Drone-based goods transportation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11447245-B2
Application number	US-201716485944-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2017
Priority date	Feb 17, 2017
Publication date	Sep 20, 2022
Grant date	Sep 20, 2022

Abstract

A container includes a transportation section and a drone section. The drone section has a drone place holder and a door. The drone place holder is accessible when the door is in an open position. The container includes a processor that is programmed to actuate the door to the open position, actuate a drone, fittable in the drone place holder, to fly out of the container, and actuate the drone to transport the container to a destination.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A container, comprising:
a transportation section;
a drone section having a drone place holder and a door, wherein the drone place holder is accessible when the door is in an open position; and
a processor, programmed to:
actuate the door to the open position;
actuate a drone, fittable in the drone place holder, to fly out of the container; and actuate the drone to transport the container to a destination.

2. The container of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to transport the container to the destination by actuating a drone hook to mechanically couple the drone and the container.

3. The container of claim 1 , wherein the container further includes a retractable mechanical coupling having a first end attached to the drone place holder and a second end mountable to the drone.

4. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a load measuring sensor, wherein the processor is further programmed to determine whether the transportation section is in a loaded state or in an empty state based at least on data received from the load measuring sensor.

5. The container of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further programmed to determine whether the transportation section is overloaded by determining a weight based on data received from the load measuring sensor, and determining whether the determined weight exceeds a predetermined weight threshold.

6. The container of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to prevent a transportation of the container by the drone upon determining that the transportation section is overloaded.

7. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a rechargeable battery and an inductive charging circuit electrically coupled to the rechargeable battery.

8. The container of claim 1 , further comprising an electromechanical actuator mechanically coupled to the door, and the processor is further programmed to actuate the door to the open position by actuating the electromechanical actuator.

9. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a top and a bottom, wherein the transportation section is disposed between the bottom and the drone section, and the drone section is disposed between the top and the transportation section, the door is mounted to the top.

10. The container of claim 1 , wherein the drone section is movable relative to the transportation section.

11. The container of claim 10 , wherein the drone section is pivotably coupled to the transportation section.

12. A system, comprising:
a storage apparatus;
a plurality of containers fittable in the storage apparatus; and
a processor programmed to:
select one of the plurality of containers; and
actuate a drone disposed inside the selected container to transport the selected container from the storage apparatus to a destination.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the storage apparatus includes a charging port, and the processor is further programmed to activate the charging port to charge at least one of the containers.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the storage apparatus includes at least one of a trailer mountable to a truck and a storage area of a vehicle.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the containers are stackable on top of one another to form a stack.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further programmed to select the container upon determining that the container is at a top of the stack of the containers in the storage apparatus.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further programmed to actuate a second drone, fittable in a drone section of a second container outside the storage apparatus, to pick up the second container and transport the second container to the storage apparatus.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further programmed to actuate the second drone to pick up the second container upon determining that a weight of the second container is less than a weight threshold.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the processor is further programmed to prevent a pickup of the second container upon determining that the second container is overloaded.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Neubecker Cynthia M
• Datta Gupta Somak
• Ignaczak Brad Alan

Classifications

• B64U80/70

  in containers (B64U80/60 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title

• B64D1/22 Primary

  Taking-up articles from earth's surface · CPC title

• E05F15/70

  with automatic actuation · CPC title