Systems and methods facilitating street-level interactions between flying drones and on-road vehicles
US11565807B1 · kind B1 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 14, 2020 |
| Grant date | Jan 31, 2023 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 18, 2040 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N23/90
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An exchange network comprising a plurality of exchange stations, in which each of the exchange stations comprises at least one drone operative to function as a flying crane, a temporary storage space, and at least one designated stopping area for on-road vehicles operative to carry cargo. Each of the exchange stations uses the respective local crane-drones to unload cargo from certain vehicles arriving at one of the respective local designated stopping areas, temporary store the cargo, and then load the cargo onboard certain other vehicles arriving at one of the respective local designated stopping areas, thereby exchanging carriers, and thus generating a transport route for the cargo which is the combination of different parts of transport routes of different carriers. The exchange network may use predetermined routes of many scheduled carriers to plan a routing scheme for the cargo, thereby propagating the cargo between exchange stations in a networked fashion.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.