Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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SMART CITY SMART DRONE UASS/UAVATTOL
SMART MAILBOX LANDING PAD
Cross-Reference to Related Applications
[0001] This application claims priority as a Continuation-in-Part to United
States Patent
Application Number 16/866,484, titled "SMART DRONE ROOFTOP AND GROUND AIRPORT
SYSTEM," and filed on May 04, 2020, that itself claims priority to United
States Provisional
Patent Application Number 62/842,757, filed May 03, 2019 titled "UNIVERSAL
AUTOMATED
ARTIFICIAL IN ______ IELLIGENT ROOFTOP UAS/UAV DRONE PORT/AIRPORT STATION FOR
GENERAL
PURPOSE SERVICES OF ROBOTIC UAS/UAVS, AND ITS SUPPORTING HARDWARE & EQUIPMENT
RELAIED TO; LOADING/UNLOADING DELIVERIES, DEPLOYMENT/ARRIVAL, DISPATCHING, AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL, CHARGING, STORING/GARAGING, DE-ICING/ANTI-ICING, ME
__________________ IEOROLOGICAL &
DATA DISSEMINATION/RETRIEVAL, BIG DATA MINING AND MIMO NETWORK SERVICES." This
Application also claims priority to United States Provisional Patent
Application Number
62/983,486, titled "SMART CITY SMART DRONE UAS/UAV//VTOL MAILBOX LANDING
PAD, filed February 28, 2020.
[0002] This application also is related to United States Provisional Patent
Application Number
63/154,746, titled "Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning -AIML SMS, SRM,
CRM, QMS &
Blockchain Cyber Security System for Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles UAV Systems,
filed February 28,
2021. These applications are incorporated herein by reference in their
entirety.
Technical Field
[0003] The embodiments provided herein for this application
relates in general to a
system and method for providing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), vertical take-
off and landing
vehicles (VTOL), electronic vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL)
unmanned vehicle
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operating systems, unmanned traffic management systems (UTM), air traffic
control systems
(ATM), and unmanned and manned airport facilities thereof, and more
specifically, to a system
and method for providing smart mailbox landing pad, charging and storage
stations.
Background
[0004] Smart drones, autonomous flying devices, and similar
unmanned vehicles are
being developed to perform delivery tasks for vendors of all kinds, including
retail
establishments, restaurants, and related food service providers. Systems
employing these
autonomous flying devices are being integrated into larger systems that may
include point-of-sale
components, autonomous flying devices, dispatch, routing, and control
components, such that
these systems may be provided as a service to business establishments as
needed.
[0005] The autonomous flying devices in some embodiments may
fly numerous flights
making deliveries before being free to return to a base station. These smart
drones may require
an ability to find a smart landing pad on numerous locations within its
service area in order to
deliver items to customers. These smart landing pads provide a secure location
to permit the
smart drones to land, deliver, and or temporarily store packages, while still
having a manual
hybrid delivery use and the ability to provide scalability and modulation
hardware and software
services and applications, with the ability to act as a charging station for
the recharge of the
unmanned anal vehicle, provide cloud exchange of big data, mining, logging,
and recording via
blockchain and Internet of Things(IoT), in order to provide a system that
distinguishes itself from
the above- defined landing platforms by offering a fully interactive, end-user
customized, smart
drone landing pad with an autonomous mailbox. A novel landing pad/mailbox,
disclosed herein
as the Smart Mailbox Landing Pad, due to its capability of utilizing the most
advanced
communications systems to interact with various state and federal agencies,
and the air traffic
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and meteorological management programs managed by said agencies and third
parties, including
but not limited to the Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM), 4-
Dimensional
Data Cube Network, the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen),
Smart
Unmanned Anal System (SUAS) for Drone Delivery and Smart Drone Rooftop and
Ground
Airport -Safety Management System (SMS) ¨ Safety Risk Management System (SRM) -
Quality
Management System (QMS) & Processes, and Blockchain Systems.
[0006] Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for
providing smart mailbox
landing pads. The present invention attempts to address the limitations and
deficiencies of
existing solutions according to the principles and example embodiments
disclosed herein.
Summary
[0007] In accordance with the present invention, the above and
other problems are solved
by providing a system and method for providing smart mailbox landing pads
according to the
principles and example embodiments disclosed herein.
[0008] In one embodiment, the present invention is a system for
providing smart mailbox
landing pads is a component of a drone unmanned system service network. The
drone unmanned
system service network communicatively connects the smart drone mailbox
landing pad, one or
more autonomous drones, and one or more drone service function devices to
provide autonomous
drone package delivery over a communications network. The smart drone mailbox
landing pad
includes a processing node having a processor, memory, a storage device, and a
network
connection to one or more communications networks, a drone landing pad, an
induced charging
pad configured to recharge a battery within one of the one or more drones, one
or more external
webcams, and a package receiving container for accepting a delivered package.
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[0009] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the one
or more autonomous
drones comprises an unmanned aircraft system, an unmanned aircraft vehicles, a
vertical take-off
and landing vehicle, an electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, a
vertical short take-off and
landing vehicle, an electric vertical short take-off and landing vehicle, a
short take-off and
landing vehicle, an electric short take-off and landing vehicle, a
conventional take-off and
landing vehicle, an electric conventional take-off and landing vehicle, a
cargo air vehicle, an
electric cargo air vehicle, a passenger air vehicle, hydrogen unmanned
vehicle, a hydrogen and
electric unmanned vehicle hybrid, and an electric passenger air vehicle.
[0010] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
smart drone mailbox landing
pad further a telescoping support tube, landing sensors, beacon lights, solar
panels, a display
device, and an input keypad.
[0011] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
package receiving container
includes an automatic opening and locking access point, temperature and
environmental control
system, modular storage components, and an internal webcam.
[0012] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
smart drone mailbox landing
pad further includes a remote smart doorbell, and a wireless smart watch. The
remote smart
doorbell and the wireless smart watch receive package delivery notification
from the processing
node within the smart drone mailbox landing pad upon receipt of a package.
[0013] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
processing node within the
smart drone mailbox landing pad downloads mobile applications containing
executable
instructions for the processor to perform from a 3d party vendor.
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[0014] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the node
within the smart drone
mailbox landing pad communicates with a network controller of the one or more
autonomous
drones to receive authorization for a particular drone to land.
[0015] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the node
within the smart drone
mailbox landing pad communicates with the particular drone to provide
authorization to land.
[0016] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the node
within the smart drone
mailbox landing pad unlocks and opens the access point to permit the delivery
of a package.
[0017] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
smart drone mailbox landing
pad further comprises weather condition measuring equipment to obtain current
weather
conditions about the smart drone mailbox landing pad.
[0018] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the node
within the smart drone
mailbox landing pad provides the current weather conditions to the one or more
autonomous
drones and the one or more drone service function devices of the drone
unmanned system service
network.
[0019] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the one
or more drone service
function devices of the drone unmanned system service network comprise a drone
flight planner,
a drone request system, a drone system state device, a drone mission checker,
a device
authentication authority, a point-of-sale system, and one or more rooftop
airport and or ground
airports, drone garages and or hangers and charging stations and charging
stations.
[0020] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the node
of the smart drone
mailbox landing pad further includes a peripheral interface for connecting 3d
party devices for
use by the node and a blockchain processor of providing a blockchain
harvesting, mining,
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logging, ledger and recording for use with other blockchain harvesting,
mining, logging, ledgers,
and recording, in other nodes within the drone unmanned system service network
to provide a
secure and redundant record of all deliveries and autonomous drone flights.
[0021] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
blockchain processor is
accessible by 3d party nodes.
[0022] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the 3d
party nodes may be added
to the smart drone mailbox landing pad to provide functionality of the
downloaded mobile
applications.
[0023] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the3d
party nodes added to the
smart drone mailbox landing pad utilize a separate processor and memory
components.
[0024] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the 3d
party nodes utilize a
separate network connection to communicate with other nodes.
[0025] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
smart drone mailbox landing
pad further comprises a battery for use when solar panels are not sufficient
to support the node of
the smart drone mailbox landing pad.
[0026] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
smart drone mailbox landing
pad further comprises a remote control device to operate the nodes of the
smart drone mailbox
landing pad.
[0027] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
telescoping operates
automatically in a handicap user mode to raise and lower the smart drone
mailbox landing pad.
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[0028] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features
and technical advantages of
the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention
that follows may be
better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be
described
hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention.
[0029] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
the conception and specific
embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or
designing other
structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It
should also be realized
by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart
from the spirit and
scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features
that are believed to
be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of
operation, together
with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the
following description
when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be
expressly understood,
however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration
and description only
and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent
corresponding
parts throughout:
Figs. la-d illustrate example embodiments of a system and method for providing
smart
mailbox landing pads according to the present invention.
Fig. 2a is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware architecture of
a computing
device.
Fig. 2b is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical architecture for
a client
device.
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Fig. 2c is a block diagram showing an exemplary architectural arrangement of
clients,
servers, and external services.
Fig. 2d is another block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware
architecture of a
computing device.
Figs. 3a-d illustrate example embodiment of a system providing smart drones,
unmanned
anal vehicles (UAVs), vertical take-off and landing vehicles (VTOLS),
electronic vertical take-
off and Landing Systems (eVTOL), and smart drones, UAVs, VTOLS, eVTOL -
charging,
launching, storing, and renting stations, according to the present invention.
Fig. 4a-h illustrate example embodiments of a smart mailbox landing pad for
use in
package delivery to a customer according to the present invention.
Figs. 5a-c illustrate additional embodiments of a smart mailbox landing pad
for use in
package delivery to a customer according to the present invention.
Figs. 6a-d illustrate example embodiments of Smart Drone/Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle
(UAV/VTOL) Charging, Launching, Landing and Storing Stations according to the
present
invention.
Fig. 7a-e illustrates a schematic of the drone airport system, according to
some
embodiments, including the unmanned systems services network, according to
some
embodiments, the communications involved in reserving and implementing a
landing
procedure, according to some embodiments, and the communications involved in
reserving
and implementing a take-off procedure, according to some embodiments.
