Disclosed herein are systems and methods for middle-mile delivery using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). An autonomy computing system of an autonomous vehicle controls autonomous operation of the autonomous vehicle while the autonomous vehicle is in motion. An inventory management system manages inventory retained within the autonomous vehicle, the inventory including one or more cases, each case respectively containing one or more units. The inventory management system is communicatively coupled to an inventory handler within the autonomous vehicle. A UAV control system controls operation of a first UAV. The inventory management system is configured to, while the autonomous vehicle is in motion, control the inventory handler to position a first unit in a retrieval location. The UAV control system is configured to, while the autonomous vehicle is in motion control the first UAV to retrieve the first unit and withdraw from the autonomous vehicle for delivery of the first unit.

A system for receiving and temporarily maintaining a delivery item and dynamically initiating a dispatched logistics operation for a storage receptacle. The storage receptacle has an entrance opening for receiving the delivery item, a temporary storage area for temporarily maintaining the delivery item once deposited with the storage receptacle, and a retrieval door providing selective access to the temporary storage area. The system includes a backend server that maintains a management profile related to the storage receptacle, a bridge node mounted to the storage receptacle, and a wireless accessory sensor node having at least one sensor that monitors for a change in state of the storage receptacle. The wireless accessory sensor node broadcasts an updated advertising signal. The bridge node transmits retrieved event information to the backend server at a reporting time, and the backend server initiates the dispatched logistics operation from comparing the retrieved event information to location information.

A centrally managed system for tuning a plurality of enhanced node-based logistics receptacles includes a backend server, a first enhanced node-based logistics receptacles, and a second node-based logistics receptacles. The backend server transmits a first setup message to a first bridge node, transmits a second setup message to a second bridge node, receives retrieved first event information from the first bridge node and retrieved second event information from the second bridge node, compares the retrieved first event information with a management profile and compares the retrieved second event information with the management profile, revises the management profile based upon the comparison of the retrieved first event information with the management profile and the comparison of the retrieved second event information with the management profile, and transmits an adjustment message that is based upon the revised management profile to the first bridge node.

The present invention relates to a control method for a control apparatus for an aircraft, the control apparatus including a communication unit and a processor. The control method includes receiving an address of a delivery location to which a delivery product is to be delivered, and controlling an aircraft by means of the communication unit to deliver the delivery product to the delivery location, in which the controlling of the aircraft by means of the communication unit includes selecting, on the basis of the address, any one of a plurality of delivery criteria that defines an area into which the aircraft is to unload the delivery product, establishing a delivery area and a flight lane to the delivery area on the basis of the delivery criterion, controlling the aircraft to allow the aircraft to fly along the flight lane, and controlling the aircraft to unload the delivery product into the delivery area when the aircraft reaches the delivery area.

A method includes navigating, by an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), to a delivery location in an environment. The method also includes capturing, by at least one sensor on the UAV, sensor data representative of the delivery location. The method further includes determining, based on the sensor data representative of the delivery location, a segmented point cloud. The segmented point cloud defines a point cloud of the delivery location segmented into a plurality of point cloud areas with corresponding semantic classifications. The method additionally includes determining, based on the segmented point cloud, at least one delivery point in the delivery location. The at least one delivery point in the delivery location satisfies at least one condition indicating that a descent path above the at least one delivery point represented in the point cloud is at least a particular lateral distance away from point cloud areas with corresponding semantic classifications indicative of an obstacle at the delivery location. The method also includes transmitting, by the UAV, the at least one delivery point to a server device.

Systems and methods for a travel innovation platform are disclosed herein. The travel innovation platform can execute a method for customer fulfillment. The method includes collecting customer location information via a plurality of sensors, generating a recommendation for the customer based on the customer location and customer history, receiving a customer purchase comprising a physical item from a customer user device, and directing an autonomous vehicle to deliver the physical item to the customer. The autonomous vehicle can identify the customer based on a combination of the customer's location and an attribute of the customer determined by the autonomous vehicle.

A technic controls an autonomous travel device capable of communicating with a center and executing autonomous traveling. In the technic, It is determined whether to permit switching of control modes including an autonomous travel mode, a stop mode, and a user operation mode. An external abnormality that occurs outside the autonomous travel device is detected. The determination of whether to permit the switching includes permitting the switching from the stop mode to the user operation mode in response to acquisition of a permission regarding the switching from the stop mode to the user operation mode from the center when the external abnormality is not detected. The determination of whether to permit the switching includes permitting the switching from the stop mode to the user operation mode regardless of the acquisition of the permission when the external abnormality is detected.

A technique for detecting and avoiding obstacles by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes: querying a knowledge graph having information related to a dynamic obstacle that may be in proximity to the UAV when traveling along a planned route; comparing the location of the dynamic obstacle to the UAV to detect conflicts; and in response to detecting a conflict, performing an action to avoid conflict with the dynamic obstacle. The knowledge graph can be updated by receiving a VHF radio signal containing the information related to the dynamic obstacle in the audible speech format; translating the audible speech format to a text format using speech recognition; analyzing the text format for relevant information related to the dynamic obstacle; comparing the relevant information related to the dynamic obstacle of the text format to the knowledge graph to detect changes; and updating the knowledge graph.

A technique for detection of an obstacle by a UAV includes arriving above a location at a first altitude by the UAV; navigating a descent flight pattern from the first altitude towards the location; acquiring aerial images of the location below the UAV with a camera system disposed onboard the UAV; and analyzing the aerial images with a machine vision system disposed onboard the UAV that is adapted to detect a presence of the obstacle in the aerial images. The descent flight pattern is selected to increase perception by the machine vision system of the obstacle.

An enhanced node-based connected logistics receptacle system includes a storage receptacle, a bridge node, and wireless accessory sensor node with at least one sensor monitoring for a change in state of the storage receptacle. The system's wireless accessory sensor node detects the storage receptacle's state change based upon sensor data, records timestamped information reflecting the detected change, and broadcasts a signal with a flag set indicating there is event information available for upload. The system's bridge node is operative to detect the flag set, retrieve the event information available for upload from the wireless accessory sensor node, and transmit a message related to the retrieved event information to a backend server to cause the backend server to initiate the dispatched logistics operation related to the storage receptacle.