JP7541450B2 - Package delivery system using unmanned aerial vehicles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a luggage delivery system using small unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones, and a delivery method implemented in the unmanned aerial luggage delivery system.

In recent years, in order to reduce the inefficiency of small-lot transportation and _CO2 emissions, the practical application of a parcel delivery system using small unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones has been considered. On the other hand, when delivering parcels unmanned, the unmanned aerial vehicle will fly without an assistant in the airspace between the sender and the recipient, so-called "flying beyond visual line of sight". Therefore, the operation of an unmanned flight delivery service requires not only the reliability of the aircraft itself, but also a heavy flight management responsibility to ensure sufficient safety on the part of the party flying the unmanned aerial vehicle (specifically the pilot or delivery service operator).

When delivering parcels using unmanned aerial vehicles, it goes without saying that the unmanned aerial vehicle must return to the sender after delivering the parcel to the recipient. However, it is not realistic to impose the overall responsibility for operating and ensuring safety when taking off and flying an unmanned aerial vehicle once it has landed on the general user receiving the delivery service. In relation to this issue, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that starts flight when it is determined that the environment is suitable for return based on surrounding images captured by a camera mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle and weather data such as air pressure and wind speed measured by sensors.

JP 2018-22309 A

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide a luggage delivery system and luggage delivery method that ensures the safe flight operation of unmanned aerial vehicles while reducing the responsibility and burden on general users who receive the luggage.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a luggage delivery system that includes an unmanned aerial vehicle for aerial delivery of luggage, a sending terminal device operated by the sender of the luggage, and a receiving terminal device operated by the receiver of the luggage, the sending terminal device and the receiving terminal device being connected to each other via a network so that they can communicate with each other, in which the sending terminal device has a flight start command transmission unit that transmits a flight start command that is a command for starting the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the receiving terminal device has a network relay unit that relays the flight start command transmitted from the sending terminal device to a controller of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

It is preferable that the luggage delivery system includes a flight start request transmission unit in which the receiving terminal device transmits a flight start request, which is a notification requesting the unmanned aerial vehicle to start flying, to the sending terminal device via the network.

It is also preferable that the luggage delivery system is configured such that the sender terminal device transmits the flight start command based on receiving the flight start request transmitted from the recipient terminal device.

The present invention also provides a method for delivering luggage by flight, which is executed in a system including an unmanned aerial vehicle for delivering luggage by flight, a sending terminal device operated by the sender of the luggage, and a receiving terminal device operated by the receiver of the luggage, which is connected to the sending terminal device via a network so as to be able to communicate with each other, and includes a delivery process in which the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to deliver a specified luggage from the sender to the receiver, and a return process in which the receiver receives the luggage and returns the unmanned aerial vehicle to the sender, the return process including a step in which the receiver terminal device transmits a flight start request, which is a command requesting the unmanned aerial vehicle to start flying, to the sender terminal device via the network based on the receiver's operation, a step in which the sender terminal device transmits a flight start command for starting the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the receiver terminal device via the network based on the reception of the flight start request, and a step in which the receiver terminal device relays and transmits the flight start command transmitted from the sender terminal device to the controller of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

The present invention makes it possible to reduce the responsibility and burden on the recipient of a package when operating a package delivery service using unmanned aerial vehicles.

1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a parcel delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the system configuration of a drone. 10 is a flowchart showing a communication protocol between each element device in a delivery process. 13 is a flowchart showing a communication protocol between each element device in the return process.

The following describes in detail the luggage delivery system of the present invention, which loads a specified luggage onto an unmanned aerial vehicle and delivers it by air from the sender to the recipient, with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of a luggage delivery system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The luggage delivery system has as its component devices a drone 10, which is an unmanned aerial vehicle for air-delivering luggage, a sender terminal device 20 operated by the sender of the luggage, and a receiver terminal device 30 operated by the receiver of the luggage. The sender terminal device 20 and the receiver terminal device 30 are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other via a wide-area network 40. The network 40 can be, for example, the Internet, a fixed telephone line network, or a mobile phone carrier line network.

The sender terminal device 20 and the receiver terminal device 30 each have a network relay unit 21, 31 that establishes two-way wireless communication with the drone 10 and relays the connection to the network 40. The network relay units 21, 31 can be specifically, for example, a router that complies with a communication standard such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

Figure 2 is a block diagram for explaining the system configuration of the drone 10 used in this delivery system. The drone 10 is equipped with a rotor system 120, which is a rotating wing, and a flight controller 110 configured to drive and control the rotor system 120. Specifically, the rotor system 120 is composed of, for example, four DC brushless motors or stepping motors (hereinafter simply referred to as "motors") and multiple propellers (blades) directly connected to each motor. The rotation speed of each motor in the rotor system 120 is controlled by an ESC (Electric Speed Controller) 121.

The flight controller 110 is equipped with a guidance system and a navigation system to realize an autopilot function. To this end, the flight controller 110 is connected to an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) 130, a three-axis orientation sensor (electronic compass) 141, a GPS (Global Positioning System) 142, and an altitude (air pressure) sensor 143. The IMU 130 is equipped with a gyro sensor 131 capable of detecting angular velocity around three axes, and an acceleration sensor 132 capable of detecting acceleration in three axial directions. In other words, the IMU 130 and the three-axis orientation sensor 141 constitute the attitude heading reference system (AHRS) of the drone 10.

The flight controller 110 of the drone 10 may also be equipped with a remote control system 160 for visual flight control from the ground, and a camera 150 capable of capturing images of the surroundings of the aircraft to ensure safety during takeoff and/or landing.

The drone 10 according to this embodiment is equipped with a companion microcomputer 111, which is a control device for executing a parcel delivery mission in accordance with a parcel delivery communication protocol described below. The companion microcomputer 111 is provided with a memory unit 112 which pre-stores sender information, recipient information, route map information, and the like.

The sender information includes, for example, location information (latitude and longitude) of the sender of the package, such as a retailer, the name or ID of the sender, the delivery schedule (dispatch time, delivery time, return time, etc.), and slip information (package contents, delivery destination information, etc.). The recipient information includes location information (latitude and longitude), name or ID, delivery schedule (dispatch time, delivery time, etc.), and slip information (package contents, sender information, etc.) of the delivery destination of the package. For example, the sender information and the recipient information are associated based on common slip information.

Route map information is map information that covers the expected delivery area centered on the sender of the package (sender). Such map information includes waypoint information that avoids areas where drone flight is restricted and structures that may impede or affect navigation (e.g. bridges, high-rise buildings, high-voltage power lines, etc.).

A wireless LAN adapter 113 that conforms to the communication standards of the network relay units 21 and 31 described above is connected to the companion microcomputer 111. The drone 10 exchanges control commands and data with the sender terminal device 20 and the receiver terminal device 30 via the wireless LAN adapter 113. A case lock 114 for locking/unlocking the parcel delivery box 11 is also connected to the companion microcomputer 111.

In the parcel delivery system shown in FIG. 1, the sender terminal device 20 and the recipient terminal device 30 may be dedicated terminal devices equipped with a microcomputer, or may be general-purpose computer devices such as personal computers, tablet terminals, or smartphones that run on application software provided by the delivery service provider of this system. In addition, the network relay units 21 and 31 may be built-in devices built into a CPU board, in addition to the external devices exemplified in FIG. 1.

The sender terminal device 20 is equipped with a touch panel 20A that can display the current operating status (status) during unmanned flight delivery operation, such as "shipping notification," "shipping start," "arrival," and "return" as shown in FIG. 1, by lighting up lamp buttons 22, 23, 24, and 25. Similarly, the recipient terminal device 30 is equipped with a touch panel 30A that can display the operating status, such as "shipping acknowledgement," "shipping," "arrival notification," and "return start" as shown in FIG. 1, by lighting up lamp buttons 32, 33, 34, and 35.

In this embodiment, when the lamp buttons 22, 23, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, and 35 displayed on the touch panels 20A and 30A light up in white, it indicates that the corresponding operation is waiting for input, and when it light up in green, it indicates the status of the corresponding operation.

The parcel delivery method executed in the parcel delivery system described above is realized by communication linkage via a network 40 between each of the component devices of the drone 10, the sender terminal device 20, and the receiver terminal device 30. Below, a specific example of the parcel delivery method in this system will be described with reference to a flowchart.

The unmanned flight delivery service of luggage using drone 10 includes a delivery process in which the luggage is delivered from the sender (e.g., a luggage retailer or shipping center) to the delivery destination (e.g., a customer who purchased the luggage), and a return process in which the drone 10 returns to the sender after the recipient receives the luggage. In the following explanation, the "sender" refers to the person (human) at the sender of the luggage who provides the unmanned flight delivery service, and the "recipient" refers to the person (human) who receives the unmanned flight delivery service at the delivery destination of the luggage.

Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the communication protocol between each component device in the delivery process. First, when the sender completes preparations for the start of the delivery flight, such as charging the battery of the drone 10 and placing the specified package in the delivery box 11, the sender terminal device 20 lights up the delivery notification lamp button 22 on the touch panel 20A in white (step S11). In this state, when the sender touches or clicks (hereinafter, these operations are simply referred to as "operation") the lit delivery notification lamp button 22 (step S12), the sender terminal device 20 sends a delivery notification to the receiver terminal device 30 asking whether it is okay to start delivery by the drone 10 (step S13). The network address of the receiver terminal device 30 at the delivery destination of the package is linked within the data information, such as the delivery slip of the package, registered in the sender terminal device 20.

When the receiving terminal device 30 receives the shipping notification from the sending terminal device 20, it lights up the shipping confirmation lamp button 32 on the touch panel 30A in white (step S14). This lets the receiving side know that the package will be shipped soon. As described above, when the lamp button 32 lights up in white, it is in a waiting state, and if the receiving side is able to receive the package, they can operate the shipping confirmation lamp button 32. Then, when the shipping confirmation lamp button 32 is operated (step S15), the receiving terminal device 30 sends a shipping confirmation notification, which is an indication of the receiving side's intention to approve the shipment, to the sending terminal device 20 (step S16).

This delivery approval notification is also a "flight start request" that requests the sending terminal device 20 to start flying the drone 10. The processing block of step S16 described above is performed by a flight start request transmission unit in which the receiving terminal device 30 transmits a flight start request to the sending terminal device 20 via the network 40.

When the sender terminal device 20 receives a shipping approval notification (flight start request) from the receiver terminal device 30, the shipping notification lamp button 22 on the touch panel 20A lights up green, and the shipping start lamp button 23 lights up white (step S17). At this time, the shipping notification lamp button 22 displays a green status, so the sender knows that permission to receive the package at the delivery destination has been granted. When the sender operates the white waiting shipping start lamp button 23, a shipping start notification is sent from the sender terminal device 20 to the receiver terminal device 30 (step S18). When the receiver terminal device 30 receives the shipping start notification, it displays the shipping lamp button 33 on the touch panel 30A in green (step S19). This status display of the shipping lamp button 33 lets the receiver know that flight delivery has started on the sender side.

When the dispatch start lamp button 23 is operated (step S18), the flight start command transmission unit of the sender terminal device 20 transmits a dispatch start command to the companion microcomputer 111 of the drone 10 via the network relay unit 21 (step S20). Then, the display of the dispatch start lamp button 23 on the touch panel 20A is changed to green (step S21). Note that this dispatch start command corresponds to the "flight start command", which is a command related to the start of flight of the drone 10.

When the companion microcomputer 111 of the drone 10 receives the start delivery command sent from the sender terminal device 20 (step S22), it sets a waypoint file for the outbound route based on the sender information, receiver information, and route map information recorded in the memory unit 112, and transfers it to the flight controller 110 (step S23). This causes the drone 10 to start a delivery mission flight toward the delivery destination (step S24).

Next, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the communication protocol between each of the component devices in the return process. In the return process, when the drone 10 approaches or arrives at the intended delivery destination, the companion microcontroller 111 establishes communication with the network relay unit 31 and connects to the network 40. Then, when the companion microcontroller 111 detects that the drone has landed, it transmits an arrival notification to the recipient terminal device 30 (step S21).

When the receiving terminal device 30 receives the arrival notification from the drone 10, it displays the arrival notification lamp button 34 on the touch panel 30A in green (step S22). At the same time, the receiving terminal device 30 transfers this arrival notification to the sending terminal device 20 via the network 40 (step S23). In response to this arrival notification, the sending terminal device 20 displays the arrival lamp button 24 on the touch panel 20A in green (step S24). The green status display of the arrival lamp button 24 on the sending terminal device 20 lets the sender know that the drone 10 has arrived safely at the destination.

Meanwhile, when the companion microcomputer 111 of the drone 10 detects that a package has been removed from the delivery box 11 (step S25), it activates the case lock 114 to lock the delivery box 11 and transmits a receipt completion notification to the receiving terminal device 30 (step S26). Upon receiving this receipt completion notification, the receiving terminal device 30 turns on the return start lamp button 35 in white and waits for operation from the receiving side (step S27).

The recipient of the package checks whether there are any obstacles around the drone 10 and whether the weather is stable, and if they determine that the drone 10 is in a condition to take off without any problems, they operate the return start lamp button 35 (step S28). When the recipient operates the "return start" button, the flight start request transmission unit of the recipient terminal device 30 transmits a return start notification to the sender terminal device 20 via the network 40 (step S29). Note that this return start notification is also a "flight start request" that requests the sender terminal device 20 to start flying the drone 10.

