DRONE-BASED PERSONAL DELIVERY SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method for operating a drone management engine, the method comprising:
- receiving, at the drone management engine, a delivery request to deliver a package to a user or to a destination,wherein the delivery request includes package pick-up and drop-off information;
identifying, upon receipt of the delivery request, a delivery drone from a fleet of multiple delivery drones to which to assign the delivery request,wherein at least two of the delivery drones have different capabilities; and
wherein identifying the delivery drone from the fleet of multiple delivery drones is based at least in part on the different capabilities;
transmitting, via a cellular telecommunications network, instructions to the delivery drone assigned the delivery request; and
monitoring the delivery drone during execution of the delivery request.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Drone-based package delivery infrastructure includes, e.g. a registration system, a mobile application for requesting the delivery drones, multi-factor authentication subsystems (e.g., biometric readers and cameras on the drones), a scheduling coordinator, and a management portal. For example, a delivery drone can be requested via a mobile application. The scheduling coordinator can identify a drone and route it to the pick-up location. Upon nearing the pick-up destination, the drone can turn on a camera and stream the data to a monitoring platform to help identify the person submitting the cargo or anyone who might damage the drone. In addition, once the drone lands, additional authentications may be required to aid in identifying the user. The package may be analyzed for harmful/illegal content. The management portal allows for remote requests for the drones to land for inspection (e.g., by the police or border agents).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for operating a drone management engine, the method comprising:
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receiving, at the drone management engine, a delivery request to deliver a package to a user or to a destination, wherein the delivery request includes package pick-up and drop-off information; identifying, upon receipt of the delivery request, a delivery drone from a fleet of multiple delivery drones to which to assign the delivery request, wherein at least two of the delivery drones have different capabilities; and wherein identifying the delivery drone from the fleet of multiple delivery drones is based at least in part on the different capabilities; transmitting, via a cellular telecommunications network, instructions to the delivery drone assigned the delivery request; and monitoring the delivery drone during execution of the delivery request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A delivery drone comprising:
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a processor; a wireless transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein instructions for the delivery drone can be received from a drone management engine via the wireless transceiver; and wherein the instructions include a delivery request with at least a pick-up location and identifying information about a subscriber that will be loading an item for transport; a memory, coupled to the processor, to store the delivery request upon receipt from the drone management engine; a validation module, under the control of the processor, to validate the identity of the subscriber; and a cargo compartment to accept the item from the subscriber upon successful validation by the validation module. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer-readable medium, excluding transitory signals, storing instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause a machine to:
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receive multiple delivery requests to delivery items from one location to another using delivery drones, wherein each of the delivery requests include package pick-up and drop-off information; assign delivery drones from a fleet of multiple delivery drones to each of the delivery requests, wherein each delivery drone is assigned based at least in part on locations and availability of the multiple delivery drones; and transmit instructions to each of the delivery drones assigned delivery requests. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification