Google has stepped up its game in the drone delivery wars. The tech giant was recently granted a patent according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website. In an effort to further improve drone delivery (before it’s even launched), the patent overviews a “delivery receptacle” or robot retriever that’s designed to work alongside Google’s Project Wing drones. Essentially, the delivery receptacle would receive a package from a Google delivery drone and keep the package in good hands until the customer receives it.
Image: USPTO
As described in the 21-page patent filing, the delivery receptacle is designed to drive into position, wait for the drone, and receive the package. The whole process starts off by sending a delivery drone loaded with a package. As the drone buzzes over to its destination, the delivery receptacle receives location data and moves into an appropriate delivery zone. The drone is still on its way to deliver the package, but the delivery receptacle isn’t done yet; it activates its top-facing infrared beacons and awaits the drone’s arrival. Once the drone arrives, the drone carefully aligns itself with the infrared beacons on the receptacle and deposits the package. The package is then secured inside the delivery receptacle for safe keeping until the customer is ready to receive it.
There’s also a second part in this delivery process in which the receptacle transports the recently-received package to a secure location. In this case, it could drive to a secluded area such as the customer’s garage or backyard using its four-wheeled base similar to Starship Technologies’ robot.
Google has remained quiet on their actual drones, but this new patent has shed some light on Google’s high hopes for drone delivery services. There’s still some unanswered questions such as who owns the delivery receptacle, is it optional, and what happens if someone steals the delivery receptacle? Hopefully Google’s next reveal video will give us more insight to this new device.
Source: USPTO
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