amir, Asaf, Hanlon, Jon T., Woodward, III, Neil Whitney
• Primary Examiner(s): Goldman, Richard A
• Application Number:
  US15/077,637
• Time in Patent Office: 1,414 Days
• Field of Search: 701 2, 701 3, 701 23, 701 28, 701 15, 701 25, 701 26, 701300, 701408, 701410, 701423, 701426
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/16 with five or more distinct rotor axes, e.g. octocopters
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/25 Fixed-wing aircraft VTOL aircraft B64U10/20
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 20/60 UAVs characterised by the material
• 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: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/30 Supply or distribution of electrical power
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/37 Charging when not in flight
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0008 with other aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/003 Flight plan management
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0052 for cruising combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value G01C23/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0056 in an emergency situation, e.g. hijacking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/006 in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0078 for monitoring traffic from the aircraft radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 : for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0091 : for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 : Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

An automated system is provided that receives and utilizes travel related data from unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs”) and other sources (e.g., data aggregators, weather services, obstacle databases, etc.) for optimizing the scheduling and routing of deliveries by UAVs. The travel related data that is received from the sensors of UAVs and other sources may indicate the locations and characteristics of obstacles, weather, crowds of people, magnetic interference, etc., which may be evaluated and utilized for determining and updating flight plans for UAVs. In various implementations, the travel related data received from the sensors of a UAV may be combined with other travel related data and stored (e.g., at a central management system, in UAVs, etc.) for further analysis and use in determining UAV delivery schedules and related operations of materials handling facilities.

Claims

1. A system to deliver an item to a delivery location, the system comprising:

a first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV);

a second UAV, comprising;

a propulsion system; and

a sensor; and

a computing system, including;

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least;

receive first travel related data from a data aggregator that collects and provides data;

schedule a delivery of an item to a delivery location, wherein the scheduling of the delivery includes selecting a first materials handling facility from a plurality of materials handling facilities to fulfill the item based at least in part on the first travel related data;

receive second travel related data that indicates a condition in an area that is beneath a first travel route and that the first UAV would fly over as part of a first flight plan to deliver the item from the first materials handling facility to the delivery location; and

based on an analysis of the second travel related data, select a second materials handling facility from the plurality of materials handling facilities to fulfill the item, wherein the second UAV will fly along a second travel route that is indicated by a second flight plan for the second UAV to deliver the item from the second materials handling facility to the delivery location.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first travel related data that is received from the data aggregator indicates at least one of an obstacle, a weather condition, a local GPS signal strength, a magnetic interference, a construction activity, or a crowd of people, and the second travel related data is received from a UAV.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to send a notification to a user, the notification including an updated estimated delivery time based at least in part on the second flight plan.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the condition in the area is that there are people present in the area.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to:

determine a first estimated travel time for the first UAV to deliver the item to the delivery location based at least in part on the first flight plan for the first UAV; and

determine a second estimated travel time for the second UAV to deliver the item to the delivery location based at least in part on the second flight plan.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to send a notification to a user including an updated estimated delivery time based at least in part on the second estimated travel time.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the program instructions when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to send a notification to a user including an original estimated delivery time.

8. A computer implemented method for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver an item to a delivery location, the computer implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions, receiving first travel related data from a first source;

scheduling a delivery of an item to a delivery location, wherein the scheduling of the delivery includes selecting a first materials handling facility from a plurality of materials handling facilities to fulfill the item based at least in part on the first travel related data;

receiving second travel related data, wherein the second travel related data includes information that is not included in the first travel related data and indicates a condition in an area that is beneath a first travel route and that a first UAV would fly over as part of a first flight plan to deliver the item from the first materials handling facility to the delivery location;

based on an analysis of the second travel related data, selecting a second materials handling facility from the plurality of materials handling facilities to fulfill the item and for which a second UAV will fly along a second travel route that is indicated by a second flight plan for the second UAV to deliver the item from the second materials handling facility to the delivery location; and

controlling the second UAV to travel along the second travel route to deliver the item from the second materials handling facility to the delivery location.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8, wherein the first source comprises at least one of a data aggregator, a local data collection station, or a vehicle that is not a UAV, and the second travel related data is received from a UAV.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 8, wherein the condition in the area is that there are people present in the area.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining a first estimated travel time for the first UAV to deliver the item to the delivery location based at least in part on the first flight plan for the first UAV; and

determining a second estimated travel time for the second UAV to deliver the item to the delivery location based at least in part on the second flight plan.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 11, further comprising sending a notification to a user including an updated estimated delivery time based at least in part on the second estimated travel time.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 12, further comprising sending a notification to the user including an original estimated delivery time.

14. A computer implemented method for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver an item to a delivery location, the computer implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions,

scheduling a delivery of an item to a delivery location, wherein the scheduling of the delivery includes selecting a first materials handling facility from a plurality of materials handling facilities to fulfill the item;

receiving travel related data that indicates a condition in an area that is beneath a first travel route and that a first UAV would fly over as part of a first flight plan to deliver the item from the first materials handling facility to the delivery location;

based at least in part on the travel related data, selecting a second materials handling facility from the plurality of materials handling facilities to fulfill the item and for which a second UAV will fly along a second travel route that is indicated by a second flight plan for the second UAV to deliver the item from the second materials handling facility to the delivery location; and

flying the second UAV according to the second flight plan to deliver the item from the second materials handling facility to the delivery location.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein the condition in the area is that there are people present in the area.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15, wherein the people present in the area comprise a crowd of people, and the second travel related data includes at least one of:

a characteristic regarding the size of the crowd;

or

a characteristic regarding the area covered by the crowd.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 15, wherein the people present in the area comprise a crowd of people, and the second travel related data includes at least one of:

an indication that the crowd is increasing;

an indication that the crowd is decreasing;

or

an indication of a direction of movement of the crowd.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a first estimated travel time for the first UAV to deliver the item to the delivery location based at least in part on the first flight plan for the first UAV; and

determining a second estimated travel time for the second UAV to deliver the item to the delivery location based at least in part on the second flight plan.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 18, further comprising sending a notification to a user including an updated estimated delivery time based at least in part on the second estimated travel time.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 19, further comprising sending a notification to the user including an original estimated delivery time.

21. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein the travel related data is received from a UAV.