Incentivized Group Shipping via Grid-Based Route Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current delivery systems for small and medium-sized packages require dedicated trips, leading to wasted energy and resources, as vehicles often travel with empty trunk or cargo space, and lack flexibility for short haul deliveries.
Innovation Solution
An incentivized group shipping system that matches service requests with vehicles based on their driving histories, using a grid system to identify suitable travel segments for package delivery, allowing vehicles to perform services during repetitive travel routes with minimal additional effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dedicated delivery agents are used for package delivery, then delivery service is provided, but energy consumption increases and resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines package delivery services with existing commuter vehicle routes by matching service requests to vehicles that already plan to travel through the required locations. This merging of delivery tasks with existing transportation routes eliminates the need for separate dedicated delivery trips, thereby providing reliable delivery service while significantly reducing energy consumption and resource waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables vehicles to perform multiple functions: their primary commuting function and an additional package delivery function. By identifying vehicles whose existing routes overlap with delivery locations, the system allows these vehicles to universally serve both their original purpose and delivery services, optimizing resource utilization and reducing overall energy consumption in the transportation system.
2Reliability
If dedicated delivery agents are used for package delivery, then delivery service is provided, but resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges delivery services with existing vehicle routes by matching service requests to vehicles that already plan to travel through the required locations. This combination eliminates redundant trips and ensures that delivery services are provided using existing transportation resources, thereby reducing resource waste while maintaining reliable delivery service.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables vehicles to self-identify as potential delivery candidates by analyzing their own driving histories and route patterns. Vehicles automatically determine whether their existing routes can accommodate delivery requests, allowing the system to utilize existing vehicle capacity without requiring dedicated delivery agents, thus reducing resource waste while maintaining service reliability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If vehicles are matched based on driving history and grid cell identification, then delivery flexibility is enhanced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the geographic space into grid cells and divides vehicle routes into travel segments based on these cells. By matching delivery service requests to specific grid cells and travel segments in vehicle histories, the system creates a structured, modular approach to route matching. This segmentation enhances delivery flexibility by enabling precise location-based matching while managing system complexity through organized, cell-based spatial analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms continuous geographic and temporal data into discrete parameters by converting locations into grid cell identifiers and time periods into standardized time windows. This parameter transformation simplifies the matching process by converting complex continuous variables into comparable discrete categories, thereby enhancing delivery flexibility through precise matching while reducing system complexity through standardized parameter representation.
Data Source
AI summary
Service requests are transmitted to multiple vehicles, each request associated with a time and a location. Driving histories of vehicles are known. A first location associated with a service request is compared with a known location in a vehicle driving history. The known location comprises a first cell identifier of a first grid where a size of the cells indicates a maximum acceptable deviation of the vehicle from a travel segment in the driving history that includes the first cell identifier. When the first location matches the known location and the associated time overlaps a start or end time of the travel segment that includes the first cell identifier, the service request is identified to the vehicle. The vehicle sends an indicator that it will perform at least a portion of a service, and an instruction is transmitted to the vehicle that causes the vehicle to perform the service.