Fig. 8 illustrates a computing system of software components of a system
providing smart
mailbox landing pad according to the present invention.
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Detailed Description
[0030] This application relates in general an autonomous drone
delivery system, and
more specifically, to a system and method for providing smart mailbox landing
pads according to
the present invention.
[0031] Various embodiments of the present invention will be
described in detail with
reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like
parts and assemblies
throughout the several views. Reference to various embodiments does not limit
the scope of the
invention, which is limited only by the scope of the claims attached hereto.
Additionally, any
examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and
merely set forth some
of the many possible embodiments for the claimed invention.
[0032] In describing embodiments of the present invention, the
following terminology
will be used. The singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents
unless the context
clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a needle"
includes reference to one
or more of such needles and "etching" includes one or more of such steps. As
used herein, a
plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or
materials may be
presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be
construed as though
each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique
member. Thus, no
individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of
any other member
of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without
indications to the
contrary. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended
to include the
plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
[0033] It further will be understood that the terms "comprises,"
"comprising," "includes,"
and "including" specify the presence of stated features, steps or components,
but do not preclude
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the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps or components.
It also should be
noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions and acts noted
may occur out of the
order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may
in fact be executed
substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order,
depending upon
the functionality and acts involved.
[0034] As used herein, the term "about" means that dimensions,
sizes, formulations,
parameters, shapes, and other quantities and characteristics are not and need
not be exact but may
be approximated and/or larger or smaller, as desired, reflecting tolerances,
conversion factors,
rounding off, measurement error and the like, and other factors known to those
of skill. Further,
unless otherwise stated, the term "about" shall expressly include "exactly,"
consistent with the
discussion above regarding ranges and numerical data.
[0035] The term "mobile application" refers to an application
executing on a mobile
device such as a smartphone, tablet, and/or web browser on any computing
device.
[0036] The terms "customer" and "user" refer to an entity, e.g.,
a human, using smart
landing pad system to receive packages including any software or smart device
application(s)
associated with the invention. The term "user" herein refers to one or more
users.
[0037] The term "connection," refers to connecting any component
as defined below by
any means, including but not limited to, a wired connection(s) using any type
of wire or cable for
example, including but not limited to, coaxial cable(s), fiberoptic cable(s),
and ethernet cable(s)
or a wireless connection(s) using any type of frequency/frequencies or radio
wave(s). Some
examples are included below in this application.
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[0038] The term "invention" or "present invention" refers to the
invention being applied
for via the patent application with the title "SMART CITY SMART DRONE
UAS/UAV//VTOL
MAILBOX LANDING PAD.- Invention may be used interchangeably with landing pad.
[0039] The terms "communicate," or "communication" refer to any
component(s)
connecting with any other component(s) in any combination for the purpose of
the connected
components to communicate and/or transfer data to and from any components
and/or control any
settings.
[0040] The present disclosure relates a system and method for
providing smart mailbox
landing pads. To better understand the present invention, Figs. la-d
illustrate example
embodiments of a system and method for providing smart mailbox landing pads
according to the
present invention. The SMART CITY SMART DRONE UAS/UAV//VTOL MAILBOX
LANDING PAD 101 (Smart Mailbox Landing Pad Mailbox), is designed to accept
parcel and
carrier deliveries performed by unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to
as drones, but is
also a hybrid use capable of accepting manual delivery by a human. The end-
user controls The
Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 via a mobile software
application
(mobile app.), utilizing navigation services such as satellite, Global
Positioning Systems (GPS),
Global Navigation Satellite System, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS),
and the fifth-
generation wireless technology communication protocols (5G), scalable down
from 4G LTE to
4G and Scalable up for future generations. The mobile app. is designed to
initiate any/all
functional features of the Smart Mailbox Landing Pad 101, and to provide the
end-user with
notices addressing the pending deliveries, environmental conditions, and
related thereto
collection and distribution of data.
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[0041] In addition to the 5G communication technology the Smart
Mailbox Landing Pad
101 combines a wide variety of communication systems including but not limited
to mobile
communication standard (LTE Advanced), Internet of Things (IoT) and associated
therewith
Smart City Data and Smart HVAC collection modules, along with object
recognition with seek
and avoid cameras and transponder modules, as well as Pre-Flight Inspections,
No Permission
No Take-Off (NPNT), Safety Management System (SMS), Safety Risk
Management(SRM)
System, Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) System, Virtual Crew Resource management
(AIML
CRM) System, Quality Management System(QMS), AIML Mitigation Risk Assessment
(AIML
MRA), Hazard Risk Identified (HRI), AIML Risk Controls (AIML RC), AIML Safety
Assurance
(AIML SA) Modules. Automated AIML Universal Code and Rulemaking and
enforcement
adoption, integration and scalability system from public institutions other
governing bodies,
public and private groups and organizations. Examples of Public Private
Participation (PPP)
options not limited to: Automated updates from Joint Authorities for Rule-
Making on
Unmanned Systems (JARUS), European Operational Risk Assessment (SORA),
American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for operational risk and
Operational Risk
Assessment (ORA), Drone Industry Insights (DRONEII), National Aeronautics and
Space
Administration (NASA). the Federal Aviation Administration (F A A), Safety
Data Collection
and Processing System (SDCPS), EUROCONTROL' s ESARR 3, Air Traffic Service
Providers
(ANSPs), Unmanned Traffic Management Systems (UTM), Low Altitude Authorization
and
Notification Administration (LAANCE), and other participating public and
private rule-making
and enforcing body and stake-holder Modules.
[0042] Using the above-defined technology, the Smart Mailbox
Landing Pad 101 will be
capable of engaging into Block Chain Data Mining, Logging, Recording (focusing
on mining of
block chain currency, transaction ledgering, pre-flight flight, enroute and
delivery logging, parts
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and maintenance logging, meteorology event logging, SMS, SRM, SRA, QR1VI,
AEVIL CRM,
SA, HRI, AIML MRA, NPNT, and other above herein systems); incorporate Data
Sharing
Services offered to both local and federal agencies as well as private
participation partnerships
(PPP) and third-party service companies, thus building and utilizing smart
city or the first
responder data; and offer the Micro-Cloud Services by converting the network
of Smart Mailbox
Landing Pads and Charging Station 101 into instantaneous and reliable source
of localized,
cloud- based network services as a true "last mile logistics".
[0043] The end-users may utilize the mobile app. with a wide
variety of wired and
wireless devices, including but not limited to personal computers, tablets,
video games, video
game consoles, video game controllers and accessories, smart phones, smart
televisions, smart
television controllers and accessories, smart refrigerators and other
contemporary communication
devices.
[0044] As shown in Fig. la the proper operation of the Smart
Mailbox Landing Pad and
Charging Station is highly depended on a reliable cloud-based network. The
Smart Mailbox
Landing Pad and Charging Station utilizes a proprietary Operating System (OS)
and Drone
Operating System (DOS) 116, comprising of 7 modules: 1) OS Module 1 -
applications operating
system for in-house and third- party platforms/ applications (Apple IOS,
Android, Roku); 2) OS
Module 2 - ready for ANSP, UTM, USS, LAANC, ATC, UAM, GATSS, SBAS, GPS, IMU,
Telemetry Systems, Radar, SBAS, US Data Exchange, USS, Laser Scanner, RAN SAC,
SOD,
FLA, RF, REID, RTLC, ATL, Barcodes, Static QR Codes, Dynamic QR Codes, SLAM,
EKF,
RWI, VPS, Clustering, IRS Rising Laser Gyro, IRS, MEMS Accelerometer Gyroscope
Management System, PEVS, UTM, and ANSP airspace management systems integration
via
cloud; 3) OS Module 3 - ready for NEXGEN network participating systems
communications and
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data sharing; 4) OS Module 4 - ready for DOS, POS, Network System, U.S. Postal
System
(U.S.P.S.), Third Party Carrier Systems and DAS system integration and data
sharing for any
platform such as smart cities or first responders. 5) OS Module 5 ¨ Block
Chain Management
System via cloud. 6) OS Module 6 ¨ Block Chain Data Mining System. 7) OS
Module 7 ¨ Cyber
Security Network System for entire network. Module 7 - the Massive MIMO and
cloud-based
artificial intelligence and machine learning (AIMIL).
[0045] Fig. lb shows the present invention containing modular
containers for fixed and
disposable containers used by smart drones that is part of a larger system
having a UAS/UAV
rooftop drone-port/airport, comprising charging, de-icing, anti-icing, storing
and parking
garage/hanger services, which provide the following capabilities: drone-on-
demand delivery
services; drones parked, stored, and/or charging in the drone garage/hanger
and/or on a drone
landing pad; orders made via mobile, land, and TV applications using wired
and/or wireless
connections; drone AT ML (artificial intelligence and machine learning) Cloud
determines if
weather permits delivery to and from the location requested at the time
requested; and drone
Cloud determines drone availability using the most properly charged, operable,
fastest, most
convenient, safest, and properly equipped drone, smart drone mailbox landing
pad and charging
station, and landing pad, for the weather conditions, payload requirements,
size requirements,
sensitivity, and any other specific demand option(s).
[0046] The Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) web
server 115
deploys the drone to the landing pad 101 for loading/unloading, drop off, and
pickup. The drone
100 is loaded and departs to its destination. The drone 100 arrives at its
destination, confirms the
receiver of the package, releases the product to the consumer, and informs the
PUS that the order
has been delivered. The drone AT INAL running on the UTM web server 115 then
selects either the
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drone's next destination based upon its remaining battery use, and sends it to
its next order, or it
parks the drone at the nearest drone airport parking station 600 where it can
recharge and wait for
further instructions.
[0047] All rooftop UAS/drone hardware 100 exterior and/or
interior equipment and
landing pad equipment 101 will have a waterproof option such as
superhydrophobic (water) and
oleophobic (hydrocarbon) coating, that will completely repel almost any
liquid, and/or
nanotechnology coating, to coat the drone and create a barrier of air on its
surface.
