Mobile Robot Authorization via Blockchain Certificates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous mobile robotic machines lack a secure and trusted method to authenticate and authorize themselves as agents for requesting entities during tasks, such as item transport, which is crucial for establishing trust and ensuring secure transactions in decentralized environments.
Innovation Solution
A distributed secure blockchain ledger system is used to assign digital certificates to both requesting entities and mobile robotic machines, allowing the machines to act as authorized agents by signing and posting public keys within a permissioned blockchain network, ensuring authentication and authorization for task performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If autonomous mobile robotic machines operate in decentralized environments without centralized authentication, then system autonomy and decentralization are improved, but trust establishment and authentication security deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces blockchain technology as an intermediary layer between autonomous robotic machines and the decentralized network. The blockchain ledger serves as a trusted mediator that stores and verifies digital certificates, enabling authentication without centralized control. When a robotic machine needs to prove its identity or authorization, the verifying entity queries the blockchain ledger, which returns cryptographically verified certificate data, thus establishing trust in the decentralized environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements digital certificate copying and distribution across the decentralized network through the blockchain ledger. Instead of relying on a single centralized authority, multiple copies of authenticated identity data are distributed across network nodes via the blockchain. Each node maintains a copy of the ledger containing verified digital certificates, enabling any participant to verify robotic machine identities without contacting a central server, thus maintaining both decentralization and authentication security.
2Reliability
If digital certificates are assigned and verified through blockchain technology, then authentication security and trust establishment are improved, but system complexity and computational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-assigning digital certificates to robotic machines and storing them in the blockchain ledger before the machines engage in tasks. The trusted entity signs and registers certificates in advance, creating a ready-to-use authentication framework. When verification is needed during operation, the system simply queries pre-stored certificate data from the blockchain ledger rather than performing complex real-time authentication computations, thus reducing operational complexity while maintaining security.
3Speed
If public keys are posted to network members for verification, then authorization confirmation speed is improved, but information security and exposure risk worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates the verification function from the identity data storage. Instead of exposing complete digital certificates or sensitive authentication data to all network members, the system extracts only the necessary public key components needed for verification and stores them in the blockchain ledger. The full certificate data remains protected, with only the essential verification elements being publicly accessible, thus enabling fast verification while minimizing security exposure.
Data Source
AI summary
Utilizing blockchain ledgers with mobile robotic machines is provided. A first digital certificate is assigned to a requesting entity. The first digital certificate identifies the requesting entity within a network. A request is generated for performance of a task by a mobile robotic machine. Generating the request includes: requesting the mobile robotic machine to perform the task; receiving an acceptance of the task from the mobile robotic machine; and assigning a second digital certificate to the mobile robotic machine. The second digital certificate is signed using the first digital certificate and indicates that the mobile robotic machine is authorized to perform the task. A public key of the second digital certificate is posted to member entities of the network where other member entities responsible for an item corresponding to the task are able to use the public key to confirm authorization of the mobile robotic machine to perform the task.