Hazard mitigation of package delivery area

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12554265-B2
Application number	US-202217829406-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2022
Priority date	Jun 1, 2022
Publication date	Feb 17, 2026
Grant date	Feb 17, 2026

Abstract

One or more processors receive data associated with delivery of a package to a delivery drop-off area. The data includes delivery history of the drop-off area, current and predicted weather conditions, customer profile data, and package content information. The one or more processors detect surface conditions of the delivery drop-off area. The one or more processors determine a hazardous condition for retrieval of a delivered package in the delivery drop-off area, based on the images and sensor data received from the delivery vehicle and processed by one or more machine learning models. The one or more processors perform actions to mitigate the hazardous condition at the delivery drop-off area, and the one or more processors provide a notification updating the hazardous condition in the delivery drop-off area and the at least one mitigating action taken.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for mitigation of hazardous conditions in a drop-off area for delivery of a package by a delivery vehicle, the method comprising:
detecting conditions of a surface of the delivery drop-off area based on images and sensor data received from the delivery vehicle; determining a hazardous condition for customer retrieval of a delivered package in the delivery drop-off area based on the images and the sensor data received from the delivery vehicle; performing at least one action to mitigate the hazardous condition determined to exist at the delivery drop-off area, wherein the at least one mitigating action includes providing access and directional control of the delivery vehicle to the customer in response to the delivery vehicle being located within a predetermined distance of the delivery drop-off area by transmitting a hazard map to the computing device of the customer, the hazard map including an interactive feature enabling the customer to cause the delivery vehicle to deliver the package to an alternative drop-off point; and delivering, by the delivery vehicle, the package to the alternative drop-off point.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a slipping hazardous condition on the surface of the delivery drop-off area; and deploying, by the delivery vehicle, a traction improvement material, included in the delivery vehicle, on the delivery drop-off area associated with the slipping hazard condition.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the traction improvement material is selected from a group consisting of ice-melting material and sand.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hazardous condition is determined to be black ice, and the at least one action performed to mitigate the hazard condition includes deploying a salt material.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one action to mitigate the hazardous condition include activating thermal coils on the delivery vehicle to melt frozen water detected in the delivery drop-off area.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a second delivery vehicle is summoned to the delivery drop-off area to provide additional actions to mitigate the hazardous condition.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, prior to delivery departure, additional package protections based on current and predicted weather conditions, delivery drop-off area history, package contents, and customer availability.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one action to mitigate the hazardous condition determined to exist at the delivery drop-off area includes providing illumination of the delivery drop-off area during low light conditions.

9 . A computer system for mitigation of hazardous conditions in a drop-off area for delivery of a package by a delivery vehicle, the computer system comprising:
one or more computer processors; one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to detect conditions of a surface of the delivery drop-off area based on images and sensor data received from the delivery vehicle; program instructions to determine a hazardous condition for customer retrieval of a delivered package in the delivery drop-off area based on the images and the sensor data received from the delivery vehicle; program instructions to perform at least one action to mitigate the hazardous condition determined to exist at the delivery drop-off area, wherein the at least one mitigating action includes providing access and directional control of the delivery vehicle to the customer in response to the delivery vehicle being located within a pre-determined distance of the delivery drop-off area by transmitting a hazard map to the computing device of the customer, the hazard map including an interactive feature enabling the customer to cause the delivery vehicle to deliver the package to an alternative drop-off point; and program instructions provided to the delivery vehicle to deliver the package to the alternative drop-off point.

10 . The computer system of claim 9 , further comprising program instructions to:
detect a slipping hazardous condition on the surface of the delivery drop-off area; and instruct the delivery device to deploy a traction improvement material, included in the delivery vehicle, on the delivery drop-off area associated with the slipping hazard condition, wherein the traction improvement material includes ice-melting material and sand.

11 . The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the hazardous condition is determined to be black ice, and the at least one action performed to mitigate the hazard condition includes deploying an ice-melting material.

12 . The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one mitigating action further includes a selection from the group consisting of summoning a second delivery vehicle to the delivery drop-off area to provide additional mitigation materials and providing illumination of the delivery drop-off area during low light conditions.

13 . A computer program product for mitigation of hazardous conditions in a drop-off area for delivery of a package by a delivery vehicle, the computer program product comprising:
one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising: program instructions to detect conditions of a surface of the delivery drop-off area based on images and sensor data received from the delivery vehicle; program instructions to determine a hazardous condition for customer retrieval of a delivered package in the delivery drop-off area based on the images and the sensor data received from the delivery vehicle; program instructions to perform at least one action to mitigate the hazardous condition determined to exist at the delivery drop-off area, wherein the at least one mitigating action includes providing access and directional control of the delivery vehicle to the customer in response to the delivery vehicle being located within a pre-determined distance of the delivery drop-off area by transmitting a hazard map to the computing device of the customer, the hazard map including an interactive feature enabling the customer to cause the delivery vehicle to deliver the package to an alternative drop-off point; and program instructions provided to the delivery vehicle to deliver the package to the alternative drop-off point.

14 . The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising program instructions to:
detect a slipping hazardous condition on the surface of the delivery drop-off area; and instruct the delivery device to deploy a traction improvement material, included in the delivery vehicle, on the delivery drop-off area associated with the slipping hazard condition, wherein the traction improvement material is selected as one or a combination from the group including ice-melting material and sand.

15 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the at least one action to mitigate the hazardous condition includes activating thermal coils on the delivery vehicle to melt frozen water detected in the delivery drop-off area.

16 . The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the hazardous condition is determined to be black ice, and the at least one action performed to mitigate the hazard condition includes deploying an ice-melting material.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Gordon Michael S
• Beck Matthew
• Weldemariam Komminist

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

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

• B64U2101/60

  for transporting passengers; for transporting goods other than weapons · CPC title

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• G06V10/82

  using neural networks · CPC title

• B64C39/024

  of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV · CPC title