[0048] All UAS/drones 100 that deploy will have the option to
use UAS/UAV de-icing
inflatable boot equipment on the leading and trailing edges of the propeller
arm(s). All
UAS/drone hardware will have impact protection options, using products like
Mashable D30
Crystallex clear, formable elastomer material as protective gear on the
UAS/drones for drop test
crash resistance. In addition to deployable airbag(s), parachute(s), extra
battery(ies), telescopic
landing legs that will help to mitigate impact and damage.
[0049] The UAS/drone hardware 100 will have nanocrystalline
metal alloy options for a
lighter, stronger, and more efficient UAS.
[0050] The Smart Drone Rooftop and Ground Airport System also
referred to as Smart
Drone Airport System (SDAS) 300, as described in detail below in reference to
Fig. 3a-d, has
been designed to provide options for the following services: 1) less than load
delivery (LTL); 2)
document delivery services; 3) distribution center delivery; 4) freight on
board (FOB) delivery;
cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) delivery; 5) cost, no insurance, freight
(CNF) delivery; 6)
rideshare package delivery; 7) rideshare person delivery; 8) ride hailing; 9)
on-demand location-
and service-based UAS/drone hiring; 10) private and public use hiring; 11)
take away delivery;
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12) parking, storing, garaging, charging, de-icing, anti-icing, and docking;
13) warehousing
delivery; 14) customs and port security delivery drop offs; 15) perishable and
non-perishable
foods and product delivery; and 16) special product temperature and packaging
deliveries such as
medications, specimens, lab testing kits, and test results.
[0051] As shown in Fig. lb, the SDAS 300 is illustrated
operating from the rooftop of a
commercial building. Visible are two rows of stackable drone garage systems,
two liquid tanks
containing the de-icing/anti-icing agent (for roof surface, drone, smart drone
mailbox landing pad
and charging station, charging station, smart drone garage/hanger), landing
pad, radar system,
and communications system. The airport also contains a drone loading/unloading
landing pad
station system, which may be used for manual battery swaps and as a cleaning
station.
[0052] Fig. lc is perspective view of a low commercial structure
housing on its roof the
Drone Airport System 300, and utilizing at the street level a plurality of
landing pads, specifically
the SMART CITY SMART DRONE UAS/UAV//VTOL MAILBOX LANDING PADS 101,
designed to depict the ability of the landing pad to interact with various
drone airport
components, including but not limited to drone hangars, landing pads, charging
stations,
mailboxes and stationary weather forecasting equipment, navigation equipment,
security
equipment, safety equipment, lighting equipment, network equipment, attached
to said airport, in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0053] Fig. id is a perspective view of the SMART CITY SMART
DRONE
UAS/UAV//VTOL MAILBOX LANDING PAD 101, positioned in front of a single-family
home, designed to show the available external paneling options, incorporating
but not limited to
brick, stone, cement, wood, and plastic, in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the
present invention. In addition to solar panel options.
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[0054] The invention may use any type of network such as a
single network, multiple
networks of a same type, or multiple networks of different types which may
include one or more
of a direct connection between devices, including but not limited to a local
area network (LAN),
a wide area network (WAN) ( for example, the Internet), a metropolitan area
network (MAN), a
wireless network (for example, a general packet radio service (GPRS) network),
a long term
evolution (LTE) network, a telephone network (for example, a Public Switched
Telephone
Network or a cellular network), a subset of the Internet, an ad hoc network, a
fiber optic network
(for example, a fiber optic service (often known as Fi0S) network), or any
combination of the
above networks.
[0055] Smart devices mentioned herein the present application
may also use one or more
sensors to receive or send signals, such as wireless signals for example,
Bluetooth'TM, wireless
fidelity, infrared, Internet of Things (IoT), Wi-Fi, or LTE. Any smart device
mentioned in this
application may be connected to any other component or smart device via wired
communications
(e.g., conductive wire, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, ethernet cable,
twisted pair cable,
transmission line, waveguide, etc.), or a combination of wired and wireless
communications.
The invention's method and/or system may use a single server device or a
collection of multiple
server devices and/or computer systems.
[0056] The systems and methods described above, may be
implemented in many different
forms of applications, software, firmware, and hardware. The actual software
or smart device
application codes or specialized control software, hardware or smart device
application(s) used to
implement the invention's systems and methods is not limiting of the
implementation. Thus, the
operation and behavior of the systems and methods were described without
reference to the
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18
specific software or firmware code. Software, smart device application(s),
firmware, and control
hardware can be designed to implement the systems and methods based on the
description herein.
[0057] This new invention also has the ability to manage,
control or communicate with
multiple or unlimited number of smart drones 100, smart mailbox landing pad
and charging
station 101, launching and charging stations 600, from one or more server or
computer system
115 location without the intervention of the operator or operators or anyone
with access or
privileges to use this new invention. Although, manual override use and or
intervention is also a
feature. For example, one or more drones 100 can be managed or controlled or
communicated
with one or more servers, computer systems, or smart devices from one or more
locations. To
further exemplify, the user will be able to control or communicate with as
many smart drones
100 and smart mailbox landing pads 101 as desired from one centralized
location if desired or
more than one location.
[0058] While all of the above functions are described to be
provided to users via a mobile
application on a smartphone, one of ordinary skill will recognize that any
computing device
including tablets, laptops, and general purpose computing devices may be used
as well. In at
least one embodiment, all of the services described herein are provided using
web pages being
accessed from the web server 201 using a web browser such as SafariTM,
FirefoxTM, ChromeTM,
DuckDuckGoTM, and the like. All of the screen examples described herein show
user interface
elements that provide the functionality of the present invention. The
arrangement, organization,
presentation, and use of particular user input/output (I/O) elements including
hyperlinks, buttons,
text fields, scrolling lists, and similar I/0 elements are shown herein for
example embodiments
only to more easily convey the features of the present invention. The scope of
the present
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invention should not be interpreted as being limited by any of these elements
unless expressly
recited within the attached claims.
[0059] For the purposes of the example embodiment of Figs. la-c,
various functions are
shown to be performed on different programmable computing devices that
communicate with
each other over the Internet 110. These computing devices 111 may include
smartphones, laptop
computers, kiosks, tablets (not shown), and similar devices so long as the
disclosed functionality
of the mobile application described herein is supported by the particular
computing device. One
of ordinary skill will recognize that this functionality is grouped as shown
in the embodiment for
clarity of description. Two or more of the processing functions may be
combined onto a single
processing machine. It may be communicating as a daisy chained function
together for more
power and speed, such as quantum computing. Additionally, it may be possible
to move a subset
of processing from one of the processing systems shown here and retain the
functionality of the
present invention. The attached claims recite any required combination of
functionality onto a
single machine, if required, and all example embodiments are for descriptive
purposes.
[0060] For all of the above devices that are in communication
with each other, some or
all of them need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless
expressly specified
otherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may
communicate
directly or indirectly through one or more communication means or
intermediaries, logical or
physical.
[0061] A description of an aspect with several components in
communication with each
other does not imply that all such components are required. To the contrary, a
variety of optional
components may be described to illustrate a wide variety of possible aspects,
and in order to
more fully illustrate one or more aspects. Similarly, although process steps,
method steps,
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algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes,
methods, and
algorithms may generally be configured to work in alternate orders, unless
specifically stated to
the contrary. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be
described in this patent
application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirement that the steps
be performed in that
order. The steps of described processes may be performed in any order
practical. Further, some
steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as
occurring non-
simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step).
Moreover, the illustration
of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated
process is exclusive
of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the
illustrated process or any of
its steps are necessary to one or more of the aspects, and does not imply that
the illustrated
process is preferred. Also, steps are generally described once per aspect, but
this does not mean
they must occur once, or that they may only occur once each time a process,
method or algorithm
is carried out or executed. Some steps may be omitted in some aspect or some
occurrences, or
some steps may be executed more than once in a given aspect or occurrence.
[0062] When a single device or article is described herein, it
will be readily apparent that
more than one device or article may be used in place of a single device or
article. Similarly,
where more than one device or article is described herein, it will be readily
apparent that a single
device or article may be used in place of the more than one device or article.
[0063] The functionality or the features of a device may be
alternatively embodied by one
or more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such
functionality or features.
Thus, other aspects need not include the device itself.
[0064] Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein
will sometimes be
described in singular form for clarity. However, it should be appreciated that
particular aspects
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may include multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a
mechanism unless
noted otherwise. Process descriptions or blocks in figures should be
understood as representing
modules, segments or portions of code which include one or more executable
instructions for
implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate
implementations are
included within the scope of various aspects in which, for example, functions
may be executed
out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially
concurrently or in reverse
order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by
those having ordinary
skill in the art.
[0065] Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be
implemented on hardware or a
combination of software and hardware. For example, they may be implemented in
an operating
system kernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound into
network applications,
on a specially constructed machine, on an application-specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), on a
cyber security hardware, software and or cloud network or on a network
interface card.
[0066] Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some
of the aspects
disclosed herein may be implemented on a programmable network-resident machine
(which
should be understood to include intermittently connected network-aware
machines) selectively
activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such network
devices may
have multiple network interfaces that may be configured or designed to utilize
different types of
network communication protocols. A general architecture for some of these
machines may be
described herein in order to illustrate one or more exemplary means by which a
given unit of
functionality may be implemented. According to specific aspects, at least some
of the features or
functionalities of the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented on
one or more
general-purpose computers associated with one or more networks, such as for
example, an end-
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user computer system, a client computer, a network server or other server
system, a mobile
computing device (e.g., tablet computing device, mobile phone, smartphone,
laptop or other
appropriate computing device), a consumer electronic device, a music player or
any other
suitable electronic device, router, switch or other suitable device, or any
combination thereof. In
at least some aspects, at least some of the features or functionalities of the
various aspects
disclosed herein may be implemented in one or more virtualized computing
environments (e.g.,
network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted on one or more physical
computing
machines or other appropriate virtual environments).
