Package delivery and reception with drones

• US 9,926,078 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2015
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maplebear Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bonazzoli, Simone, Borgianni, Marco, Falcone, Claudio, Fioravanti, Alessio, Longobardi, Giuseppe, Lutri, Silvano, Presti, Luigi, Salerno, Paolo, Tomasi, Alessandro, Ziantoni, Francesca
• Primary Examiner(s): Berona, Kimberly S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sood, Anshul
• Application Number:
  US14/931,891
• Publication Number:
  US 20170121021A1
• Time in Patent Office: 874 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 2029/147 the receptacle comprising heating or cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 2029/149 with central server link
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 29/141 comprising electronically controlled locking means
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/08 the articles being load-carrying devices
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/13 Flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/60 for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/104 using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2201/20 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping

Abstract

A method for automatically delivering a physical mail includes receiving, by an unmanned aerial vehicle from an unmanned aerial vehicle management system, a delivery information, the delivery information includes information about a first secure mailbox and information about a second secure mailbox, the first secure mailbox being related to a first target user, delivering the physical mail to the first secure mailbox, and rerouting the unmanned aerial vehicle carrying the physical mail from the first secure mailbox to the second secure mailbox in response to the physical mail being delivered to the first secure mailbox.

Claims

1. A method for automatically delivering a physical mail, the method comprising:

sending, from an unmanned aerial vehicle management system, a delivery information to a unmanned aerial vehicle carrying the physical mail, the delivery information comprises information about a first secure mailbox and information about a second secure mailbox, the first secure mailbox being related to a first target user;

delivering, by the unmanned aerial vehicle, the physical mail to the first secure mailbox;

in response to the unmanned aerial vehicle not being able to deliver the physical mail to the first secure mailbox, receiving a rerouting information associated with the second secure mailbox from the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, wherein the rerouting information to the second secure mailbox is based on a predefined rerouting rule;

sending, by the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, a message to the first target user requesting a confirmation of the rerouting information;

in response to the first target user accepting the rerouting information, rerouting the unmanned aerial vehicle carrying the physical mail from the first secure mailbox to the second secure mailbox, wherein the second secure mailbox comprises a plurality of individually lockable compartments controlled by a mailbox controller that is able to communicate with the unmanned aerial vehicle management system;

sending, from the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, to the mailbox controller in the second secure mailbox one or more security credentials associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle;

simultaneously sending, from the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, to the unmanned aerial vehicle one or more security credentials associated with the second secure mailbox;

exchanging the one or more security credentials associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle and the one or more security credentials associated with the second secure mailbox; and

in response to the one or more security credentials matching, opening at least one compartment of the plurality of individually lockable compartments to deliver the physical mail.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the unmanned aerial vehicle, global positioning system data of the first secure mailbox and the second secure mailbox, information about a content class of the physical mail to be delivered, security credentials, and a compartment identifier.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rerouting rule is based on:

a content class of the physical mail;

a compartment attribute of the first secure mailbox and a compartment attribute of the second secure mailbox, wherein each compartment attribute comprises a size, a filled status, a cooling option, a trust status, or a collection status; and

preferences and instructions provided by the first target user to the unmanned aerial vehicle management system.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of individually lockable compartments are identifiable by a compartment identifier, wherein each compartment is adapted for receiving and storing the physical mail.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending a request to the unmanned aerial vehicle for physical mail collection from the first secure mailbox.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the information about the first secure mailbox and the information about the second secure mailbox is stored by the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, the information comprises the-predefined rerouting rule, a maximum total capacity, an actual free capacity, GPS data and an address data of the first target user.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the first secure mailbox and the information about the second secure mailbox stored by the unmanned aerial vehicle management system further comprises a compartment attribute for each compartment of the first secure mailbox and the second secure mailbox.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the first target user rejecting the rerouting information, presenting a list of alternative secure mailboxes to the first target user, wherein the list of alternative secure mailboxes is in accordance with the predefined rerouting rule; and

in response to the user selecting a third secure mailbox from the list of alternative mailboxes, rerouting the unmanned aerial vehicle to the third secure mailbox.

9. A computer system for automatically delivering a physical mail, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, wherein the computer system is capable of performing a method comprising;

sending, from an unmanned aerial vehicle management system, a delivery information to a unmanned aerial vehicle carrying the physical mail, the delivery information comprises information about a first secure mailbox and information about a second secure mailbox, the first secure mailbox being related to a first target user;

delivering, by the unmanned aerial vehicle, the physical mail to the first secure mailbox;

in response to the unmanned aerial vehicle not being able to deliver the physical mail to the first secure mailbox, receiving a rerouting information associated with the second secure mailbox from the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, wherein the rerouting information to the second secure mailbox is based on a predefined rerouting rule;

sending, by the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, a message to the first target user requesting a confirmation of the rerouting information;

in response to the first target user accepting the rerouting information, rerouting the unmanned aerial vehicle carrying the physical mail from the first secure mailbox to the second secure mailbox, wherein the second secure mailbox comprises a plurality of individually lockable compartments controlled by a mailbox controller that is able to communicate with the unmanned aerial vehicle management system;

sending, from the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, to the mailbox controller in the second secure mailbox one or more security credentials associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle;

simultaneously sending, from the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, to the unmanned aerial vehicle one or more security credentials associated with the second secure mailbox;

exchanging the one or more security credentials associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle and the one or more security credentials associated with the second secure mailbox; and

in response to the one or more security credentials matching, opening at least one compartment of the plurality of individually lockable compartments to deliver the physical mail.

10. The computer system according to claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, by the unmanned aerial vehicle, global positioning system data of the first secure mailbox and the second secure mailbox, information about a content class of the physical mail to be delivered, security credentials, and a compartment identifier.

11. The computer system according to claim 9, wherein the rerouting rule is based on:

a content class of the physical mail;

a compartment attribute of the first secure mailbox and a compartment attribute of the second secure mailbox, wherein each compartment attribute comprises a size, a filled status, a cooling option, a trust status, or a collection status; and

preferences and instructions provided by the first target user to the unmanned aerial vehicle management system.

12. The computer system according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of individually lockable compartments are identifiable by a compartment identifier, wherein each compartment is adapted for receiving and storing the physical mail.

13. The computer system according to claim 9, further comprising:

sending a request to the unmanned aerial vehicle for physical mail collection from the first secure mailbox.

14. The computer system according to claim 9, wherein each of the information about the first secure mailbox and the information about the second secure mailbox is stored by the unmanned aerial vehicle management system, the information comprises the predefined rerouting rule, a maximum total capacity, an actual free capacity, GPS data and an address data of the first target user.

15. The computer system according to claim 9, wherein the information about the first secure mailbox and the information about the second secure mailbox stored by the unmanned aerial vehicle management system further comprises a compartment attribute for each compartment of the first secure mailbox and the second secure mailbox.