US 12,380,754 B2
Methods and apparatus for providing enhanced automated access to a dispatched personal delivery device operative to transport a shipment item
Christine Joanpui Lau, Frisco, TX (US); and Ryan William Hamilton, Frisco, TX (US)
Assigned to Federal Express Corporation, Memphis, IN (US)
Filed by FedEx Corporate Services, Inc., Collierville, TN (US)
Filed on Feb. 25, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/185,252.
Prior Publication US 2022/0269268 A1, Aug. 25, 2022
Int. Cl. G07C 9/25 (2020.01); B60K 35/00 (2006.01); G06Q 10/083 (2023.01); G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G06V 40/10 (2022.01); G07C 9/27 (2020.01); G07C 9/28 (2020.01); B60K 35/22 (2024.01)
CPC G07C 9/253 (2020.01) [B60K 35/00 (2013.01); G06Q 10/083 (2013.01); G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G06V 40/103 (2022.01); G07C 9/27 (2020.01); G07C 9/28 (2020.01); B60K 35/22 (2024.01)] 108 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for providing enhanced automated access to a dispatched personal delivery device operative to transport a shipment item within a selectively opened storage area within the dispatched personal delivery device as part of a dispatched logistics transaction involving the shipment item, the method comprising the steps of:
detecting, using a first of a plurality of external sensors on the dispatched personal delivery device, a person disposed external to the dispatched personal delivery device, detecting that the person is carrying the shipment item, and identifying the shipping item being carried by the person;
in response to detecting the person, detecting the person is carrying the shipping item, and identifying the shipping item being carried by the person, authenticating, by a controller on the dispatched personal delivery device, that the detected person disposed external to the dispatched personal delivery device is an authorized participant to the dispatched logistics transaction based upon sensor data generated by the first of the external sensors and provided to the controller;
providing, by an actuator on the dispatched personal delivery device operatively coupled to the controller, access to the selectively opened storage area within the dispatched personal delivery device to permit the dispatched logistics transaction by the detected person when the detected person has been authenticated to be the authorized participant to the dispatched logistics transaction;
automatically confirming completion of the dispatched logistics transaction using a combination of multiple internal sensors that monitor the interior contents of the selectively opened storage area and using a combination of multiple types of sensor data produced by the multiple internal sensors, wherein the multiple internal sensors comprise an internal camera that generates image data, a LIDAR sensor that generates mapping data representing the interior contents of the selectively opened storage area, and an internal weight scale monitoring a weight of what is stored as the interior contents of the selectively opened storage area to generate weight data, and wherein the automatically confirming step further comprises
identifying, by the controller on the dispatched personal delivery device, a change in the interior contents of the selectively opened storage area based upon a combination of the image data, the mapping data, and the weight data; and
confirming, by the controller on the dispatched personal delivery device, the completion of the dispatched logistics transaction based upon the change in the interior contents of the selectively opened storage area; and
initiating, automatically, movement of the dispatched personal delivery device, by the controller, when the controller confirms completion of the dispatched logistics transaction.