[0067] Referring now to Fig. 2a, there is a block diagram
depicting an exemplary
computing device 10 suitable for implementing at least a portion of the
features or functionalities
disclosed herein. Computing device 10 may be, for example, any one of the
computing machines
listed in the previous paragraph, or indeed any other electronic device
capable of executing
software- or hardware-based instructions according to one or more programs
stored in memory.
Computing device 10 may be configured to communicate with a plurality of other
computing
devices, such as clients or servers, over communications networks such as a
wide area network, a
metropolitan area network, a local area network, a wireless network, the
Internet, cloud network,
cyber security networks, cyber security hive networks, or any other network,
using known
protocols for such communication, whether wireless or wired.
[0068] In one aspect, computing device 10 includes one or more
central processing units
(CPU) 12, one or more interfaces 15, and one or more buses 14 (such as a
peripheral component
interconnect (PCI) bus). When acting under the control of appropriate software
or firmware, CPU
12 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the
functions of a
specifically configured computing device or machine. For example, in at least
one aspect, a
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computing device 10 may be configured or designed to function as a server
system utilizing a
CPU 12, local memory 11 and/or remote memory 16, and interface(s) 15. In at
least one aspect, a
CPU 12 may be caused to perform one or more of the different types of
functions and/or
operations under the control of software modules or components, which for
example, may
include an operating system and any appropriate applications software,
drivers, and the like.
[0069] A CPU 12 may include one or more processors 13 such as
for example, a
processor from one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families of
microprocessors. In
some aspect, processors 13 may include specially designed hardware such as
application-specific
integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only
memories
(EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, for
controlling operations
of a computing device 10. In a particular aspect, a local memory 11 (such as
non-volatile random
access memory (RANI) and/or read-only memory (ROM), including for example, one
or more
levels of cached memory) may also form part of a CPU 12. However, there are
many different
ways in which memory may be coupled to a system 10. Memory 11 may be used for
a variety of
purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming
instructions, and the
like. It should be further appreciated that a CPU 12 may be one of a variety
of system-on-a-chip-
(SOC) type hardware that may include additional hardware such as memory or
graphics
processing chips, such as a QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGONTM or SAMSUNG EXYNOSTM CPU
as are becoming increasingly common in the art, such as for use in mobile
devices or integrated
devices.
[0070] As used herein, the term "processor" is not limited
merely to those integrated
circuits referred to in the art as a processor, a mobile processor, or a
microprocessor, but broadly
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refers to a microcontroller, a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller,
an application-
specific integrated circuit, and any other programmable circuit.
[0071] In one aspect, interfaces 15 are provided as network
interface cards (NICs).
Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of data packets over a
computer network;
other types of interfaces 15 may, for example, support other peripherals used
with a computing
device 10. Among the interfaces that may be provided are ethernet interfaces,
frame relay
interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, graphics
interfaces, and the
like. In addition, various types of interfaces may be provided such as, for
example, universal
serial bus (USB), serial, Ethernet, FIREWIRETM, THUNDERBOLTTm, PCI, parallel,
radio
frequency (RF), BLUETOOTHTm, near-field communications (e.g., using near-field
magnetics),
802.11 (WiFi), frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fast ethernet interfaces, gigabit
ethernet interfaces,
serial ATA (SATA) or external SATA (ESATA) interfaces, high-definition
multimedia
interfaces (HDMI), digital visual interfaces (DVI), analog or digital audio
interfaces,
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) interfaces, high-speed serial interfaces
(HSS1), point of sale
(POS) interfaces, fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), and the like.
Generally, such
interfaces 15 may include physical ports appropriate for communication with
appropriate media.
In some cases, they may also include an independent processor (such as a
dedicated audio or
video processor, as is common in the art for high-fidelity A/V hardware
interfaces) and, in some
instances, volatile and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM).
[0072] Although the system shown in Fig. 2a illustrates one
specific architecture for a
computing device 10 for implementing one or more of the aspects described
herein, it is by no
means the only device architecture on which at least a portion of the features
and techniques
described herein may be implemented For example, architectures having one or
any number of
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processors 13 may be used, and such processors 13 may be present in a single
device or
distributed among any number of devices. In one aspect, a single processor 13
handles
communications as well as routing computations, while in other aspects a
separate dedicated
communications processor may be provided. In various aspects, different types
of features or
functionalities may be implemented in a system according to the aspect that
includes a client
device (such as a tablet device or smartphone running client software) and a
server system (such
as a server system described in more detail below).
[0073] Regardless of network device configuration, the system of
an aspect may employ
one or more memories or memory modules (for example, remote memory block 16
and local
memory 11) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-
purpose network
operations or other information relating to the functionality of the aspects
described herein (or
any combinations of the above). Program instructions may control execution of
or comprise an
operating system and/or one or more applications, for example. Memory 16 or
memories 11, 16
may also be configured to store data structures, configuration data,
encryption data, historical
system operations information, big data, blockchain data mining, logging and
recording or any
other specific or generic non-program information described herein.
[0074] Because such information and program instructions may be
employed to
implement one or more systems or methods described herein, at least some
network device
aspects may include non-transitory machine-readable storage media, which, for
example, may be
configured or designed to store program instructions, state information, and
the like for
performing various operations described herein. Examples of such non-
transitory machine-
readable storage media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as
hard disks, floppy
disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical
media such as
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optical disks, and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and
perform program
instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM), flash memory (as is
common in mobile
devices and integrated systems), solid state drives (SSD) and "hybrid SSD-
storage drives that
may combine physical components of solid state and hard disk drives in a
single hardware device
(as are becoming increasingly common in the art with regard to personal
computers), memristor
memory, random access memory (RAM), and the like. It should be appreciated
that such storage
means may be integral and non-removable (such as RAM hardware modules that may
be
soldered onto a motherboard or otherwise integrated into an electronic device)
or they may be
removable such as swappable flash memory modules (such as "thumb drives" or
other removable
media designed for rapidly exchanging physical storage devices),
"interoperable" internal and
external devices, hardware, components, "hot-swappable" hard disk drives or
solid state drives,
removable optical storage disks, or other such removable media, and that such
integral and
removable storage media may be utilized interchangeably. Examples of program
instructions
include both object code, such as may be produced by a compiler, machine code,
such as may be
produced by an assembler or a linker, byte code, such as may be generated by
for example by a
JAVATM compiler and may be executed using a JAVATM virtual machine or
equivalent, or files
containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an
interpreter (for
example, scripts written in PythonTM, PerlTM, RubyTM, GroovyTM, virtual
reality augmented
reality and mixed reality languages, or any other scripting language.
[0075] In some aspects, systems may be implemented on a
standalone computing system.
Referring now to Fig. 2b, there is a block diagram depicting a typical
exemplary architecture of
one or more aspects or components thereof on a standalone computing system. A
computing
device 20 includes processors 21 that may run software that carry out one or
more functions or
applications of aspects, such as for example a client application 24.
Processors 21 may carry out
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computing instructions under control of an operating system 22 such as, for
example, a version of
MICROSOFT WINDOWSTm operating system, APPLE macOSTM or iOSTM operating
systems,
some variety of the LINUXTm operating system, ANDROIDTM operating system,
Drone
Operating System (DOS)TM or the like. In many cases, one or more shared
services 23 may be
operable in system 20, and may be useful for providing common services to
client applications
24. Services 23 may, for example, be WJINDOWSTM services, user-space common
services in a
LINUXTM environment or any other type of common service architecture used with
an operating
system 22. Input devices 28 may be of any type suitable for receiving user
input including, for
example, a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone (for example, for voice input),
mouse, touchpad,
trackball or any combination thereof Output devices 27 may be of any type
suitable for
providing output to one or more users, whether remote or local to system 20,
and may include,
for example, one or more screens for visual output, speakers, printers or any
combination thereof
Memory 25 may be RAM having any structure and architecture known in the art
for use by
processors 21, for example to run software. Storage devices 26 may be any
magnetic, optical,
mechanical, memristor or electrical storage device for storage of data in
digital form (such as
those described above, referring to Fig. 2a). Examples of storage devices 26
include flash
memory, magnetic hard drive, CD-ROM, Cloud storage, and the like
[0076] In some aspects, systems may be implemented on a
distributed computing
network, such as one having any number of clients and/or servers. Referring
now to Fig. 2c, there
is a block diagram depicting an exemplary architecture 30 for implementing at
least a portion of a
system according to one aspect on a distributed computing network. According
to the aspect, any
number of clients 33 may be provided. Each client 33 may run software for
implementing client-
side portions of a system; clients may comprise a system 20 such as that
illustrated in Fig. 2b. In
addition, any number of servers 32 may be provided for handling requests
received from one or
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28
more clients 33. Clients 33 and servers 32 may communicate with one another
via one or more
electronic networks 31, which may be in various aspects any Internet, wide
area network,
mobile telephony network (such as CDMA or GSM cellular networks), wireless
network (such
as WiFi, WiMAX, LTE, and so forth) or local area network (or indeed any
network topology
known in the art; the aspect does not prefer any one network topology over
another). Networks
31 may be implemented using any known network protocols, including, for
example, wired
and/or wireless protocols.
[0077] In addition, in some aspects, servers 32 may call
external services 37 when needed
to obtain additional information, or to refer to additional data concerning a
particular call.
Communications with external services 37 may take place, for example, via one
or more
networks 31. In various aspects, external services 37 may comprise web-enabled
services or
functionality related to or installed on the hardware device itself For
example, in one aspect
where client applications 24 are implemented on a smartphone or other
electronic device, client
applications 24 may obtain information stored on a server system 32 in the
Cloud or on an
external service 37 deployed on one or more of a particular enterprise's or
user's premises. In
addition to local storage on servers 32, remote storage 38 may be accessible
through the
network(s) 31.
