LANDING SITE DESIGNATION IN AN AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY NETWORK

• US 20140330456A1
• Filed: 05/28/2014
• Published: 11/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Original Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Inventors: Abhyanker, Raj V., Lopez Morales, Manuel R., Patel, Aamir
• Application Number:
  US14/288,417
• Publication Number:
  US 20140330456A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0022 characterised by the communication link data switching networks in general H04L12/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0676 specially adapted for landing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft

Abstract

A method and system of landing site designation in an autonomous delivery network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a landing server marks a geo-spatial location as an autonomous delivery location upon receiving a designation data communicated through a network by a recipient user. The designation data indicates the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location based on at least one of a current geospatial location of a mobile device of the recipient user and a map view marking created by the recipient user through a computing device. The autonomous delivery location is associated with the recipient user and a navigation data is communicated through the network to an autonomous vehicle, directing the autonomous vehicle to the autonomous delivery location of the recipient user when a payload is requested by any one of the recipient user and a sending user to be physically delivered to the autonomous delivery location.

Claims

1. A method of a landing server comprising:

marking, using a processor and a memory, a geo-spatial location in a radial vicinity encompassing the geo-spatial location as an autonomous delivery location upon receiving a designation data indicating the geo-spatial location is the autonomous delivery location,

wherein the designation data is communicated to the landing server through a network by a recipient user of an autonomous delivery network, and

wherein the recipient user indicates the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location based on at least one of a current geospatial location of a mobile device of the recipient user and a map view marking created by the recipient user through a computing device;

associating the autonomous delivery location with the recipient user of the autonomous delivery network; and

communicating, through the network, a navigation data to an autonomous vehicle to direct the autonomous vehicle to the autonomous delivery location of the recipient user when a payload associated with the autonomous vehicle is requested by any one of the recipient user and a sending user to be physically delivered to the autonomous delivery location.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining that the recipient user lives at a residence associated with a claimable residential address of the autonomous delivery network formed through a social community algorithm of a privacy server using a processor and a memory;

verifying the autonomous delivery location is encompassed by a tract boundary of the residence prior to accepting the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location;

determining that the recipient user is associated with a public address associated with a claimable public address of the autonomous delivery network formed through the social community algorithm of the privacy server using the processor and the memory; and

verifying the autonomous delivery location is encompassed by the tract boundary of the public address prior to accepting the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location,

wherein the autonomous delivery network to automatically notify the recipient user at a time when the payload is delivered to any one of a residential address and the public address, and

wherein the public address is at least one of a work address, a park address, a public forum address, and a community center address.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining the current geospatial location of the mobile device;

associating the current geospatial location of the mobile device with the autonomous delivery location in the radial vicinity encompassing the current geospatial location of the mobile device when the recipient user of the mobile device requests the current geospatial location of their mobile device as the autonomous delivery location,

wherein the autonomous delivery location is not more than five meters in radial diameter from an epicenter associated with the current geospatial location;

associating the autonomous delivery location with the recipient user of the autonomous delivery network; and

directing the autonomous vehicle to the autonomous delivery location when the sending user places the payload in the autonomous vehicle in route to the recipient user through the autonomous delivery network,

wherein the sending user is at least one of a merchant, a neighbor, and a friend user.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

permitting the recipient user to grant a friend user of the recipient user in the autonomous delivery network permission to use the autonomous delivery location of the recipient user;

notifying at least one of the recipient user and the friend user when another payload requested by the friend user from the sending user is delivered to the autonomous delivery location based on a request of the friend user to deliver the another payload to the autonomous delivery location;

automatically determining that the autonomous delivery location is at least one of currently being occupied by another autonomous vehicle and otherwise obstructed;

sending a message to the autonomous vehicle to wait until the autonomous delivery location is freed from obstruction; and

optionally notifying the recipient user when the autonomous delivery location is obstructed.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

permitting the recipient user to select when the autonomous delivery location is online;

permitting the recipient user to select when the autonomous delivery location is offline;

instructing the autonomous vehicle to deliver the payload only when the autonomous delivery location is online;

requesting that the recipient user verifies that the autonomous delivery location is on a level ground and free from any land obstructions comprising any one of a building, a tree, a blockage, a fence, and any land-based hazardous conditions; and

requesting that the recipient user verifies that an associated airspace in which the autonomous vehicle traverses above the autonomous delivery location is free from any aerial obstructions comprising a power line, a utility pole, a telephone line, a utility line, and any other aerial hazard condition.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

automatically requesting that the autonomous vehicle take a photograph to confirm a successful delivery of the payload at the autonomous delivery location; and

communicating the photograph to the recipient user when the successful delivery of the payload is made to provide proof of delivery,

wherein the mobile device is at least one of a mobile phone, a landing beacon device, and a landing pod, and

wherein the autonomous vehicle is at least one of a rover vehicle, an autonomous robot, an autonomous bicycle, a quadcopter, an octocopter, a multirotor aircraft, and a fixed wing aircraft.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one:

wherein the autonomous delivery location is a node in a chain of nodes between an origin location and a destination location,

wherein the autonomous vehicle commissioned by the sending user to utilize the autonomous delivery location as a waypoint in route to the destination location,

wherein a network of autonomous robots operate in concert to shuttle the payload from the origin location to the destination location through the chain of nodes including the node serving as the waypoint being the autonomous delivery location, and

wherein the autonomous delivery location is associated with a private neighborhood social network in which each user is verified based on an address data and in which each user is able to designate certain information as being private.

