Patent Application
20200010214
The subject matter of the present invention relates generally to a drone or unmanned air aerial vehicle based delivery system and, more particularly, to a GPS laser-guided landing and take-off of a drone when performing delivery and/or pick-up of an item at a designated location.
In recent time, the concept of delivery of items through drones and other remote controlled flying delivery devices has emerged. Further, drones are convenient for high-speed point-to-point delivery and significantly save cost and labor. For the optimal implementation of such devices, there is a need to communicate to them a specific location at which to deliver and/or pick-up a parcel or other object.
Despite its many advantages, one of the potential problems of using drones to deliver or receive packages is that the drones are prone to damages when performing the landing. Also, the existing drones are vulnerable to damages from malicious actors in the form of theft and damage and destruction of property of the product and the drone itself. The drone has to precisely determine suitable landing surface using multiple sensors. The deployment of such sensors increases the cost of drone delivery systems. Moreover, the drone may face obstacles while delivering the package to the ground level, which may harm the drone as well as the package. Also, in populated areas, the drone may be unable to determine suitable landing area, thus preventing certain areas from receiving deliveries. Therefore, in order to overcome one or more of above-identified problems of known drone-based delivery systems, there is strong felt a need for an improved drone-based delivery system that is more safer, efficient and user-friendly.
Few of the objects of the present invention are as stated below:
Certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to a drone-based delivery system for delivering and/or receiving an item from a user defined location.
Principally, in accordance with a primary aspect of the present invention, the drone-based delivery system comprises a portable landing pad at the destination location for landing of the drone. The portable landing pad comprises a flat platform on which the drone is received. Furthermore, the portable landing pad comprises GPS guided lasers which guide the drone to the portable landing pad. The portable landing pad emits laser beams and the drone have electronic receivers which receive the signals transmitted by the portable landing pad via laser beams and follows the laser beams till the landing. The drone easily lands on the portable landing pad by following laser guides.
Once the drone landed on the platform of the portable landing pad, the drone releases the item on the platform. The drone after releasing the item on the platform follows the same GPS guided laser beams and take off
According to another aspect of the present invention, the drone has an automatic battery switching system. The portable landing pad has a charged battery on standby. When the drone reaches the portable landing pad, a sensor detects the battery percentage of the drone, and if the battery percentage is not enough to reach the next destination of the drone, the automatic power battery switching system swaps the existing discharged battery of the drone by the charged battery already docked on the portable landing pad.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the figures, and in which example embodiments are shown:
In order to ameliorate and overcome one or more drawbacks and disadvantages associated with the prior art and to provide additional advantages, an advanced drone-based delivery system is provided and illustrated herein in the form of a non-limiting and exemplary embodiments. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the disclosure of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure of the present invention are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention.
The detailed description and the drawings illustrate specific exemplary embodiments by which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims. Embodiments of the claims may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
Embodiments of the disclosure are discussed below with reference to the Figures. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes as the disclosure extends beyond these limited embodiments. For example, it should be appreciated that those skilled in the art will, in light of the teachings of the present disclosure, recognize a multiplicity of alternate and suitable approaches, depending upon the needs of the particular application, to implement the functionality of any given detail described herein, beyond the particular implementation choices in the following embodiments described and shown. That is, there are numerous modifications and variations of the disclosure that are too numerous to be listed but that all fit within the scope of the disclosure. Also, singular words should be read as plural and vice versa and masculine as feminine and vice versa, where appropriate, and alternative embodiments do not necessarily imply that the two are mutually exclusive.
It is to be further understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the particular methodology, compounds, materials, manufacturing techniques, uses, and applications, described herein, as these may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to “an element” is a reference to one or more elements and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art. Similarly, for another example, a reference to “a step” or “a means” is a reference to one or more steps or means and may include sub-steps and subservient means.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. Preferred methods, techniques, devices, and materials are described, although any methods, techniques, devices, or materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the practice or testing of the present disclosure.
References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” “various embodiments,” etc., may indicate that the embodiment(s) of the disclosure so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in one embodiment,” or “in an exemplary embodiment,” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although they may.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
Referring to
The portable landing pad 100 shown in
Further shown in
Once the drone 200 is landed on the portable landing pad 100 (Shown in
Further can be seen in
Warning indicators 155 can be seen in
According to various embodiment of the present disclosure, the drone is having electronic receivers which follow said GPS guided laser beams for pin-point accuracy in landing and take-offs.
Usually, many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the pertinent art having the benefit of the teaching presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and variations of the disclosed embodiments are intended to be included as readily appreciated by those skilled in the pertinent art. It is contemplated that these modifications and variations be included within the scope and ambit of the instant invention which is defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62663747 | Apr 2018 | US |