[0078] In some aspects, clients 33 or servers 32 (or both) may
make use of one or more
specialized services or appliances that may be deployed locally or remotely
across one or more
networks 31. For example, one or more databases 34 in either local or remote
storage 38 may be
used or referred to by one or more aspects. It should be understood by one
having ordinary skill
in the art that databases in storage 34 may be arranged in a wide variety of
architectures and use a
wide variety of data access and manipulation means. For example, in various
aspects one or more
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databases in storage 34 may comprise a relational database system using a
structured query
language (SQL), while others may comprise an alternative data storage
technology such as those
referred to in the art as "NoSQL- (for example, HADOOP CASSANDRATM, GOOGLE
BIGTABLETm, and so forth). In some aspects, variant database architectures
such as column-
oriented databases, in-memory databases, clustered databases, distributed
databases, or even flat
file data repositories may be used according to the aspect. It will be
appreciated by one having
ordinary skill in the art that any combination of known or future database
technologies may be
used as appropriate, unless a specific database technology or a specific
arrangement of
components is specified for a particular aspect described herein. Moreover, it
should be
appreciated that the term "database" as used herein may refer to a physical
database machine, a
cluster of machines acting as a single database system or a logical database
within an overall
database management system. Unless a specific meaning is specified for a given
use of the term
"database," it should be construed to mean any of these senses of the word,
all of which are
understood as a plain meaning of the term "database" by those having ordinary
skill in the art.
[0079] Similarly, some aspects may make use of one or more
security systems 36 and
configuration systems 35. Security and configuration management are common
information
technology (IT) and web functions, and some amount of each are generally
associated with any
IT or web system. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill in the
art that any
configuration or security subsystems known in the art now or in the future may
be used in
conjunction with aspects without limitation, unless a specific security 36 or
configuration system
35 or approach is required by the description of any specific aspect.
[0030] Fig. 2d shows an exemplary overview of a computer system
40 as may be used in
any of the various locations throughout the system. It is exemplary of any
computer that may
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execute code to process data. Various modifications and changes may be made to
a computer
system 40 without departing from the broader scope of the system and method
disclosed herein.
A CPU 41 is connected to bus 42, to which bus is also connected to memory 43,
non-volatile
memory 44, display 47, I/0 unit 48, and network interface card (NIC) 53. An
I/0 unit 48 may,
typically, be connected to peripherals such as a keyboard 49, pointing device
50, hard disk 52,
real-time clock 51, camera 57, and other peripheral devices. A NIC 53 connects
to a network 54,
which may be the Internet or a local network, which local network may or may
not have
connections to the Internet. The system may be connected to other computing
devices through
the network via a router 55, wireless local area network 56 or any other
network connection. Also
shown as part of a system 40 is a power supply unit 45 connected, in this
example, to a main
alternating current (AC) supply 46 or (DC) supply (not shown)or a combination
or conversion of
either two. Not shown are batteries that could be present and many other
devices and
modifications that are well known, but are not applicable to, the specific
novel functions of the
current system and method disclosed herein. It should be appreciated that some
or all
components illustrated may be combined, such as in various integrated
applications, for example
Qualcomm or Samsung system-on-a-chip (SOC) devices, or whenever it may be
appropriate to
combine multiple capabilities or functions into a single hardware device (for
instance, in mobile
devices such as smartphones, video game consoles, in-vehicle computer systems
such as
navigation or multimedia systems in automobiles or other integrated hardware
devices).
[0031] In various aspects, functionality for implementing
systems or methods of various
aspects may be distributed among any number of client and/or server
components. For example,
various software modules may be implemented for performing various functions
in connection
with the system of any particular aspect, and such modules may be implemented
to run on server
and/or client components.
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[0082] Fig. 3a illustrates an example embodiment of a system
providing smart drones and
smart drone charging and launching stations according to the present
invention. Fig. 3 shows a
the SDAS relies on a fast, cloud-based Unmanned System Service Network (USSN)
consisting of
nodes and services, using but not limited to, GPS, Massive MIMO 4G or 5G, and
4G or 5G LTE
to maintain constant and reliable communications with drones and other
interactive components,
such as business entities and end-user wired/wireless communication devices.
The network also
must be able to maintain a reliable connection with the server and be
compatible with various
supportive systems including the drone operating system (DOS), point of sale
system (POS),
drone weather system, drone security system, smart drone mailbox landing pad
and charging
system, and smart landing pad system. Device 10 can also include but not be
limited to, in-
vehicle computer systems such as navigation or multimedia systems in
automobiles or other
integrated hardware devices, smart appliances, and a smart watch.
[0083] Every object on the DOS, SDAS, and USSN systems as an
embodiment is a
"node" and every node has the following equipment: 4G, 4G LTE and 5G LTE
antenna(s), WiFi
antenna, Raspberry Pi or similar SoC computer that can be programmed, a flash
card for storage,
an IP identifier, Remote ID, and serial number such as a smart drone landing
pad and charging
station that shall have an address that matches the physical address of the
fixed, stationed landing
pad. A "Node" can be any hardware and or software on the system. It can be
meteorology
equipment on the UAS Rooftop and Ground Airport or a hard drive on or in a
Smart Drone
Mailbox Landing Pad, in any configuration of a C-Client, E-Client, M-Client
and or M-Sub
Client. Additional details regarding the nodes and their respective types is
described in detail
below in reference to Figs. 7a-e. Every node will have the following
characteristics: Node types
consist of but not limited to the drone, battery, smart drone/UAV point-of-
sale (POS), electronic
vehicles, hybrid autonomous vehicles, fully autonomous vehicles, smart drone
rooftop and
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ground airport system, smart mailbox landing pad and charging station, smart
delivery container,
smart charging/hanger station, smart landing pads, smart drone and landing
pads, etc.; Sector
types - will be for special-purpose applications like medical delivery or law
enforcement, etc.;
unique 160 ID encryption; public-private key pair; public-key certificate;
primary status
(available or unavailable); secondary status (additional details); event log;
and schedule of
commitments. Every node has access to the following services: NextGen weather
data streams;
ADS-B data exchange; GPS; drone flight planner (DFP); drone data exchange
(DDE); drone
system state (DSS); drone mission database (D1VEDB); device authentication
authority (DAA);
and drone mission checker (DMC). Individual nodes will publish status and
event information to
the DDE at regular intervals. From this, the current state of the entire
system will be built and
updated. Additional authentication throughout this process can simultaneously
and or
individually with no importance of order communicate in authenticated way to
and for but is not
limited to, pre-flight inspection, Remote Identification, No Permission No
Take-Off (NPNT), and
LAANCE. Users and customers have access to another service called the drone
request system
(DRS) through which they can hail services.
[0084] A drone flies the next of what may be multiple legs,
waypoints and or vectors, of
the mission. A) it consults its itinerary to see which node is next; B) it
communicates in an
authenticated way to ensure that the next node is ready for its arrival; C) as
it arrives at another
node, it updates its schedule of commitments and activity logs; D) if along
the way, the drone
finds that it must update its itinerary because a node that had been included
is no longer
available, it will ask the DFP to update the itinerary and the changes will be
pushed to the
affected downstream nodes; and E) when the drone arrives at the destination
node, the delivery
will be made, a notification to the smart doorbell will be wirelessly rang,
with a text, messenger,
and or push notification on a smart watch, smart phone, smart tv, and or
online will be given to
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the end user will authenticate the receipt of the delivery via mobile app,
mobile phone, biometric
identification, wand, and or any other authentication means, the drone will
open the smart
container, smart mailbox landing pad or smart parcel mailbox landing pad, the
receiving party,
smart parcel mailbox landing pad or smart parcel mailbox landing pad will
close the container or
accept the disposable container, the drone missions database (DMDB) will be
updated to record
the finished mission, and the drone will either charge there or move on to a
recharge station if the
destination is not capable of recharging the node or head to the next mission
if capable.
[0085] Weather, traffic, ATC, TFR, etc., causes a denial for UAS
flight should the
UAS delivery not meet the permissions which provide an authentication for
flight, the controller
will provide for the following options by redirecting action to the vehicle
fleet management
(VFM) operating system module which offers four services: 1) Vendor in-house
manned vehicle
delivery service; 2) SDAS in-house autonomous unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)
hailing
service, 3) third-party manned vehicle API app hailing service; 4) third-party
autonomous
unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) hailing service using a third-party API app. A
UAS Flight that
has not given permission or has flown en route to an out of the NAS authorized
envelope for its
destination, will allow for a handoff directly to the ATC, Tower, and or
anyone within the
National Airspace (NAS) Controlled area which may manually take over the UAV
through a No
Permission No Take-Off (NPNT), No Permission No-Landing (NPNL) handoff from
the DOS to
the NAS Controller where and if necessary. Otherwise, it will remain in the
manual control of the
DOS. Once unauthorized fight is controlled, it will be handed back to the DOS
[0086] For an example of a smart mailbox landing pad and
charging station 101, the
following nodes are utilized. If the smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station is on
the Drone Ground Airport, it is a C-Client for Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad
and Charging
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Station that is External, but on a Ground Smart Drone Airport. If the smart
drone mailbox
landing pad and charging station 101 is anywhere away from the Smart Drone
Rooftop and
Ground Airport 102, it is a M-Client for a Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and
Charging
Station that is external from the Smart Drone Rooftop and Ground airport 102.
[0087] Additionally, the C-Client and M-Client Smart Mailbox
Landing Pad and
Charging Station(s) 101 may have Sub-categories that are for peripherals that
are able to be
monitored as modulated, scalable and or interoperable hardware and software
These Items will
be called M-Subcategories.
