Delivery of packages by unmanned aerial vehicles
First Claim
1. A method to deliver a product using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the method comprising:
- receiving, from a personal electronic device of a customer, a request to deliver the product;
receiving location information indicating a delivery destination for the product;
calculating a drop height above the delivery destination from which the product is to be dropped, the drop height being based at least in part upon a nature of the product, a nature of the package, and a nature of the delivery destination;
determining, based at least in part on the calculated drop height, a package to provide protection for the product;
inserting the product and an expanding foam into a mold form;
forming the package around the product using the expanding foam and the mold form;
attaching the package to a package holding device of the UAV; and
dispatching the UAV to the calculated drop height above the delivery destination.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A package delivery apparatus uses an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver a package containing a product to a delivery destination area. The UAV uses GPS signals to guide it to the delivery destination area and an altimeter to determine its height above the delivery destination area. The UAV then adjusts its height to a preferred drop or release height for that package and product and releases the package. An optional camera allows a human operator to view the delivery destination area. An expandable foam package surrounds the product to protect the product from impact and moisture. The package may be streamlined to reduce air resistance and increase the range of the UAV. The package characteristics, such as its thickness, are determined based one or more of the weight and fragile nature of the product, and the drop height.
154 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method to deliver a product using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the method comprising:
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receiving, from a personal electronic device of a customer, a request to deliver the product; receiving location information indicating a delivery destination for the product; calculating a drop height above the delivery destination from which the product is to be dropped, the drop height being based at least in part upon a nature of the product, a nature of the package, and a nature of the delivery destination; determining, based at least in part on the calculated drop height, a package to provide protection for the product; inserting the product and an expanding foam into a mold form; forming the package around the product using the expanding foam and the mold form; attaching the package to a package holding device of the UAV; and dispatching the UAV to the calculated drop height above the delivery destination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 14, 15, 16)
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5. A system to package a product to be delivered by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the system comprising:
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one or more servers to; receive, from a customer'"'"'s personal electronics device, an electronic request to deliver the product, receive location information from the personal electronic device indicating a delivery destination for the product, calculate a drop height above the delivery destination at which the product is to be dropped, the drop height being based at least in part upon attributes of the product, the package, and the delivery destination, determine, based at least in part on the calculated drop height, a construction for a package to protect the product, and dispatch the UAV carrying the package to the calculated drop height at the delivery destination; and mold forms, to receive expanding foam to enclose the product and create the package, the mold forms not being part of the package. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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17. A method comprising:
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receiving, from a customer'"'"'s personal electronics device, a request to deliver a product via an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); determining location information indicating a delivery destination for the product; calculating a drop height above the delivery destination from which the product is to be dropped, the drop height being based at least in part upon at least one of a nature of the product, a nature of the package, or a nature of the delivery destination; determining, based at least in part on the calculated drop height, a package to provide protection for the product; determining a preferred orientation for the product, and positioning the product in the package so that a center of gravity of the package with the product orients the product in the preferred orientation; generating the package around the product using expanding foam and mold forms; dispatching the UAV carrying the package to the calculated drop height above the delivery destination; receiving a signal from the UAV indicating the UAV is at the delivery destination and at the drop height; and sending a signal to the UAV, the signal causing the UAV to release the package at the delivery destination from the calculated drop height. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification