DISTRIBUTED, UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE PACKAGE TRANSPORT NETWORK

摘要

According to an aspect, a distributed package transport system includes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), each of which is configured to transport packages within a geographic area and along a travel route. The system also includes UAV enclosures dispersed within the geographic area. The UAV enclosures include a number of cells, each of which provides a receptacle to temporarily house a UAV. At least one of the UAV enclosures is dynamically assigned to a location within the geographic area. Each of the UAV enclosures includes a computer processor and communication network interface and, for each of the UAVs in transit, the UAV enclosures communicate information specifying an origination point, drop off point, and return point amongst each other and coordinate to define, based on locations of the UAV enclosures and capacities of the UAV enclosures, a refined travel route including a subset of the UAV enclosures to serve as hops.

主权项

1. A distributed package transport system, comprising:
a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), each of which is configured to transport packages within a geographic area and along a travel route that includes an origination point, a package drop off point, and a post-drop off return point; a plurality of UAV enclosures geographically dispersed within the geographic area, the UAV enclosures each comprising a plurality of cells, each of the cells comprising a receptacle for providing temporary housing to a corresponding UAV, the receptacle having electrical circuitry to recharge the corresponding UAV, wherein at least one of the plurality of UAV enclosures is dynamically assigned to a location within the geographic area; and a plurality of structures communicatively coupled to corresponding UAV enclosures, the UAV enclosures configured to recharge the UAVs by electrical power provided by the structures through the electrical circuitry of the cells of the UAV enclosures; wherein each of the plurality of UAV enclosures includes a computer processor and communication network interface and, for each of the UAVs in transit, the UAV enclosures communicate information specifying the origination point, the drop off point, and the return point amongst each other and coordinate to define, based on locations of the UAV enclosures and capacities of the UAV enclosures, a refined travel route including a subset of the UAV enclosures to serve as hops.