[0088] Fig. 3b shows an example embodiment of an Unmanned System
Service Network
(USSN) 300 utilized by systems according to the present invention. The USSN
300 for the smart
drone rooftop drone-port/airport is used to enable the communications
necessary to support a
robust drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)
or vertical
take-off and landing vehicle (VTOL), etc. facilities. The USSN 300 has been
designed to achieve
the following goals: A) flexibility:¨the network is agnostic and can support a
wide variety of
data communications and platforms such as DaaS, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, RaaS, and C-
RAN, allowing
for open platform integration and SDK software development; B)
extensibility¨new kinds of
devices and components can be integrated into the network readily and
inexpensively; C)
security¨all communications will be encrypted for confidentiality and signed
so that
components will authenticate themselves to the USSN and to each other; and D)
performance¨
data exchange will occur efficiently when and where it is needed so that
components can perform
their intended functions. Remote ID authentication of all "Node" components
will be required
throughout the process as and when needed.
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[0089] The USSN 300 utilizes the drone flight planner (DFP) 302,
drone request
system (DRS) 303, a drone system state (DSS) 304, a drone mission checker
(DMC) 305, a
drone mission database (DMDB) 310, and a drone authentication authority (DAA)
308. The
customer requests service from the DRS 303 which asks the DFP 302 to plan a
flight. The
DFP 302 sends the origin and destination to the DSS 304 which responds with
the status
information of candidate nodes for the mission. The DFP 302 invites nodes to
be part of a
mission via the DAA 308 which sends an authentication message to the nodes
which may
accept or reject the invitation which may be returned to the DFP 302. The DFP
302 may then
transmit a confirmation to the DAA 308 which passes the confirmation to the
nodes. The DFP
302 logs the flight in the DMDB 310 and the nodes send status changes to the
DAA 308 which
forwards the status changes to the DSS 304. The DSS 304 sends status changes
to the DMC
305 to determine if any active missions must be updated. The DMC 305 queries
the DMDB
710 to help it identify affected missions, and if missions are affected, the
DMC 305
transmits a request to the DRS 303 to launch a drone flight modification
request to repeat the
process. The drone system services network provides flexibility,
extensibility, security,
performance and scalability to the drone airport system.
[0090] USSN Architecture. The USSN 300 consists of nodes and
there are three types of
nodes from the original filing and two additional types of nodes added for the
smart drone
mailbox landing pad and charging station: controllers (C-Client), smart drone
rooftop and ground
airport clients (R-clients), extended external clients (E-clients) that are
not on the smart drone
rooftop or ground airport, smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging
station clients (M-
Client) that are extended and external from the smart drone rooftop and ground
airport, and smart
drone mailbox landing pad and charging station sub-category clients (M-Sub
Clients) that are
components on or within the extended and external smart drone mailbox landing
pad and
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charging station. Each smart drone rooftop drone port/airport will employ one
or more controller
node(s) if necessary and as many client nodes as the rooftop can accommodate
based on
government compliance and class approvals. The controller provides services to
the client nodes
and serves as the smart drone rooftop airport's central point of contact. The
controller node sends
commands and configuration information to the client nodes and receives data
and service
requests from them. The controller and client communicate with each other over
a TCP-IP and or
Wi-Fi Network. The controller node communicates with devices beyond the
rooftop using a 4G,
4G LTE, or 5G mobile data network.
[0091] USSN Controller Node Architecture. The controller node
consists of an Internet-
connected computer, authentication fob, GPS transmitter, and mobile network
antenna. The
computer and authentication fob are housed in a theft-proof, environmentally
hardened container.
The authentication fob is a USB key containing the controller's 160-bit
identification number
(TD) and private RSA key. The controller runs a modern commercial-grade
operating system that
hosts the following: 1) a Wi-Fi router with managed IP address assignment; 2)
a web server
configured with the controller's public key certificate; 3) a database server;
4) a web application
featuring a RESTful API, through which R-clients, E-clients, M-Clients and or
M-Sub Clients,
may request reservations, data and other services; 5) an event logger; 6) a
fees ledger for keeping
track of takeoff and landing fees to collect; 7) an R-client, E-clients, M-
Clients and M-Sub
Clients, inventory tool used to keep track of the R-clients, E-clients, M-
Clients and M-Sub
Clients that the controller manages; and 8) an R-client, E-clients, M-Clients
and M-Sub Clients
messenger tool for communicating instructions and data with R-clients, E-
clients, M-Clients and
or M-Sub Clients.
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[0092] USSN R-Client Part 1. An R-client is located on the
rooftop with the controller. R-
clients include non-optional and optional modular features from both the
provisional patent filing
incorporated herein, plus the integration options of: Rooftop Landing Pads,
Rooftop
Landing/Charging Stations, Rooftop Storage-Charging-Deicing-Hanger Stations,
Rooftop
Delivery Storage Containers, Hail Pads, Rooftop Quick Change UAS Battery
Stations, Air
Navigation Service Provider Devices (ANSP) Systems, 4G, 4G LTE, and 5G Air to
Ground and
Air to Air Systems, Next GEN Weather Station Systems, Weather Data Equipment
and Collection
hubs (Anemometer, Thermometer, Barometer, Digital Rain Gauge, Lightning
Detector,
Automated Weather Observing Systems(AW0S), Automated National Weather Service
(NWS) Data,
Low Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWSAS), Low Level Wind Shear Alert System
Network
Expansion, (LLWAS NE), Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS), Automated
Weather
Sensor System (AWSS), Wake Turbulence Equipment, Low Level Wind Shear Advisory
System
(LLWAS), Runway Status Lights (RWSL) systems for runway and taxi way lighting,
Runway
Entry Lights (REL), Take-off and Hold Lights (THL), Line-Up and Wait Lights
(LUAWL), Low
Intensity Runway Lights (LIRL), Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE),
ASDE-X
(Model X) using radar, multilateration and satellite, and LGA ASDE for manned
and unmanned
UAVs, VTOI,S, and eVTOT,s, Airport Surveillance Radars (ASR-9), En Route
Automation
Modernization (ERAM), NextGen Air Transportation System, with PDC-Pre
Departure
Clearance and UAS Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability
(LAANC)
Automated Clearance, 4-Cube, User Request Evaluation Tool (URET)-which checks
continuously for aircraft and unmanned aircraft midair conflicts between other
aircraft and
unmanned aircraft by evaluating the time before conflict, conflict
configuration to estimate the
probability that the situation will develop into a close approach then notify
a sector if needed
with 10 to 20 minute notifications ahead of time using its predictive
statistics, X-terminals, D-
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Controllers, Automated En Route Air Traffic Control (AERA), Seek and Avoid
Equipment,
Required FAA Remote ID Transponder/Sensors (Such as ADS-B, C-Mode, S-Mode, M-
Mode,
etc.), Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), Center Weather Service Unit
(CWSU), North
American Route Program (NRP) for SID, STAR, Canned Waypoints, Departure
(PITCH) and
Arrival (CATCH), Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) and Non-Vertical
Separation
Minimum (Non-RVSM) equipment, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Autonomous
Automation Equipment, Performance Based Navigation (PBN) such as RNAV Standard
Instrument Departures (SID), Standard Terminal Arrival (STAR), T-Routes
(Terminal Routes),
Q-Routes(Using Waypoints), V-Routes (Vector Airways), and J-Airways (Jet
Airways), Distance
Measuring Equipment (DME), Manual and or Automated Air Route Traffic Control
Center
(ARTCC) for national transportation, Traffic Management System, Ground
Navigational Aids
(NAVAIDs) such as ILS, VORAC, VOR, and NDB, Global Navigation Satellite System
(GNSS)
such as Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM), Ground Based
Augmented System
(GBAS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and Satellite Base Augmented System
(SBAS),
Approach Control Facilities, Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT), Automated
Terminal Radar
Approach Control (TRACON/ATRACON) for manned and unmanned aviation, Fight
Services
with Automated Aircraft, UAVs, eVTOI,s and VTOL Collision Separation
(Longitudinal,
Vertical, Lateral), Minimum Vectoring Altitudes (MVA), and separation between
Aircraft,
UAVs, eVTOLs and VTOL and protected airspace, Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR-
9/11) for
an integrated primary and secondary Digital Radar, Minimum Safe Altitude
Warning System
(SAWS) for Conflict Alerts (CAs), Ceilometer, Automated Sectional, Terminal,
Low Altitude
IFR and High Altitude Aeronautical Charts hardware and software for manned and
hybrid fight,
Virtual Approach Gates, Airport Noise Management System (ANMS) for aircraft,
UAV, VTOL,
eVTOL, noise and noise monitoring abatement for Day-Night Average Sound Level
(DNLs),
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Sound Exposure Levels (SELs), OMP Build Out Noise Contour (BNC), Frequency
Hopping
Spread Spectrum Radio(FHSS), Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA), RADAR, Light
Detecting and Ranging(LiDAR), Infrared, Sonar Object Detection Device (SOD),
Radio
Frequency Device (RF ), Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs), Static
and Dynamic
Quick Response Devices (QR Codes), Solar Panels, Active Digital Distributed
Antenna System
(DAS), Near Field Communication Antenna (NFC), Wireless Fidelity Wireless
Internet System
(WiFi), WiFi router, 4G, 4G LTE and 5G Devices, Global Positioning
Transmitting
System(GPS), Global Air Traffic Surveillance System Devices (GATSS), Inertial
Reference
System Devices (IRS), Unmanned Aerial System Service Supplier (USS),
International Mobile
Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Anti Catchers (Cell Tower Simulators) Systems,
Wide Area
Augmentation System (WAAS), NFC antenna, Bluetooth Antenna, Low Wind Antenna,
C RAN
Antenna System, Massive MEMO, Common Public Radio interfaces (CPRI), Baseband
Unit
(BBU), Base Station, Base Transceiver System (BTS), Coordinated Multi Point
(CoMP),
Beamforming Hardware, Transport Extension Nodes (TEN), Central Area Nodes
(CAN), Carrier
Access Point (CAP), Wide Area Integration Node (WIN), Voltage Standing Wave
Radio
(VSWR), Wireless Broadband, WiMAX, Zigbee Wireless Devices, Spectrum Access
Systems
(SAS), Multi-Tenant Data Center (MTDC), Citizens Broadband Radio System Device
(CBRS),
CUAS/CUAV, (Counter Anti-Drone Devices), Anti EMP Devices, Internet of Things
Devices
(IoT), Dedicated Short Range Communication Devices (DSRC), Drone to Drone
Communication
Devices (D2D), Drone Landing Pad Communication Devices (D2L), Drone to
Infrastructure
Communication Devices (D2I), Drone to Drone Single Hop Broadcasting Devices,
Drone to
Drones Multi Hop Broadcasting Devices, Drone Platooning Devices, Sensors,
Intelligent Lighting,
Blockchain Devices, Telemetry Devices, Sky Cameras, Security Cameras, Vision
Process
Systems (VP S), Real World Interface (RWI), Extended Kalmen Filter (EKF),
Simultaneous
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Localization and Mapping Devices (SLAM), Fast Lightweight Autonomy System
(FLA), Random
Sampling Consensus Devices (RANSAC), Laser Scanner, US Data Exchange Devices
(USDE),
Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability Devices (LAANC), Urban
Air Mobility
Eco System Devices (UAM), Real Time Locating System (RTLC), Asset Tracking
Label System
Devices (ATL), Barcodes, Servers, Auxiliary Energy Systems, Unmanned Traffic
Management
Devices (UTM), FANS 1, FANS 1/A Systems, FANS Router, FAN enabled Avionics,
Edge
Computing Systems, Cloud Systems, Multi Cloud Systems, Local Cloud Systems,
Distributed
Cloud Systems, Hybrid Cloud Systems, Compute Edge, Device Edge, and Sensor
Edge Systems,
Machine Learning Systems, Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR)/Mixed
Reality (MR)
Systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems, High Performance Networking
(HPN) Systems,
Predictive Maintenance Systems, Asset Optimization Systems, cognitive analytic
systems,
Industrial Internet of Things ( IoT ) Automation Systems, Digital Operations
Systems,
DigitalOps Systems, DigiOps Systems, VMWare Systems, and Public and Workforce
Safety and
Efficiency Systems.
