System and method for kiosk station to autonomously accept or decline package delivery based on confidence level

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019205830-A1
Application number	US-201816224271-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 18, 2018
Priority date	Dec 29, 2017
Publication date	Jul 4, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for a kiosk station to autonomously accept or decline a package delivery from an autonomous vehicle based on a confidence level is provided. An example system includes the kiosk station configured to: determine its capabilities for accepting the package delivery; convert the capabilities into a binary format; and transmit the binary format to a cloud-based database management unit. The example system also include the autonomous vehicle configured to: generate a deliver task request for the package delivery to be sent to the kiosk station; convert the delivery task request to a binary format; and transmit the binary format to the cloud-based database management unit. The example system further include the cloud-based database management unit configured to: compare the binary format of the kiosk station's capabilities with the binary format of the delivery task request; and generate the confidence level based on the comparison.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A system for a kiosk station to autonomously accept or decline a package delivery from an autonomous vehicle based on a confidence level, comprising:
the kiosk station configured to:
determine its capabilities for accepting the package delivery;
convert the capabilities into a binary format; and
transmit the binary format to a cloud-based database management unit,
the autonomous vehicle configured to:
generate a delivery task request for the package delivery to be sent to the kiosk station;
convert the delivery task request to a binary format; and
transmit the binary format to the cloud-based database management unit, and
the cloud-based database management unit configured to:
compare the binary format of the kiosk station's capabilities with the binary format of the delivery task request;
generate the confidence level based on the comparison; and
distribute the confidence level to the kiosk station and the autonomous vehicle wherein:
the kiosk is further configured to determine whether to accept or decline the package delivery based on the confidence level; and
the autonomous vehicle is further configured to determine whether to perform the package delivery based on the confidence level.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the capabilities of the kiosk station are based on different categories of the capabilities; and the binary format of the capabilities includes binary values corresponding to respective different categories.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the different categories include at least one of: the maximum number of packages that the kiosk station can accept, package height, package length, package width, and package weight.

4 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the different categories include at least one of: a temperature condition the kiosk can provide, an age limit for accepting the package delivery, a time range for accepting the package delivery, and no external object appearing within a proximity of the kiosk station during the package delivery.

5 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the confidence level is a cumulative score based on scores of each of the different categories.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the delivery task request includes requirements for the package to be delivered, the requirements including at least one of: the number of package to be delivered, length of the package, width of the package, weight of the package, height of the package, and a temperature range for storing the package.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the confidence level is generated by comparing a binary value of each category of the capabilities in the binary format of the capabilities of the kiosk station with a binary value of each corresponding category of the task delivery request in the binary format of the task delivery request.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the confidence level is indicated as one of the following:
a positive number, when the binary value of the each category of the capabilities of the kiosk station is greater than the binary value of the each corresponding category of the task delivery request; a zero number, when the binary value of at least one category of the capabilities of the kiosk station equals to the binary value of a corresponding category of the task delivery request; and a negative number, when the binary value of at least one category of the capabilities of the kiosk station is less than the binary value of a corresponding category of the task delivery request.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the kiosk is further configured to accept the package delivery when the confidence level is the positive number or the zero number; and the autonomous vehicle is further configured to perform the package delivery when the confidence level is the positive number or the zero number.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the kiosk is further configured to decline the package delivery when the confidence level is the negative number; and the autonomous vehicle is further configured not to perform the package delivery when the confidence level is the negative number.

11 . The system of claim 7 , wherein:
the binary format of the capabilities of the kiosk station further includes supplemental binary values corresponding to supplemental capabilities of the kiosk station; and the kiosk is further configured not to accept the package delivery when at least one of the supplemental capabilities cannot meet a corresponding supplemental requirement of the task delivery request; and the autonomous vehicle is further configured to not complete the package delivery when at least one of the supplemental capabilities cannot meet the corresponding supplemental requirement of the task delivery request.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the cloud-based database management unit is further configured to:
convert the capabilities into the binary format of the capabilities; and convert the delivery task request to the binary format of the delivery task request.

13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the cloud-based database management unit is further configured to communicate location coordinates of the kiosk station to the autonomous vehicle when the kiosk determines to accept the package delivery.

14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the cloud-based database management unit is a blockchain management unit.

15 . A method for a kiosk station to accept or decline a package delivery from an autonomous vehicle based on a confidence level, comprising:
determining capabilities of the kiosk station for accepting the package delivery; converting the capabilities into a binary format; receiving a delivery task request for the package delivery from the autonomous vehicle; converting the delivery task request to a binary format of the delivery task request; comparing the binary format of the kiosk station's capabilities with the binary format of the delivery task request; generating the confidence level based on the comparison; and determining whether to accept or decline the package delivery based on the confidence level.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
transmitting the binary format of the capabilities to a cloud-based database management unit; transmitting the binary format of the task delivery request to the cloud-based database management unit; and distributing the confidence level to the kiosk station and the autonomous vehicle.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the confidence level is generated by comparing a binary value of each category of the capabilities in the binary format of the capabilities of the kiosk station with a binary value of each corresponding category of the task delivery request in the binary format of the task delivery request.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the confidence level is indicated as one of the following:
a positive number, when the binary value of the each category of the capabilities of the kiosk station is greater than the binary value of the each corresponding category of the task delivery request; a zero number, when the binary value of at least one category of the capabilities of the kiosk station equals to the binary value of a corresponding category of the task delivery request; and a negative number, when the binary value of at least one category of the capabilities of the kiosk station is less than the binary value of a corresponding category of the task delivery request.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• O'Brien John J
• High Donald R
• Mchale Brian
• Winkle David
• Mangosing Samantha M
• Cantrell Robert

Classifications

• G06Q10/0836

  Recipient pick-ups · CPC title

• G06Q10/0832

  Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods · CPC title

• G06Q10/0835 Primary

  Relationships between shipper or supplier and carriers · CPC title

• H04L9/0643

  Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC · CPC title

• H04L9/3239

  involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD · CPC title