Aerial Package Delivery via Guided Projectile Trajectory
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Solution Overview
Problem
The 'last mile' problem in logistics, where the final stretch of delivery from a distribution center to the destination accounts for over 53% of shipping costs and poses challenges due to congestion, inefficiencies in current delivery methods, and limitations in rural and remote areas, especially for non-commercial organizations like Search and Rescue, Fire Fighters, and the Department of Defense.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous package delivery system using aircraft that calculates a projectile trajectory for package delivery to a ground station, equipped with a guidance system and impact-absorbing mechanism, allowing for safe and accurate delivery without the need for drones to hover or land, reducing human interaction and potential theft.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If current delivery methods use human-driven vehicles for last mile delivery, then delivery can be completed, but traffic congestion costs and time losses increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical ground vehicle delivery system with an aerial delivery system using aircraft. Packages are delivered via air drop from aircraft to ground stations, eliminating the need for delivery vehicles to navigate ground traffic. This substitution of the delivery mechanism from ground-based mechanical transport to air-based transport resolves the contradiction by maintaining delivery completion while avoiding traffic congestion entirely.
2Extent of automation
If automated aerial package drop-off methods are used, then delivery automation increases, but package and delivery drone theft increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a ground station as an intermediary component between the aerial delivery system and the final recipient. The ground station serves as a secure receiving point that automatically captures packages from aircraft. This intermediary structure maintains automation while reducing theft risk by providing a controlled, monitored handoff point rather than direct drone-to-recipient transfer, where the drone remains in aerial control throughout the process.
Solution Approach 2:
The delivery system is segmented into distinct functional components: the aerial delivery vehicle, the ground station receiving structure, and the final recipient pickup point. This segmentation allows the automated aerial drop-off to occur at a distance from the recipient's immediate vicinity, reducing exposure to theft while maintaining automation. The ground station acts as a buffer zone that secures the package during the transition from air to ground.
3Productivity
If conventional helicopter supply methods are used for remote operations, then supplies can be delivered to ground units, but communication problems and environmental challenges increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the communication and control functions from the delivery package itself and places them entirely on the ground station and aircraft control systems. The package becomes a passive payload without electronic systems, eliminating sources of communication failure. All guidance, navigation, and control functions are externalized to the aircraft and ground station, which have reliable communication links, thereby improving reliability by removing vulnerable communication components from the package.
4Quantity of substance
If fixed wing aircraft resupply operations using parachutes are used, then large scale supply delivery is possible, but delivery accuracy decreases and supplies are often damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the parachute-based passive descent system with an active controlled descent system. Instead of relying on parachute drag and wind conditions that reduce accuracy, the system uses guided aerial vehicles that maintain controlled flight paths throughout descent. The packages are delivered in smaller, more manageable quantities that can be precisely targeted, trading off single-package size for superior delivery accuracy and reduced damage through controlled, gentle placement at the ground station.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system significantly reduces costs and delays in the last mile delivery, enhancing efficiency and safety by enabling precise package delivery to ground stations, which can then be retrieved by recipients, while allowing aircraft to maintain flight and avoid congestion and hostile environments.
Implementation Method 1
This guidance system will track and seek a signal generated from the ground station
Implementation Method 2
which safely absorbs the kinetic energy of the falling package
Implementation Method 3
the package is released from the aircraft and allowed to fall towards earth along the trajectory
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a unique system to deliver packages from aerial vehicles to the ground through the use of a sophisticated guidance system and impact-absorbing catching mechanism. The new systems and methods of the present invention provide package delivery from manned and unmanned aircraft that is fully automated and reliably accurate to deliver a package to a ground station operable to receive the package in the catching mechanism.