[0093] USSN R-Client Part 2. Satellite Based Augmented System
(SBAS) integration
modulation that supports Wide Area or Regional Augmentation Worldwide: A)
North America-
Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS); B) Europe-European Geostationary
Navigation
Overlay Service (EGNOS); C) Japan-Multi-Functional Satellite Augmentation
System (MSAS);
D) India-GPS Aided Geo-Augmentation Navigation (GAGAN). The technology is a
critical
component of the FAA's Next Generation (NextGen) program and the EUROCONTROL
SESAR initiative. "Upgrading" to SBAS involves replacing an existing flight
management
system (FMS) with a new SBAS-capable FMS. As an in-line replacement, the
Universal
Avionics SBAS-FMS constitutes minor changes to wiring, antennas, keying and
configuration when certified for most LPV capabilities. Still, most of the
existing wiring may be
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used. Non- LPV SBAS-FMS installations have lesser changes. However, direct
installation of an
SBAS on a UAS rooftop airport allows for use of the FAA' s NextGen with no
upgrading.
[0094] USSN R-Client Part 3. SBAS allows for national air space
(NAS) integration of
aircraft and helicopter transportation with UAS, UAV, VTOL, eVTOL, CTOL, STOL,
heliport,
vertiport, rooftop drone-port/airports integration modulation. Approved GPS
position input
sources in accordance with the appropriate TSO for integration with approved
transponders for
the ADS-B Out mandate compatible with SBAS around the world: WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS
and
GAGAN. This ensures compliance with precision-area navigation (P-RNAV). Key
element of
performance-based navigation (PBN) and required Navigation performance (RNP)
/Area
Navigation (RNAV). This allows for user-friendly use with more capabilities to
reduce pilot
workload for hybrid autonomous and manual pilots and increase flight
operations efficiently for
unmanned aircraft with every new universal avionics SBAS-FMS installation and
major
hardware upgrade. Enhanced safety provided with the latest TSOs more accurate
SBAS and GPS
information to the onboard TAWS/EGPWS and TCAS. This eliminates manual RAIM
prediction
requirements, incorporates high-speed ethernet technology that allows for
faster data downloads
via the Solid-State Data Transfer Unit (SSDTU). Low-level and high-level smart
UAS, UAV,
VTOL, eVTOL, rooftop and surface airports/vertiports and or integrated hybrid
heliports, can
provide for direct routing and direct approaches that eliminate the step-down
type approaches.
This will allow for shorter routing to secondary airports due to adverse
weather conditions that
will be provided by rooftop meteorology equipment and/or NAS available third-
party services.
Drones will be equipped with ADS-B to have the ability to receive traffic
information, weather
data, and flight information. Virtual airways that may be designated by the
Department of
Transportation, FAA and/or other government entities for drones will be
integrated in US SN as a
R-client virtual drone airway (VDA). The SDAS rooftop drone ports/airports
will be able to
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seamlessly integrate with the key component of the universal avionics Future
Air Navigation
System (FANS) solution.
[0095] USSN R-Client Part 4. The FANS integration modulation
will provide: A) an
option for direct data link communication between the pilot, remote pilot and
the air traffic
controller (ATC); B) Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System
(ACARS)
communications (satellite-based); C) Communication, Navigation, and
Surveillance (CNS)/ Air
Traffic Management (ATM) for Air Traffic Service (ATS) providers; D) Data Link
Service
Providers (DSP)/Communication Service Providers (CSP). Radio or satellite
technology
(SatCom) issued to enable digital transmission of short, relatively simple
messages between the
aircraft, UAS, UAV, VTOL, eVTOL, CTOL, STOL, heliports, vertiports and ground
stations.
Communications typically include the traditional air traffic control
clearances, pilot requests, and
position reporting. The goal of FANS is to improve performance related to
communication,
navigation and surveillance (CNS) / air traffic management (ATM) activities
within the operation
environment. Through a satellite data link integration feature, airplanes,
drones, UAS, UAV,
VTOL and eVTOL equipped with FANS can transmit Automatic Dependent
Surveillance (ADS)
reports with actual position and intent information at least every 5 minutes.
This can provide for
real-time en route and re-route Al weather reporting from FANS and NextGen to
and between
airplanes, drones, UAS, UAV, VTOL and eVTOL aircraft.
[0096] US SN R-Client Part 5. Additional integration modulation
for observation,
prediction, UAS, UAV,VTOL, eVTOL, CTOL, STOL deployment and third-party
services, that
will be available with the assistance of UAS/UAV, VTOL, eVTOL, CTOL, STOL,
meteorological, networking, and operating systems equipment on the SDAS drone-
port/airport:
A) information disseminated from the drone equipped with a drone anemometer
and/or
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barometer and/ or IMU, in order to create Drone Aircraft Reports (AMDAR) that
were deployed
from the SDAS drone-port/airport. Common Support Services-Weather (CSS-Wx) ¨
Which
publishes info provided by the NextGen weather processor and use of the System
Wide
Information Management Network to the FAA and National Airspace System (NA S);
B)
Observations through the following: NextGen CCS-Observati on s-Satellite
Imagery; Radar
Imagery; Aircraft Reports (AMDAR); Surface Reports (METARS); Upper Air Reports
(Balloon
Soundings); Numerical Modeling; Statistical Forecasting ¨ NWS Forecasters,
Auto Forecast
System and Forecast Integration; CoSpa: Consolidation Storm Prediction for
Aviation; Storm
Prediction Center (SPC); Drone Weather Avoidance Field (WAF and UASWAF) Module
¨ with
Drone Deviation Model and Forecast Drone Avoidance Regions Models, Vortex 2
and 3 ¨ for
Weather Chasing and Reporting with Drones; National Severe Storms Laboratories
(NSSL); and
Drone In-house, Mesonet and or other third-party drone fleet data sharing; and
other smart
devices that collect data and send it to the controller and that may receive
instructions from the
controller.
[0097]
USSN R-Client Hardware. Each R-client includes as part of its hardware the
following: 1) a system-on-a-chip (SoC) computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, that
is equipped with a
WiFi Antenna; 2) a USB key that includes the R-client's 160-bit identification
number and private
key; 3) an R-client configuration manager that holds the 160-bit ID and public
key of the
controller; 4) an R-client messenger tool for communicating instructions and
data with the
controller; 5) a Wi- Fi router, NFC antenna, and or Bluetooth Antenna to
communicate with other
R-clients or, for Small Landing Pads/ Smart Mailbox and Parcel Landing Pads,
Smart Charging
Stations, Hangers, HeliPort, VertiPorts for Drones (UAS, UAV, VTOL, eVTOL,
etc.), that land
on it.
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[0098] USSN E-Clients. An E-client is any remote device or
application that requests or
uses the services of the rooftop airport. Examples of E-clients include in-
flight UAVs, PO S
systems, take away delivery apps, API and SDK apps, flight-hailing apps,
public safety systems,
Amber Alert systems, first responder systems, blockchain systems, cyber
security systems,
weather-reporting systems, and logistics operators. E-clients communicate with
controllers to
request services, request data, provide data, arrange flights, and coordinate
landings.
[0099] Installing an SDAS rooftop drone-port/airport 300. The
controller maintains an
inventory of R-clients. R-clients include rooftop landing pads and other
equipment discussed
hereinabove associated with the drone services that share the roof. To install
a new R-client the
rooftop operator will: 1) register the R-client's 160-bit ID in the
controller's R-client inventory
system; 2) register the controller's ID and public key with the R-client's
configuration manager; 3)
assign the R-client a fixed IP (Remote ID) address through the controller's
WiFi router; and 4)
install the R-client messenger tool on the R-client and configure it to
communicate with the
controller.
[0100] Reserving and Implementing a Takeoff Part 1. A remote
requestor uses a web
browser or mobile app to connect to the controller' s reservations homepage.
