AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY OF ITEMS

• US 20160239798A1
• Filed: 02/16/2015
• Published: 08/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DoorDash, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Borley, Andrew J., Jackson, Callum P., McMullan, Kathryn M., Norton, Philip L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,176,447 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/14 with four distinct rotor axes, e.g. quadcopters
• 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: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0185 Product, service or business identity fraud

Abstract

Proposed is an autonomous vehicle (AV) for delivering an item to a recipient at a delivery location in a trusted manner. The AV includes: a sensor system adapted to detect, while the autonomous vehicle is travelling to the delivery location, a value of a property of at least one of: the autonomous vehicle, and the item. The AV further includes a data store adapted to store authentication data for verifying the trustworthiness of the item, the authentication data being based on the value detected. The AV further includes a recipient verification unit adapted to verify the identity of the recipient and to generate a verification signal indicative of whether the identity of the recipient is verified. The AV further includes a communication unit adapted to communicate stored authentication data to an authentication system for verification.

Claims

1. An autonomous vehicle for delivering an item to a recipient at a delivery location in a trusted manner, the autonomous vehicle comprising:

a sensor system adapted to detect, while the autonomous vehicle is travelling to the delivery location, a value of a property of at least one of;

the autonomous vehicle, and the item;

a data store adapted to store authentication data for verifying the trustworthiness of the item, the authentication data being based on at least the value detected by the sensor system;

a recipient verification unit adapted to verify the identity of the recipient and to generate a verification signal indicative of whether the identity of the recipient is verified;

a communication unit adapted to communicate stored authentication data to an authentication system for verification; and

wherein the autonomous vehicle is adapted to control the communication unit to communicate stored authentication data to the authentication system based on the generated verification signal.

2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the property comprises one of:

location;

altitude;

route travelled;

weight;

size;

speed;

orientation;

G-force experienced; and

origin.

3. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the sensor system comprises:

a position tracking system adapted to track positions of the autonomous vehicle over time to determine a delivery route that the autonomous vehicle has travelled to arrive at the delivery location and to generate route data indicative of the determined delivery route; and

wherein the authentication data comprises route data generated by the position tracking system.

4. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the recipient verification unit is adapted to verify the identity of the recipient using a security key provided to the recipient via a communication channel prior to the arrival of the autonomous vehicle at the delivery location;

and

wherein the autonomous vehicle is adapted to permit release of the item to the recipient if the recipient verification unit verifies the identity of the recipient.

5. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1, wherein the data store comprises one of:

a tamper-proof, and a tamper-evident data storage unit.

6. An automated delivery system for delivering an item to a recipient at a delivery location in a trusted manner, the automated delivery system comprising:

an autonomous vehicle; and

an authentication system adapted to receive authentication data from the autonomous vehicle and to verify the trustworthiness of the item based on the received authentication data.

7. The automated delivery system of claim 6, wherein the autonomous vehicle comprises:

a sensor system adapted to detect, while the autonomous vehicle is travelling to the delivery location, a value of a property of at least one of;

the autonomous vehicle, and the item;

a data store adapted to store the authentication data for verifying the trustworthiness of the item, the authentication data being based on at least the value detected by the sensor system;

a recipient verification unit adapted to verify the identity of the recipient and to generate a verification signal indicative of whether the identity of the recipient is verified;

a communication unit adapted to communicate stored authentication data to the authentication system for verification; and

wherein the autonomous vehicle is adapted to control the communication unit to communicate stored authentication data to the authentication system based on the generated verification signal.

8. The automated delivery system of claim 6, wherein the authentication system comprises:

a portable computing device adapted to receive authentication data from the autonomous vehicle via a short-to-medium range communication link and to process the received authentication data in accordance with an authentication algorithm.

9. The automated delivery system of claim 8, wherein the authentication system further comprises:

an authentication server remotely located from the delivery location and adapted to verify the trustworthiness of the item based on received authentication information; and

wherein the portable computing device is adapted to transmit authentication information to the authentication server, the authentication information being based on authentication data received from the autonomous vehicle.

10. The automated delivery system of claim 8, wherein the portable computing device is adapted to communicate recipient identity data for verifying the identity of the recipient to the autonomous vehicle.

11-15. -15. (canceled)

16. A computer program product for controlling an autonomous vehicle for delivering an item to a recipient at a delivery location in a trusted manner, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to detect, while the autonomous vehicle is travelling to the delivery location, a value of a property of at least one of;

the autonomous vehicle, and the item;

program instructions to store, in a data store of the autonomous vehicle, authentication data for verifying the trustworthiness of the item, the authentication data being based on at least the value detected;

program instructions to verify the identity of the recipient;

program instructions to generate a verification signal indicative of whether the identity of the recipient is verified; and

based on the generated verification signal, program instructions to communicate the stored authentication data to an authentication system for verification.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the property comprises one of:

location;

altitude;

route travelled;

weight;

size;

speed;

orientation;

G-force experienced;

or origin.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the program instructions to detect comprise:

program instructions to track positions of the autonomous vehicle over time to determine a delivery route that the autonomous vehicle has travelled to arrive at the delivery location and generating route data indicative of the determined delivery route; and

wherein the authentication data includes the generated route data.