8. A method of a landing server comprising:

marking, using a processor and a memory, a geo-spatial location in a radial vicinity encompassing the geo-spatial location as an autonomous delivery location upon receiving a designation data indicating the geo-spatial location is the autonomous delivery location,

wherein the recipient user indicates the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location based on at least one of a current geospatial location of a mobile device of the recipient user and a map view marking created by the recipient user through a computing device;

associating the autonomous delivery location with the recipient user of the autonomous delivery network;

determining that the recipient user lives at a residence associated with a claimable residential address of the autonomous delivery network formed through a social community algorithm of a privacy server, using a processor and a memory; and

verifying the autonomous delivery location is encompassed by a tract boundary of the residence prior to accepting the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

communicating, through a network, a navigation data to an autonomous vehicle to direct the autonomous vehicle to the autonomous delivery location of the recipient user when a payload associated with the autonomous vehicle is requested by any one of the recipient user and a sending user to be physically delivered to the autonomous delivery location;

determining that the recipient user is associated with a public address associated with a claimable public address of the autonomous delivery network formed through the social community algorithm of the privacy server using the processor and the memory; and

verifying the autonomous delivery location is encompassed by the tract boundary of the public address prior to accepting the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location,

wherein the autonomous delivery network to automatically notify the recipient user at a time when a payload is delivered to any one of a residential address and the public address, and

wherein the public address is at least one of a work address, a park address, a public forum address, and a community center address.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining the current geospatial location of the mobile device;

associating the current geospatial location of the mobile device with the autonomous delivery location in the radial vicinity encompassing the current geospatial location of the mobile device when the recipient user of the mobile device requests the current geospatial location of their mobile device as the autonomous delivery location,

wherein the autonomous delivery location is less than five meters in radial diameter from an epicenter associated with the current geospatial location;

associating the autonomous delivery location with the recipient user of the autonomous delivery network; and

directing the autonomous vehicle to the autonomous delivery location when a sending user places a payload in the autonomous vehicle in route to the recipient user through the autonomous delivery network,

wherein the sending user is at least one of a merchant, a neighbor, and a friend user.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

permitting the recipient user to grant a friend user of the recipient user in the autonomous delivery network permission to use the autonomous delivery location of the recipient user;

notifying at least one of the recipient user and the friend user when another payload requested by the friend user from the sending user is delivered to the autonomous delivery location based on a request of the friend user to deliver the another payload to the autonomous delivery location;

automatically determining that the autonomous delivery location is at least one of currently being occupied by another autonomous vehicle and otherwise obstructed;

sending a message to the autonomous vehicle to wait until the autonomous delivery location is freed from obstruction; and

optionally notifying the recipient user when the autonomous delivery location is obstructed.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

permitting the recipient user to select when the autonomous delivery location is online;

permitting the recipient user to select when the autonomous delivery location is offline;

instructing the autonomous vehicle to deliver a payload only when the autonomous delivery location is online;

requesting that the recipient user verifies that the autonomous delivery location is on a level ground and free from any land obstructions comprising any one of a building, a tree, a blockage, a fence, and any land-based hazardous conditions; and

requesting that the recipient user verifies that an associated airspace in which the autonomous vehicle traverses above the autonomous delivery location is free from any aerial obstructions comprising a power line, a utility pole, a telephone line, a utility line, and any other aerial hazard condition.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

automatically requesting that the autonomous vehicle take a photograph to confirm a successful delivery of the payload at the autonomous delivery location; and

communicating the photograph to the recipient user when the successful delivery of the payload is made to provide proof of delivery,

wherein the mobile device is at least one of a mobile phone, a landing beacon device, and a landing pod, and

wherein the autonomous vehicle is at least one of a rover vehicle, an autonomous robot, an autonomous bicycle, a quadcopter, an octocopter, a multirotor aircraft, and a fixed wing aircraft.

14. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

wherein the autonomous delivery location is a node in a chain of nodes between an origin location and a destination location,

wherein the autonomous vehicle commissioned by the sending user to utilize the autonomous delivery location as a waypoint in route to the destination location, and

wherein a network of autonomous robots operate in concert to shuttle a payload from the origin location to the destination location through the chain of nodes including the node serving as the waypoint being the autonomous delivery location.

