Unmanned Delivery Control for Weather-Driven Route Switching
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Unmanned transport machines, such as drones, face delays in delivery due to bad weather conditions, as they often need to postpone flights until weather improves, leading to delayed delivery times.
Innovation Solution
A control apparatus and method that allows drones to acquire trouble information, request delivery method options from recipients, select candidate destinations based on current location and map information, and determine a new destination according to the selected option, enabling alternative delivery routes or methods such as surface transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the drone waits for weather improvement to fly, then flight safety is improved, but delivery time is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between drone delivery and surface transport based on real-time weather conditions. When weather is favorable, the drone flies directly to the destination. When weather becomes unfavorable, the system transitions to surface transport, optimizing delivery timing rather than passively waiting for weather improvement.
Solution Approach 2:
The control apparatus acts as an intermediary that monitors weather conditions and coordinates between the drone, recipient, and alternative surface transport options. It requests recipient preferences for alternative destinations and determines optimal delivery methods based on weather trouble information, enabling proactive delivery scheduling.
2Reliability
If the drone avoids bad weather areas, then flight safety is improved, but delivery route flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the delivery route based on real-time weather conditions. The control apparatus determines whether to maintain the original route, select an alternative route, or switch to surface transport by comparing weather trouble information with candidate destinations, enabling flexible adaptation to weather changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The delivery system is segmented into multiple independent options: original drone route, alternative drone routes avoiding bad weather, and surface transport options. The control apparatus evaluates each segment separately and selects the optimal combination, providing route flexibility without compromising flight safety.
3Reliability
If the drone postpones delivery until weather improves, then flight safety is improved, but productivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The control apparatus performs preliminary actions by acquiring weather trouble information in advance and determining alternative delivery methods before the scheduled delivery time. It requests recipient preferences for alternative destinations ahead of time, enabling proactive delivery scheduling rather than reactive postponement, thus maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control apparatus serves as a mediator that coordinates alternative delivery arrangements with the recipient in advance. By communicating weather issues and requesting preferences for alternative destinations or methods, it enables continuous delivery operations through surface transport or rescheduled drone flights, maintaining high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A control apparatus for an unmanned transport machine for delivering a package from a departure location to a destination includes a trouble information acquiring unit configured to acquire trouble information, a selection requesting unit configured to request a recipient of the package to select one option among a plurality of delivery method options when the trouble information indicates trouble occurring on a delivery route from the departure location to the destination, a candidate destination selecting unit configured to select candidate destinations corresponding to the delivery method options based on a current location of the unmanned transport machine and map information, and a destination determining unit configured to determine a new destination selected from the candidate destinations in accordance with the selected option.