Paired drone-based systems and methods for conducting a verified inspection of delivery vehicle

A drone-based system used to conduct a verified inspection of a delivery vehicle involving an automatically generated interactive intervention request, comprising:

• an inspection drone exclusively paired to the delivery vehicle and traveling with the delivery vehicle as a part of the delivery vehicle, the paired inspection drone being a dedicated inspection tool exclusively used for inspecting only the delivery vehicle, the paired inspection drone being operative to aerially inspect a plurality of targeted inspection points corresponding to respective parts of the delivery vehicle, the paired inspection drone further comprising:
• a main housing,
• an onboard controller disposed within the main housing,
• a memory storage coupled to the onboard controller and maintaining an inspection profile record that defines a plurality of targeted inspection points corresponding to respective parts of the delivery vehicle,
• a plurality of lifting engines coupled with respective lifting rotors, each of the lifting engines being fixed to a different portion of the main housing and responsive to flight control input generated by the onboard controller as part of maintaining a desired flight profile,
• at least one sensor coupled to the onboard controller, the sensor being operative to (a) detect sensor-based inspection information while the paired inspection drone is airborne and has aerially moved relative to different parts of the delivery vehicle and (b) provide the detected sensor-based inspection information to the onboard controller,
• a communication interface coupled to the onboard controller, the communication interface being operative to transmit an inspection notification message in response to a transmission command from the onboard controller, and
• a drone capture interface disposed on the main housing;
• a drone docking station fixed to the delivery vehicle, the drone docking station providing a physical mating interface to the drone capture interface on the paired inspection drone, wherein the drone docking station and the drone capture interface selectively maintain the paired inspection drone in a secured position;
• and
• a first display-enabled transceiver being disposed in a control compartment of the delivery vehicle and being in communication with the paired inspection drone, the first display-enabled transceiver further comprising an interactive user interface;
• a second mobile display-enabled transceiver in communication with the first display-enabled transceiver, wherein the second mobile display-enabled transceiver being physically separate from the delivery vehicle;
• wherein the onboard controller of the paired inspection drone is operative to
• identify the plurality of targeted inspection points from the inspection profile record stored within the memory storage,
• cause the lifting engines to position the paired inspection drone at a first aerial position proximate to one of the targeted inspection points,
• cause the at least one sensor to detect sensor-based inspection information about the one of the targeted inspection points while the paired inspection drone is in the first aerial position,
• automatically identify a potential adverse inspection condition regarding the one of the targeted inspection points based upon the detected sensor-based inspection information,
• responsively generate and transmit the interactive intervention request to the first display-enabled transceiver, the interactive intervention request identifying the potential adverse inspection condition regarding the one of the targeted inspection points;
• and
• wherein, in response to the first display-enabled transceiver receiving the interactive intervention request from the paired inspection drone, the interactive user interface of the first display-enabled transceiver is operative to
• display a notification related to the interactive intervention request on the interactive user interface, the notification comprising a highlighted region of a displayed graphic model representing the delivery vehicle, the highlighted region being associated with the one of the targeted inspection points,
• generate a prompt on the interactive user interface regarding the need for the verified inspection of the one of the targeted inspection points;
• detect a selection action relative to the highlighted region of the displayed graphic model, the selection action indicating a desire to begin the verified inspection of the one of the targeted inspection points, and
• receive verification result input related to a result of the verified inspection of the one of the targeted inspection points;
• and
• wherein the first display-enabled transceiver is further operative to
• transmit a feedback message to the paired inspection drone, wherein the feedback message corresponds to the result of the verified inspection as reflected by the received verification result input,
• receive additional sensor-based inspection information from the paired inspection drone, the additional sensor-based inspection information being related to the one of the targeted inspection points,
• provide the received additional sensor-based inspection information to the second mobile display-enabled transceiver,
• prompt the second mobile display-enabled transceiver for the verification result input based upon at least the additional sensor-based inspection information sent to the second mobile display-enabled transceiver, and
• receive the verification result input from the second mobile display-enabled transceiver;
• and
• wherein the second mobile display-enabled transceiver has a user interface and is further operative to
• display the additional sensor-based inspection information on the user interface of the second mobile display-enabled transceiver,
• generate a user notification prompting a user of the second mobile display-enabled transceiver to provide the verification result related to the result of the verified inspection of the one of the targeted inspection points,
• receive the verification result input in response to the user notification prompting and at least the display of the additional sensor-based inspection information, and
• transmit the verification result input to the first display-enabled transceiver.