Autonomous drone service system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016307449-A1
Application number	US-201514687306-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 15, 2015
Priority date	Apr 15, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An autonomous drone service system controls at least one drone vehicle configured to autonomously navigate along a flight path to provide one or more services requested by a user. The system includes an electronic service provider device to receive at least one service request signal generated by a user device. The request signal indicates at least one requested service provided by the drone service system and location or locations associated with the requested services. The electronic service provider device that automatically maps the at least one requested service to the at least one drone vehicle, and commands the at least one drone vehicle to perform the service request at the one or more locations.

First claim

1 . An autonomous drone service system that controls at least one drone vehicle configured to autonomously navigate along a flight path, the autonomous drone service system comprising:
an electronic service provider device in signal communication with the at least one drone vehicle and at least one electronic user device to receive at least one service request signal indicating at least one requested service provided by the drone service system be performed at one or more locations input by a user of the at least one electronic user device, the electronic service provider device including an electronic microprocessor having electronic memory that stores computer readable instructions that when executed by the microprocessor automatically maps the at least one requested service to the at least one drone vehicle, and commands the at least one drone vehicle to perform the service request at the one or more locations.

2 . The autonomous drone service system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one drone vehicle includes a plurality of drone vehicles, and the electronic service provider device selects the at least one drove vehicle from among the plurality of drone vehicles in response to automatically mapping the service request to drone features included with the plurality of drone vehicles.

3 . The autonomous drone service system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic service provider transmits at least one user-selectable criteria to the at least one user device in response to receiving the least one service request signal.

4 . The autonomous drone service system of claim 3 , wherein the electronic service provider automatically maps at least one received user-selectable criteria with at least one drone vehicle among the plurality of drone vehicles, and automatically selects the at least one drove vehicle based on a match between the at least one received user-selectable criteria and a drone feature of the at least one drone vehicle.

5 . The autonomous drone service system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic service provider device transmits flight regulation data to the selected at least one drone vehicle, and wherein the selected at least one drone vehicle performs the requested service while avoiding at least one restricted travel zone indicated by the flight regulation data.

6 . The autonomous drone service system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic service provider device modifies the service request based on a comparison between a current monetary cost to perform the service request and a cost budget input by the user.

7 .- 11 . (canceled)

12 . An electronic control system that performs at least one service using at least one autonomous drone vehicle included in a drone service system, the control system comprising:
an electronic drone identification (ID) database unit that stores ID information identifying at least one registered autonomous drone vehicle included in the drone service system; and an electronic drone selection module in signal communication with an electronic user device to receive a service request for at least one service provided by the drone service system, the drone selection module including an electronic microprocessor having electronic memory that stores computer readable instructions that when executed by the microprocessor determines at least one currently operating drone among the at least one registered autonomous drone vehicle based on a received drone ID, and automatically maps the at least one service request to the at least one currently operating drone vehicle to select at least one drone to perform the service request, and automatically commands the at least one selected drone to perform the service request.

13 . The electronic control system of claim 12 , wherein the electronic drone selection module transmits at least one user-selectable criteria provided by the at least one currently operating drone to the user device, and wherein the electronic drone selection module selects the at least one drone in response to receiving at least one selected user-selectable criteria returned by the user device.

14 . The electronic control system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one user-selectable criteria is selected from a list comprising camera type, pixel rate, video recording camera type, data streaming capability, sound recording capability, the maximum package delivery weight capability, night vision capability, weather-proofing availability, maximum speed, maximum altitude.

15 . The electronic control system of claim 12 further comprising an electronic zone/regulation module that stores flight regulation data indicating at least one restricted travel zone.

16 . The electronic control system of claim 15 , wherein the electronic drone selection module retrieves the flight regulation data and transmits the flight regulation data to the selected at least one drone such that the at least one drone performs the service request while avoiding the at least one restricted travel zone.

17 .- 21 . (canceled)

22 . An electronic cost control system that controls at least one autonomous drone vehicle included in a drone service system to perform at least one service provided by the drone service system, the cost control system comprising:
an electronic drone selection module in signal communication with at least one electronic user device to receive at least one service request to perform a service provided by the drone service system at a user-selected maximum monetary cost, the drone selection module including an electronic microprocessor having electronic memory that stores computer readable instructions that when executed by the microprocessor selects at least one autonomous drone vehicle from among a plurality of autonomous drone vehicles included in the drone service system based on the maximum monetary cost and commands the selected at least one autonomous drone to perform the service request.

23 . The electronic cost control system of claim 22 , further comprising an electronic fee control module in signal communication with the electronic drone selection module, the fee control module including an electronic microprocessor having electronic memory that stores computer readable instructions that when executed by the microprocessor continuously calculates a current monetary cost while the selected at least one autonomous drone performs the service request.

24 . The electronic cost control system of claim 23 , wherein the electronic fee control module compares the current monetary cost and maximum monetary cost, and commands the electronic drone selection module to modify the service request when the current monetary cost exceeds the maximum monetary cost.

25 . The electronic cost control system of claim 24 , wherein the electronic fee control module determines a threshold value that is less than the maximum monetary cost, and transmits an alert to the GUI requesting modification of the requested service when the current monetary cost exceeds the threshold value.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Gordon Michael S
• Kozloski James R
• Malkin Peter K
• Pickover Clifford A

Classifications

• B64U2101/60

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

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• B64U2101/00

  UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications · CPC title

• G08G5/59

  in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones · CPC title

• G08G5/58

  for emergency situations, e.g. hijacking or bird strikes · CPC title