15. An autonomous delivery network comprising:

a network;

at least one of a mobile device and a computing device associated with a recipient user of an autonomous delivery network to communicate a designation data indicating a geo-spatial location is an autonomous delivery location,

wherein the recipient user indicates the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location based on at least one of a current geospatial location of the mobile device of the recipient user and a map view marking created by the recipient user through the computing device; and

a landing server, including a processor and a memory, communicatively coupled with the at least one of the mobile device and the computing device through the network to;

mark the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location upon receipt of the designation data,

associate the autonomous delivery location with the recipient user of the autonomous delivery network, and

communicate a navigation data to an autonomous vehicle to direct the autonomous vehicle to the autonomous delivery location of the recipient user when a payload associated with the autonomous vehicle is requested by any one of the recipient user and a sending user to be physically delivered to the autonomous delivery location.

16. The autonomous delivery network of claim 15 further comprising:

a residence algorithm to determine that the recipient user lives at a residence associated with a claimable residential address of the autonomous delivery network formed through a social community algorithm of a privacy server using a processor and a memory;

a verification algorithm to verify the autonomous delivery location is encompassed by a tract boundary of at least one of the residence and a public address prior to accepting the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location;

a public address algorithm to determine that the recipient user is associated with the public address associated with a claimable public address of the autonomous delivery network formed through the social community algorithm of the privacy server using the processor and the memory; and

a recipient notification algorithm to automatically notify the recipient user at a time when the payload is delivered to any one of a residential address and the public address,

wherein the public address is at least one of a work address, a park address, a public forum address, and a community center address, and

wherein the recipient user indicates the geo-spatial location as the autonomous delivery location based on at least one of a current geospatial location of the mobile device of the recipient user and a map view marking created by the recipient user through the computing device.

17. The autonomous delivery network of claim 16 further comprising:

a current location algorithm to determine the current geospatial location of the mobile device; and

an association algorithm to associate the current geospatial location of the mobile device with the autonomous delivery location in a radial vicinity encompassing the current geospatial location of the mobile device when the recipient user of the mobile device requests the current geospatial location of their mobile device as the autonomous delivery location,

wherein the autonomous delivery location is less than five meters in radial diameter from an epicenter associated with the current geospatial location.

18. The autonomous delivery network of claim 17 further comprising:

a location association algorithm to associate the autonomous delivery location with the recipient user of the autonomous delivery network; and

a navigation algorithm to direct the autonomous vehicle to the autonomous delivery location when a sending user places the payload in the autonomous vehicle in route to the recipient user through the autonomous delivery network,

wherein the sending user is at least one of a merchant, a neighbor, and a friend user.

19. The autonomous delivery network of claim 15 further comprising:

a share algorithm to permit the recipient user to grant a friend user of the recipient user in the autonomous delivery network permission to use the autonomous delivery location of the recipient user;

a friend notification algorithm to notify at least one of the recipient user and the friend user when another payload requested by the friend user from the sending user is delivered to the autonomous delivery location based on a request of the friend user to deliver the another payload to the autonomous delivery location;

an occupied algorithm to automatically determining that the autonomous delivery location is at least one of currently being occupied by another autonomous vehicle and otherwise obstructed;

a wait algorithm to send a message to the autonomous vehicle to wait until the autonomous delivery location is freed from obstruction;

an obstruction algorithm to optionally notify the recipient user when the autonomous delivery location is obstructed;

an online algorithm to permit the recipient user to select when the autonomous delivery location is online;

an offline algorithm to permit the recipient user to select when the autonomous delivery location is offline;

a restriction algorithm to instruct the autonomous vehicle to deliver the payload only when the autonomous delivery location is online;

a ground safety algorithm to request that the recipient user verifies that the autonomous delivery location is on a level ground and free from any land obstructions comprising any one of a building, a tree, a blockage, a fence, and any land-based hazardous conditions;

an aerial safety algorithm to request that the recipient user verifies that an associated airspace in which the autonomous vehicle traverses above the autonomous delivery location is free from any aerial obstructions comprising a power line, a utility pole, a telephone line, a utility line, and any other aerial hazard condition;

a photo algorithm to automatically request that the autonomous vehicle take a photograph to confirm a successful delivery of the payload at the autonomous delivery location; and

a confirmation algorithm to communicate the photograph to the recipient user when the successful delivery of the payload is made to provide proof of delivery,

wherein the mobile device is at least one of a mobile phone, a landing beacon device, and a landing pod, and

wherein the autonomous vehicle is at least one of a rover vehicle, an autonomous robot, an autonomous bicycle, a quadcopter, an octocopter, a multirotor aircraft, and a fixed wing aircraft.

20. The autonomous delivery network of claim 15:

wherein the autonomous delivery location is a node in a chain of nodes between an origin location and a destination location,

wherein the autonomous vehicle commissioned by the sending user to utilize the autonomous delivery location as a waypoint in route to the destination location, and

wherein a network of autonomous robots operate in concert to shuttle the payload from the origin location to the destination location through the chain of nodes including the node serving as the waypoint being the autonomous delivery location.