Unmanned vehicle and delivery system
AssigneeRakuten Group, Inc.
InventorsDaiki Tanaka, Toshiaki Tazume, Takayoshi Inuma, Asaki Matsumoto, Masato Tani
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a delivery system S including an UAV 1 and a management server 2, the UAV 1 controls at least a position and/or an orientation of the UAV 1 so that a package placed in a release location and a peripheral region of the package fall within an angle of view of a camera. And then, the UAV 1 saves, as an image that proves delivery completion of the package, an image of the peripheral region including the package captured by the camera in a storage unit 15 of the UAV 1 or a storage unit 22 of the management server 2.
Claims16
An unmanned vehicle for delivering a package, the unmanned vehicle comprising:
- a camera configured to image a range falling within an angle of view;
- at least one memory configured to store computer program code;
- and
- at least one processor configured to read the program code and operate as instructed by the program code, the program code comprising:
- first control code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to cause the unmanned vehicle to release the package from the unmanned vehicle in a release location;
- and
- second control code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to:
- control at least one of a position or an orientation of the unmanned vehicle such that the package and a peripheral region of the package are included within the angle of view;
- and
- save at least one image captured by the camera that comprises the package and the peripheral region to a storage for confirming delivery of the package,
- wherein the second control code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to:
- calculate a color value change rate at a same pixel position in a plurality of consecutive images captured by the camera over a predefined unit of time;
- and
- detect the one or more features based on the color value change rate being greater than or equal to a first threshold value over the predefined unit of time.
A delivery system for delivering a package via an unmanned vehicle comprising a mounted camera, wherein the unmanned vehicle is configured to image a range falling within an angle of view via the mounted camera, the delivery system comprising:
- at least one memory configured to store computer program code;
- and
- at least one processor configured to read the program code and operate as instructed by the program code, the program code comprising control code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to:
- control at least one of a position or an orientation of the unmanned vehicle such that a package is released from the unmanned vehicle in a release location, and the package and a peripheral region of the package are included within the angle of view;
- and
- save at least one image captured by the camera that comprises the package and the peripheral region to a storage for confirming delivery of the package,
- wherein the control code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to:
- calculate a color value change rate at a same pixel position in a plurality of consecutive images captured by the camera over a predefined unit of time;
- and
- detect the one or more features based on the color value change rate being greater than or equal to a first threshold value over the predefined unit of time.
A control device for an unmanned vehicle comprising a mounted camera, wherein the unmanned vehicle is configured to image a range falling within an angle of view and deliver a package, the control device comprising:
- at least one memory configured to store computer program code;
- and
- at least one processor configured to read the program code and operate as instructed by the program code, the program code comprising control code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to:
- control at least one of a position or an orientation of the unmanned vehicle such that the package is released from the unmanned vehicle in a release location, and the package and a peripheral region of the package are included within the angle of view;
- and
- save at least one image captured by the camera that comprises the peripheral region captured by the camera to a storage for confirming delivery of the package,
- wherein the control code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to:
- calculate a color value change rate at a same pixel position in a plurality of consecutive images captured by the camera over a predefined unit of time;
- and
- detect the one or more features based on the color value change rate being greater than or equal to a first threshold value over the predefined unit of time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.