Autonomous delivery transportation network

• US 9,552,564 B1
• Filed: 03/19/2015
• Issued: 01/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Martenis, Christopher Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): BUTLER, RODNEY ALLEN
• Application Number:
  US14/663,001
• Time in Patent Office: 677 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit

Abstract

Aspects of an autonomous delivery transportation network for the delivery of items are described. The network includes a central management system that directs the operation of a network of vehicles for delivering items. In one embodiment, the system receives a request for transportation including a pickup location, a delivery location, and item attribute data. The system analyzes the existing service routes of vehicles in the network to identify a vehicle compatible with the request. The system also estimates a delay to the existing service route of the vehicle with reference to the pickup and delivery locations and, when determining that the delay is acceptable, assigns the vehicle to service the request. When determining that the delay is unacceptable, the system may dispatch a new vehicle to join the network. The system may also communicate various aspects of service, such as estimated pickup and/or drop off times, to client devices.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying at least one program executable in at least one computing device, the at least one program having instructions that direct the at least one computing device to perform a method comprising:

receiving a request to transport an item from a first client device, the request including a pickup location, a delivery location, and an item description;

based on at least one of the pickup location, the delivery location, and the item description, identifying a vehicle and an existing service route compatible with the request;

estimating a delay associated with transporting the item in the identified vehicle along at least a portion of the existing service route;

determining whether the estimated delay is acceptable based on a comparison of the estimated delay with at least one service level parameter;

in response to determining that the estimated delay is acceptable, sending the vehicle to the pickup location to receive the item;

communicating the delivery location to the vehicle and calculating an estimated delivery time until the vehicle arrives at the delivery location; and

communicating the estimated delivery time, a vehicle identifier, and a cargo compartment identifier to a second client device.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises, in response to determining that the estimated delay is unacceptable, dispatching an additional vehicle to join a transportation network and service the request.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

communicating an access code for a cargo compartment of the vehicle to the second client device;

verifying the access code near the delivery location; and

directing the cargo compartment of the vehicle to open based on the verifying.

4. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device configured to perform a method comprising;

receiving a request from a first client device to transport an item, the request comprising a pickup location and a delivery location;

identifying a vehicle in a transportation network having cargo capacity compatible with the request, the identified vehicle operating along an existing service route;

estimating a delay to the existing service route of the identified vehicle based on the pickup location and the delivery location and determining whether the estimated delay is acceptable;

in response to determining that the estimated delay is acceptable, assigning the vehicle to service the request;

communicating the pickup location and the delivery location to the identified vehicle based on the request;

calculating an estimated delivery time until the vehicle arrives at the delivery location; and

communicating the estimated delivery time to a second client device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the pickup location and the a delivery location comprise geolocation latitude and longitude location information, and the request further includes an item description.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein identifying the vehicle comprises analyzing the existing service route and cargo capacity of each of a plurality of vehicles for compatibility with the pickup location, the delivery location, and the item description.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises optimizing a plurality of existing service routes of a plurality of vehicles in the transportation network to meet at least one service level parameter of the transportation network.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein estimating the delay further comprises estimating a drop off delay to a passenger on the identified vehicle.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein determining whether the estimated delay is acceptable comprises determining whether the estimated delay is acceptable based on a comparison of the estimated delay with at least one service level parameter of the transportation network.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises, in response to determining that the estimated delay is unacceptable, dispatching an additional vehicle to join the transportation network and service the request.

11. The system of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises receiving telemetry data from the vehicle, the telemetry data including at least one of a fuel level, system diagnostic data, cargo capacity data, or video monitoring data.

12. The system of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

communicating an access code to access the item from the vehicle to the second client device;

verifying the access code near the delivery location; and

directing a cargo compartment of the vehicle to open based on the verifying.

13. A method, comprising:

analyzing, by at least one computing device, a plurality of existing service routes of a plurality of vehicles in a transportation network for an existing service route and capacity of a vehicle compatible with a request for service received from a client device;

estimating, by the at least one computing device, a delay to the existing service route of the vehicle to service the request and determining whether the estimated delay is acceptable;

in response to determining that the estimated delay is acceptable, communicating, by the at least one computing device, a delivery location to the vehicle based on the request;

calculating, by the at least one computing device, an estimated delivery time until the vehicle arrives at the delivery location; and

communicating, by the at least one computing device, the delivery time to the client device.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein:

the request comprises a pickup location and the delivery location;

estimating the delay comprises estimating, by the at least one computing device, the delay to the existing service route of the vehicle with reference to the pickup location and the delivery location of the request; and

determining whether the delay is acceptable comprises determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the delay is acceptable based on a comparison of the delay with at least one service level parameter.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising processing, by the at least one computing device, a payment transaction associated with the request.

16. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

communicating, by the at least one computing device, an access code for a cargo compartment of the vehicle to a second client device;

verifying, by the at least one computing device, the access code near the delivery location; and

directing, by the at least one computing device, the cargo compartment of the vehicle to open based on the verifying.

17. The method according to claim 13, further comprising optimizing, by the at least one computing device, the plurality of existing service routes in the transportation network to meet at least one service level parameter of the transportation network.

18. The method according to claim 13, further comprising receiving, by the at least one computing device, telemetry data from the vehicle, the telemetry data including at least one of fuel level, system diagnostic, cargo capacity, or video monitoring data.

19. The method according to claim 13, further comprising establishing, by the at least one computing device, at least one user interface element representative of at least one of the plurality of existing service routes of the plurality of vehicles in the transportation network.

20. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, a maintenance request from the vehicle, the maintenance request including at least one request for maintenance of the vehicle; and

directing, by the at least one computing device, the vehicle to a location for maintenance based on the maintenance request.