When the sender terminal device 20 receives the return start notification from the receiver terminal device 30 (step S30), the flight start command transmission unit returns a return start command to the receiver terminal device 30 (step S31). The return start command corresponds to the "flight start command," which is a command related to the start of flight of the drone 10.

The receiving terminal device 30 may also transmit image data of the surroundings of the drone 10 captured by the camera 150 mounted on the drone 10 to the sending terminal device 20 along with the return start notification (flight start request). In this case, the flight start command transmission unit of the sending terminal device 20 may analyze the image data at the delivery destination and output the return start command only when it is determined to be safe.

At the same time as outputting the return start command, the sender terminal device 20 lights up the return lamp button 25 on the touch panel 20A in green to indicate that the return start status has been reached (step S32).

The receiving terminal device 30 relays the return start command sent from the sending terminal device 20 via the network relay unit 31 and sends it to the companion microcomputer 111 of the drone 10 (step S33). At the same time, the return start lamp button 35 lights up green to display the return start status (step S34).

When the companion microcomputer 111 of the drone 10 receives the return start command (step S35), it sets a waypoint file for the return journey based on the sender information, receiver information, and route map information recorded in the memory unit 112, and transfers it to the flight controller 110 (step S36). This causes the drone 10 to start a return mission flight toward the sender (step S37).

According to the above-described embodiment of the package delivery system and method using the drone 10, the receiving terminal device 30 is provided with a network relay unit 31 that relays the communication connection between the drone 10 and the network 40. With this configuration, the command related to flight control transmitted from the sending terminal device 30 can be relayed and transmitted to the controllers 110, 111 of the drone 10. Therefore, for example, in the return process in which the drone 10 that has landed returns to the sender, the receiving terminal device 30 does not directly control the flight of the drone 10, but the drone 10 can take off and fly the return mission under the control of the sending terminal device 20. Since the receiving terminal device 30 only relays commands from the sending terminal device 20, the general user who receives the package delivery service does not have to bear the safety management responsibility for the flight of the drone 10, and the burden of flight operations can be significantly reduced.

10 Drone 11 Delivery box 20 Sending side terminal device 20A Touch panel 21 Network relay unit 22 Shipping notification lamp button 23 Shipping start lamp button 24 Arrival lamp button 25 Return lamp button 30 Receiving side terminal device 30A Touch panel 31 Network relay unit 32 Shipping confirmation lamp button 33 Shipping lamp button 34 Arrival lamp button 35 Return start lamp button 40 Network 110 Flight controller 111 Companion microcomputer 112 Memory unit 113 Wireless LAN adapter 114 Case lock 120 Rotor system 121 ESC (Electric Speed Controller)
130 IMU
131 3-axis gyro sensor 132 3-axis acceleration sensor 141 3-axis orientation sensor 142 GPS
143 Altitude (pressure) sensor 150 Camera 160 Remote control system

Claims (4)

A parcel delivery system including an unmanned aerial vehicle for aerial delivery of parcels, a sender terminal device operated by a sender of the parcel, and a receiver terminal device operated by a receiver of the parcel, the receiver terminal device being connected to the sender terminal device via a network so as to be able to communicate with each other,
The sender terminal device includes a flight start command transmission unit that transmits a flight start command that is a command related to the start of flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle,
A luggage delivery system, wherein the receiving terminal device is provided with a network relay unit that relays and transmits the flight start command sent from the sending terminal device to the controller of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The luggage delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the receiving terminal device is provided with a flight start request transmission unit that transmits a flight start request, which is a notification requesting the unmanned aerial vehicle to start flying, to the sending terminal device via the network. The luggage delivery system according to claim 2, wherein the sending terminal device is configured to transmit the flight start command based on receipt of the flight start request transmitted from the receiving terminal device. A method for delivering luggage in a system including an unmanned aerial vehicle for aerial delivery of luggage, a sending-side terminal device operated by a sender of the luggage, and a receiving-side terminal device operated by a receiver of the luggage, the receiving-side terminal device being connected to the sending-side terminal device via a network so as to be able to communicate with each other,
A delivery process in which the unmanned aerial vehicle is flown to deliver a predetermined package from the sender to the recipient;
a return process of returning the unmanned aerial vehicle to the sender after the recipient receives the package;
The feedback process step comprises:
The receiving terminal device transmits a flight start request, which is a command for requesting the unmanned aerial vehicle to start flying, to the sending terminal device via the network based on an operation of the receiving side;
The sending terminal device transmits a flight start command regarding the start of flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the receiving terminal device via the network based on the reception of the flight start request;
A luggage delivery method comprising a step in which the receiving terminal device relays and transmits the flight start command sent from the sending terminal device to a controller of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

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