Patents on the soles of your shoes...: drone

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Oh, patents! Commercial drones

Imagine all your Amazon and postal service packages delivered by drone!

Although long lines at the post office, at this festive time of the year, do not appear to be the primary reason for the piloting and testing of drone deliveries carried out separately, both by the French postal service in France, and Amazon in the UK, this might well be what’s in store for the future.

Rather, it is both the costs and difficulty of accessing remote locations that prompted developments and research in this domain for the French postal service. And in the UK, for Amazon, it looks like speed of service might be part of the equation too, since Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted: “13-minutes - click to delivery time” following successful delivery of popcorn and an Amazon Fire tablet, from the Amazon fulfillment center, to the first drone-delivery customer, located 2 miles away. (WSJ, Wells & Stevens, 12/2016)

Amazon commercial drones are located at the Amazon Cambridge fulfillment center in the UK. They are permitted to operate in the airspace at 400 feet, during the daytime only, to avoid collisions with aircrafts. They are completely autonomous devices, driven by GPS, and can carry a payload of 5lbs. Amazon is testing in the UK, because it could not secure authorization to use the US airspace. (BBC)

Likewise, in France, the French postal service has begun weekly service in the remote and mountainous location of the southwestern Var region after securing permission from civil aviation authorities to operate in the airspace of that region. The French postal service drones are operated by the DPDgroup. They carry payloads up to 6 lbs, at a speed of 30 km/hour with a maximum range of 20 km. (Le Figaro; Le Monde - J.M. Normand 12/2016)

Drone deliveries are highly patented technologies. The following are a few of these patents ranging from the ADLPs (Aerial drone landing pads), to the computerized systems for managing drone delivery cycles:

WO2016196093 (A1) 2016-12-08 - Systems, methods, and apparatuses for managing aerial drone parcel transfers
US2016335898 (A1) 2016-11-17 - Automated drone management system
WO2016094067 (A1) 2016-06-16 - Drone docking station and delivery system
GB2537122 (A) 2016-10-12 - Automated drone package receiver module
US2015248640 (A1) 2015-09-03 - 3D model and beacon for automatic delivery of goods
US2014316243 (A1) 2014-10-23 - Systems and techniques for delivery and medical support
US2016101874 (A1) 2016-04-14 - Drone receiving systems and methods
US2016033966 (A1) 2016-02-04 - System and method for controlling drone delivery or pick up during a delivery or pick up phase of drone operation
US2016068264 (A1) 2016-03-10 Methods, Systems and Devices for Delivery Drone Security

References
Amazon Air Prime
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011

Amazon makes first drone delivery – Dec. 14 (BBC)

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38320067

Amazon conducts first commercial drone delivery (WSJ, Wells & Stevens, Dec. 14, 2016)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-conducts-first-commercial-drone-delivery-1481725956
DPD Group Drone Deliveries
https://www.dpd.com/home/insights/delivery_drones

In major step for drone delivery, amazon flies package to customer in the England

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/technology/amazon-drone-england-delivery.html?_r=0
Premiers clients pour les drones d'Amazon et de la Poste - Le Monde 15 déc. 2016 - J.M. Normand

http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/la-foire-du-drone/article/2016/12/15/premiers-clients-pour-les-drones-d-amazon-et-de-la-poste_5049503_5037916.html

La poste a livre son premier colis par drone (Le Figaro)

http://www.lefigaro.fr/societes/2016/12/15/20005-20161215ARTFIG00171-la-poste-se-lance-dans-la-livraison-de-colis-par-drone.php

Thursday, March 17, 2016

SXSW™ 2016 Innovation Award - Lily Robotics camera

Can you imagine a camera following you in mid-air and shooting a perfect video of you bungee jumping off a bridge, moguling down a black diamond hill, river rafting in turbulent water, or hang gliding like a bird?

Ok, but that's not all!.... When you have touched the ground, or you are at the bottom of the mogul hill, can you then imagine the camera gently landing on the palm of your hand like a falcon?

Imagine no mo’…. This is exactly what the throw and shoot, Lily Robotics, drone camera does!

Just throw it in the air like a ball and it will start to hover, and follow you around, taking videos. Then, when you are done, the camera gracefully lands on your hand, and not on the ground.

WO2015179797 titled Unmanned aerial copter for photography and/or videography discloses this invention, which essentially consists of two components: an operator device and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) copter.

The UAV copter is equipped with a portable power source, one or more image capturing devices, such as video camera(s), able to take videos. The UAV copter is further equipped with sensors, able to determine the elevation of both devices for the purposes of maintaining a preset difference in elevation, using the thrust power of the UAV copter propellers.

The UAV copter is also able to recognize the location of the operator (or subject) wearing the operator device, and of tracking the subject in a photo frame using its one or more cameras pointed at the operator / subject. Thus, for the purpose of recognizing and tracking the operator, the operator device is equipped with ‘a barometer, a magnetometer, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a GPS module, or any combination thereof.” [0010]

Compared to the prior art of UAV video cameras, Lily resolves a number of issues. First, the operator is no longer a third person, alienated from the video scene, who manually operates the UAV via remote control. Since the Lily camera can automatically detect elevation and difference in elevation, and then automatically direct its camera at the operator, independently from a photographer/operator using a remote control for operating the UAV, the operator can also be subject of the video. That is, the operator can also be the skier moguling, the bungee jumper or the bride/groom at the wedding. This is an aspect of the invention called “third person camera perspective”. The shooting is from the perspective of the camera rather than from a “first person” photographer perspective.

Another aspect of the invention compared to the prior art concerns the means for calculating and setting elevation relative to the operator device, which contains a GPS or barometer or other positioning systems. Thus, rather than calculating elevation based on the ground, the Lily UAV copter can calculate elevation in mid air, and this is what enables video shooting of a hang glider, for example. This is also what enables the UAV copter to adjust its position after it has been thrown up in the air.

Still another aspect of the Lily camera concerns the battery swapping pack. The UAV copter includes a backup battery, within the UAV battery compartment, to prevent all the parameters from resetting during battery pack swaps.

The Abstract for WO2015179797 titled Unmanned aerial copter for photography and/or videography, corresponding to the Lily UAV copter camera invention is included below with a figure drawing of the UAV copter, extracted from the patent. A short video is also included so you can see Lily in action.

Some embodiments include an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) copter for consumer photography or videography. The UAV copter can determine a first elevation of the UAV copter and a second elevation of an operator device. The UAV copter can adjust the first elevation by controlling thrust power of one or more propeller drivers to maintain a preset elevation difference between the first elevation and the second elevation. The UAV copter can locate a target subject relative to the UAV copter. The UAV copter can adjust at least one of the propeller drivers to point a first camera of the UAV copter at the operator device. In some embodiments, in response to detecting that the UAV copter has been thrown, the UAV copter can provide power adjustments for propeller drivers of the UAV copter to have the UAV copter reach a predetermined elevation above an operator device. [Abstract WO2015179797]

Naturally, this invention won an SXSW™ 2016 Innovation award in the Sci-fi no longer category!

References

Introducing Lily

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vGcH0Bk3hg

Lily

https://www.lily.camera/