Autonomously delivering items to corresponding delivery locations proximate a delivery route

• US 10,775,792 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2017
• Issued: 09/15/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Cooper, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Bonnette, Rodney A
• Application Number:
  US15/621,140
• Publication Number:
  US 20180356823A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,190 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/00 Dropping, ejecting, releasing, or receiving articles, liquids, or the like, in flight with respect to weapon sights devices F41G takes precedence, parachutes per se B64D17/00; ejectable seats B64D25/10; ejectable capsules B64D25/12; refuelling during flight B64D39/00; launching apparatus for projecting projectiles or missiles F41F1/00, F41F7/00; rocket or torpedo launchers F41F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/16 with five or more distinct rotor axes, e.g. octocopters
• 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 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/00 Launching, take-off or landing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/86 Land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/935 for terrain-avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/933 of aircraft or spacecraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0202 specially adapted to aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0069 specially adapted for an unmanned aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/045 : Navigation or guidance aids, e.g. determination of anti-collision manoeuvers radar or analogous systems specially adapted for anti-collision between aircraft G01S13/933

Abstract

Various systems and methodologies may be utilized to determine whether a particular shipment/item is eligible for delivery between a manual delivery vehicle and a final destination location via an autonomous delivery vehicle. To ensure autonomous deliveries are performed in a resource effective manner, shipments/items deemed eligible for autonomous delivery may be vetted by comparing the destination for the autonomous delivery shipment/item against one or more manual delivery destinations (serviced by the manual delivery vehicle operator), and ultimately identifying an optimal launch location for the autonomous delivery vehicle to leave the manual delivery vehicle to complete the autonomous delivery. If the autonomous delivery location does not satisfy applicable autonomous delivery criteria, the autonomous delivery shipment/item may be reclassified for manual delivery by the manual delivery vehicle operator.

Claims

1. An autonomous vehicle item delivery system for autonomously delivering at least one item to a destination location, the system comprising:

a manual delivery vehicle operable by a vehicle operator and configured to traverse a manual delivery vehicle route between manual delivery locations;

an autonomous delivery vehicle configured for autonomously transporting an item between the manual delivery vehicle and an autonomous delivery location; and

at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored on computer storage media that cause the at least one processor to;

receive the autonomous delivery location for the item; and

determine a launch location along the manual delivery vehicle route from a first manual delivery location to a second manual delivery location, the launch location determined based on a distance between the autonomous delivery location and the manual delivery vehicle route, wherein an autonomous vehicle is configured to depart the manual delivery vehicle at the launch location to deliver the item to the autonomous delivery location.

2. The autonomous vehicle item delivery system of claim 1, wherein the autonomous vehicle comprises an unmanned aerial vehicle.

3. The autonomous vehicle item delivery system of claim 1, wherein the manual delivery vehicle comprises an onboard computing entity configured to monitor a location of the manual delivery vehicle relative to the launch location, and wherein the onboard computing entity of the manual delivery vehicle is configured to transmit a signal to the autonomous delivery vehicle when the manual delivery vehicle is located at the launch location.

4. The autonomous vehicle item delivery system of claim 1, wherein the launch location is a manual delivery location for a second item.

5. The autonomous vehicle item delivery system of claim 1, wherein the launch location is located within a predefined distance of the autonomous delivery location for the at least one item.

6. The autonomous vehicle item delivery system of claim 1, wherein:

the autonomous delivery vehicle is configured to receive manual delivery vehicle location data indicative of a current location of the manual delivery vehicle; and

the autonomous delivery vehicle is configured to, based at least in part on the manual delivery vehicle location data, return to the manual delivery vehicle after completing delivery of the item to the autonomous delivery location.

7. The autonomous vehicle item delivery system of claim 6, wherein a location where the autonomous vehicle returns to the manual delivery vehicle is different from the launch location.

8. A method for delivering at least one item from a manual delivery vehicle to a destination location via an autonomous delivery vehicle, the method comprising:

electronically classifying each of a plurality of items as one of manual delivery-eligible or autonomous delivery-eligible, wherein manual delivery-eligible items are eligible for final delivery at manual delivery locations by a delivery vehicle operator and autonomous delivery-eligible items are eligible for delivery to autonomous delivery locations by an autonomous vehicle;

determining a geographical area surrounding the destination location for an autonomous delivery-eligible item, the destination location determined to be an autonomous delivery location;

identifying the manual delivery locations within the geographical area surrounding the destination location for the autonomous delivery-eligible item;

identifying a manual delivery location within the geographical area as a launch location for the autonomous vehicle to depart the manual delivery vehicle for final delivery to the destination location; and

causing the autonomous vehicle to depart from the manual delivery vehicle at the launch location corresponding to the identified manual delivery location to deliver the autonomous delivery-eligible item to the destination location.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising reclassifying the autonomous delivery-eligible item to be a manual delivery-eligible item.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the manual delivery location within the geographical area as the launch location comprises:

determining an estimated delivery time for the manual delivery locations located within the geographical area; and

identifying the launch location based on the estimated delivery time.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the estimated delivery time for manual delivery locations within the geographical area comprises:

retrieving, from a location database, a location profile for each manual delivery location located within the geographical area; and

retrieving, from the location profile corresponding to each manual delivery location located within the geographical area, a historic delivery time for the manual delivery location.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the estimated delivery time includes an estimated travel time for the manual delivery vehicle to travel between each of the manual delivery locations within the geographical area.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining a second geographical area surrounding the manual delivery location; and

determining the autonomous delivery location is within the geographical area; and

responsive to determining that the autonomous delivery location is within the geographical area, identifying the manual delivery location as the launch location.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the second geographical area is defined based on an estimated round trip time for the autonomous vehicle to deliver the item to the autonomous delivery location from the manual delivery location.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining the destination location is the autonomous delivery location using a predefined listing of delivery locations.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the predefined listing of delivery locations is identified based at least in part on one or more manual delivery locations for one or more of the manual delivery-eligible items.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein classifying items as autonomous delivery-eligible comprises comparing one or more item attributes against autonomous-delivery eligibility criteria, wherein the autonomous-delivery eligibility criteria defines at least one of:

a maximum item size, a maximum item weight, a maximum item value, one or more excluded item contents, a consignee approval requirement, or a delivery location requirement.

18. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

monitoring a location of the autonomous vehicle while the autonomous vehicle delivers the at least one autonomous delivery-eligible item from the manual delivery vehicle to the destination location; and

upon detecting that the manual delivery vehicle begins moving before the autonomous vehicle completes the delivery of the at least one autonomous delivery-eligible item, generating an alert to the delivery vehicle operator.

19. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the launch location comprises:

determining that the manual delivery location is within a defined distance of the destination location;

identifying the launch location based on the defined distance being less than a travel range of the autonomous vehicle.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the travel range defines a distance the autonomous vehicle can travel during a defined amount of time.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the defined amount of time is based on an estimated delivery time of the manual delivery location corresponding to the launch location.