Amazon patents delivery drones that can react to people human gestures
Amazon patents delivery drones that can react to people
screaming and flailing
By WASHINGTON POST MAR 22, 2018 | 3:25 PM
Amazon hopes someday to speedily deliver packages to
customers by using aerial drones.
Amazon.com Inc. has been granted a new patent by the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office for a delivery drone that can respond to human
gestures.
The concept is part of Amazon's goal to develop a fleet
of unmanned aerial vehicles that can send packages to customers in 30 minutes
or less. Issued this week, the patent may help Amazon grapple with how flying
robots might interact with human bystanders and customers waiting on their
doorsteps.
Depending on a person's gestures — a welcoming thumbs-up,
shouting or frantic arm waving — the drone can adjust its behavior, according
to the patent. As described in the patent, the machine could release the
package it's carrying, change its flight path to avoid crashing, ask humans a
question or abort the delivery.
Among several illustrations in the design, a person is
shown outside a home, flapping his arms in what Amazon describes as an
"unwelcoming manner," to showcase an example of someone shooing away
a drone flying overhead. A voice bubble comes out of the man's mouth, depicting
possible voice commands to the incoming machine.
"The human recipient and/or the other humans can
communicate with the vehicle using human gestures to aid the vehicle along its
path to the delivery location," Amazon's patent states. (Amazon Chief
Executive Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.)
Another diagram depicts the steps a drone would take when
reading human body language as it delivers packages: "Receive human
gesture"; "access gesture database"; "determine human
gesture based on gesture database"; "proceed in accordance with
determined human gesture and delivery instructions."
According to the patent, the drone's communication system
would include an array of sensors, including a depth sensor and cameras to
detect visible, infrared and ultraviolet light. The drones would be able to
recognize hand and body gestures, human voices and movement, such as a person
walking closer to the drone or away from it.
If the drones are cleared to deliver, they can release
boxes with extra padding from the air, or they can land and then offer the
parcels, the patent said.
Since unveiling its plans to develop an air delivery
service, Amazon has applied for several ambitious patents that include the use
of giant airships to serve as mobile, flying warehouses, and designs for drones
that self destruct during an emergency.
There's no word on when or even whether the
gesture-recognition system might debut. Amazon declined to comment. In 2016,
the company made its first autonomous drone delivery to a shopper in the United
Kingdom. A private customer trial for drone delivery in Britain is ongoing.
Comments
Post a Comment