Transportation using network of unmanned aerial vehicles
AssigneeSingularity University
InventorsAndreas Raptopoulos, Darlene Damm, Martin Ling, Ido Baruchin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments described herein include a delivery system having unmanned aerial delivery vehicles and a logistics network for control and monitoring. In certain embodiments, a ground station provides a location for interfacing between the delivery vehicles, packages carried by the vehicles and users. In certain embodiments, the delivery vehicles autonomously navigate from one ground station to another. In certain embodiments, the ground stations provide navigational aids that help the delivery vehicles locate the position of the ground station with increased accuracy.
Claims20
A method for facilitating payload transportation using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:
- at a computer system including one or more processors and memory,
- receiving payload information regarding a payload to be transported, the payload information comprising an origin location and destination location;
- communicating with a plurality of ground stations, wherein at least one of the plurality of ground stations comprises a portable ground station;
- receiving information from the plurality of ground stations, the information comprising at least a first location information of the at least one portable ground station;
- generating a route from a first of the plurality of ground stations associated with the origin location to a second of the plurality of ground stations associated with the destination location, the route based on received payload information, geographic data, and information from the plurality of ground stations;
- providing the route to one or more UAVs for use in the autonomous navigation from the first ground station to the second ground station;
- receiving information comprising at least a second location information of the at least one portable ground station;
- and
- updating the route to the one or more UAVs if the location of the second ground station has changed.
A payload delivery logistics system, comprising:
- a computer system comprising at least one processor and memory, the at least one processor configured to:
- communicate with one or more unmanned delivery vehicles configured for autonomous navigation;
- communicate with a plurality of ground stations, wherein at least one of the plurality of ground stations comprises a portable ground station;
- receive information from the plurality of ground stations, the information comprising at least a first location information of the at least one portable ground station;
- generate a route from a first of the plurality of ground stations to a second of the plurality of ground stations based on geographic data and received information from the plurality of ground stations;
- provide the route to the one or more unmanned delivery vehicles for use in the autonomous navigation from the first ground station to the second ground station;
- receive information comprising at least a second location information of the at least one portable ground station;
- and
- update the route to the one or more unmanned delivery vehicles if the location of the second ground station has changed.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
- receiving payload information regarding a payload to be transported, the payload information comprising an origin location and destination location;
- communicating with a plurality of ground stations, wherein at least one of the plurality of ground stations comprises a portable ground station;
- generating a route from a first of the plurality of ground stations associated with the origin location to a second of the plurality of ground stations associated with the destination location, the route based on received payload information, geographic data, and information from the plurality of ground stations, the information comprising at least a first location information of the at least one portable ground station;
- providing the route to one or more UAVs for use in the autonomous navigation from the first ground station to the second ground station;
- receiving information comprising at least a second location information of the at least one portable ground station;
- updating the route to the one or more UAVs if the location of the second ground station has changed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.