User, pilot and/or
controller specifies -takeoff request- as the type of transaction, which of
the controller's
available drone models to schedule, destination GPS, and type of payload. The
controller scans
its inventory of available drones to identify a match. After asking for and
receiving confirmation
from the remote requestor, including payment of the fees associated with the
takeoff, the
controller, at the designated takeoff time, sends GPS coordinates of the
selected UAV's
destination to the UAV's host pad through the R-client messenger tool. The
host pad
communicates the GPS coordinates to the UAV, completes an automated and or
manual pre-
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flight inspection, receives all necessary permissions for take-off, however,
no permission, no
take-off (NPNT), this should take and initiates the takeoff. The host pad
notifies the controller
that the takeoff occurred. The controller and or blockchain logs the event in
its schedule and
resets the R-client landing pad's status to available.
[0101] Reserving and Implementing Takeoff Part 2. A remote
requestor uses a web
browser or mobile app to connect to the controller's reservations homepage. 1)
S/he specifies
"takeoff request" as the type of transaction; 2) to which of the controller's
available drone models
to schedule, destination GPS, and type of payload; 3) the controller scans its
inventory of
available drones to identify a match; 4) after asking for and receiving
confirmation from the
remote requestor, including payment of the fees associated with the takeoff,
the controller, at the
designated takeoff time, sends GPS coordinates of the selected UAV's
destination to the UAV's
host pad through the R-client messenger tool; and 5) the host pad communicates
the GPS
coordinates to the UAV, completes an automated and or manual pre-flight
inspection, receives all
necessary permissions for take-off, however, no permission, no take-off
(NPNT), this should take
and initiates the takeoff. The host pad notifies the controller that the
takeoff occurred. The
controller and or blockchain logs the event in its schedule and resets the R-
client landing pad's
status to available.
[0102] USSN Other Data Requests. Besides landing pads, a rooftop
may contain other R-
clients whose services and/or data E-clients may request. For example, service
providers may
request low altitude weather data from NextGen weather measurement and data
collection
devices. To request data from R-clients, a would-be consumer will access the
controller's web
page to request the desired service/data set. It is up to the owner/
configurator of the controller to
decide which services to make available to which E-clients and to implement
the
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communications needed to provide the service. Based on that configuration, the
controller and R-
client will coordinate fulfilling the E-client's request. The controller
serves as the initial point of
contact that authenticates and then fulfills the request, In-house and third-
party APIs and SDKs
can be customized for customer needs as well.
[0103] USSN System Network and Cyber Architecture Platform. This
is the entire
platform integration of the: 1) microservices platform agnostic; 2)
cybersecurity reference
architecture; 3) corporate data center; 4) AWS security or the similar
security and cloud diagram;
and 5) USSN node system hardware and software diagram.
[0104] All portable drone landing pads are a part of the
infrastructure and shall have, in
addition to the owner of record's address and Remote ID, the longitude and
latitude quadrants
and GPS location of the portable landing at the time of its request and use.
In some
embodiments, a flight plan, dispatch approval (manual and/or automated), and
payload/cargo
manifest will be digitally logged and uploaded via cloud computing systems
known in the arts to
all required authorities/agencies and/or vendor/servicer participants for any
UAS/drone flight
executed for service and or delivery. A friend and or family option will allow
for multiple
assigned and authorized users on one portable landing pad with a Master Remote
ID and or Sub-
Remote ID and or IDs for each authorized participant using the portable
landing pad at the time
of use period.
[0105] Up to two alternate routes may be provided by an
algorithm and/or artificial
intelligence (Al) for best in-route flight results based on all variables
necessary and that can
affect a safe UAS/drone flight, such as weather, traffic, availability,
inoperability, unforeseen
delays, no-fly zones, Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs), Geo Fencing
Guidelines, Waypoint
Restrictions, and the like. Upon confirmed matches of all above IP and
physical addresses
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assigned to such owners of record via the UAS/drone operating system (DOS),
the drone mobile
and online applications, and any other means of consumer private and
commercial public use and
request may proceed with its routes.
[0106] The system 300 of Fig. 3b shows the USSN 300 supporting
both a rooftop airport
and charging station 102 as well as the smart mailbox landing pad and charging
station 101
disclosed herein. With respect to these landing pad locations and their
respective interaction with
both drones 100 and the USSN 300, The processes perform similar functions
associated with
instructing an autonomous smart drone 100 to land and take off to perform
deliveries. Where the
smart mailbox landing pad 101 is envisioned to be located near individual
destinations for
packages of all types, the rooftop airport landing pad 102 accepts for landing
and permits
takeoffs for drones 101 before and after a delivery of a package is performed.
In both cases, the
Device Authentication Authority 308 authenticates and authorizes a particular
smart drone 100 to
takeoff, fly a route, and to land. The unique Remote ID for the drone 100
should be recognized
as being permitted to use the various landing pads, as well as specifically
intended to land at a
given landing pad. Similarly the Device Authentication Authority 308
authenticates and
authorizes a particular node associated with a specific landing pad to ensure
that the smart drone
100 is intended to deliver a package to that particular mailbox. The Device
Authentication
Authority 308 implements a permission to fly protocol for drones and landing
pads under its
control. While a No Permission No Fly protocol is described herein as a
preferred embodiment
for a protocol used by the Device Authentication Authority 308, other
protocols may also be
implemented.
[0107] In some embodiments, SDAS smart drone landing pad
stations 101 and rooftop
UAS drone-ports/airports 600 will have an option that allows for weather
descriptor codes to be
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relayed and translated by cloud computing automation and big data to the
appropriate receiving
location in need of it for important to automated flight decisions, data
harvesting, mining,
dissemination, and storing. Additional description of the USSN system 300 and
its functionality
is described within the parent application United States Patent Application
Number 16/866,484,
titled "SMART DRONE ROOFTOP AND GROUND AIRPORT SYSTEM," and filed on May 04,
2020.
This application is incorporated by reference herein. What is important to
note is that any
hardware or software that is necessary for use within this environment will be
called a "node"
and those nodes will be categorized by C, E, R, M, and M-Sub Clients.
Interoperability allows
for the continual modulation and scalability of any and all sensors,
actuators, parts, software,
equipment necessary for the operational use.
[0108] The Drone Airport System, via the DOS system, will
integrate the Next Generation
Air Transportation System (NextGen), an FAA-led project, focusing on
development of a system
designed to implement innovative new technologies and airspace procedures to
improve safety,
shown in FIG. 7c. By the integration of NextGen, CSS, 4-D Cube, and MIMO
technologies in the
aviation field with our Rooftop UAS/UAV/Drone Port/Airport(s),
UAS/UAV/Drone(s) and our
UAS/UAV/Drone Landing Pads and UAS/UAV Garage/Hanger/Charging Station, within
the
National Airspace System(NAS), Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) System,
U.S. Postal
System(U.S.P.S.), and Third Party Carrier Systems, our UTM DOS system is able
to provide accurate
and Al automated: 5G MIMO Network Communications, Layered Cyber Security
Integration,
UAS/UAV/Drone POS Land/Mobile System for Retailer and Consumer Order
fulfillments, Satellite
Weather and Traffic Data - for Real Time Weather and Traffic Decision
Making(such as a Flow
Constrained Area (FCA)).
[0109] In addition, the NextGen will also enable accurate and Al
automated Traffic Control,
GPS Ground UAS/UAV/Drone Detection, Satellite In-Flight Detection and
Avoidance of In-Flight
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UAS/UAV/Drones and or In-Flight Weather Avoidance Field(s)(WAF )that has been
translated into
Weather Constraints via NextGen ATM Weather Integration- from Order and
Delivery - back to
Home Base or Redirect, and for Al Automated Management of Multiple Grounded,
Parked, Stored
and In-Flight UAS/UAV/Drone(s) - having Transponders, Receivers and or
Cellular Chips, both In-
House and to Third Party System(s), Detection of Vacant, Pending, Committed,
Decommissioned
and or Occupied UAS/UAV/Drone's Drone Landing Pads, Garages/Hangers/Charging
Stations.
[0110]
The UTM DOS System will be able to transmit its own weather information
and
traffic data to the same systems and third-parties.
[0111]
Fig. 3d is a graphical chart outlining integration of the smart city smart
drone
UAS, UAV, VTOL, eVTOL mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 into the
Drone
Industry System Corp's UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL/HeliPort/VertiPort Rooftop and
Ground
Airport/Drone Port System(s, the Next Generation Air Transportation System
(NextGen), the
US S Service Supplier(USS), Air Navigation Service Provider(ANSP), the Low
Altitude
Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) (UAS Data Exchange), the
Next Generation
Air Transportation System (NextGen), an FAA- led project, Urban Air Mobility
(UAM) Eco-
System, the Satellite Based Augmented System(SBAS), the Global Air Traffic
Surveillance
System(GATSS), both NASA and or FAA-led project(s), IoT and Telemetry,
focusing on
development of a system designed to implement innovative new technologies and
airspace
procedures to improve safety, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of
the present
invention. True Last Mile Logistics (TLML) can also be achieved through this
system. As shown
in Fig. 3d, the Smart Mailbox Landing Pad and charging station 101, via the
DOS system, will
integrate, including but not limited to, the CSS, 4-D Cube 320, and MIMO low
latency
technologies, and the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), an
FAA-led
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project, focusing on development of a system designed to implement innovative
new
technologies and airspace procedures to improve safety.
[0112] By the integration of NextGen, CSS, 4-D Cube 320, and
MIMO technologies in
the aviation field with our Smart Drone Rooftop and Ground UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL
Airport(s)/Drone Port(s), UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL Drone(s) and our Smart
UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL Drone Landing Pad(s) and Charging Stations, and Smart
UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL Garage/Hangar/Charging Station, within the National
Airspace
System(NAS), Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) System, U.S. Postal System
(U.S.P.S.),
Third Party Carrier Systems, and ground Logistic, Supply Chain Logistics and
Telemetry
Systems, our UTM DOS system is able to provide accurate and AT automated 5G,
4G, and or 4G
LIE as well as scalable to the next generation(s) such as 6G, etc., MIMO
Network
Communications, Layered Cyber Security Integration, Smart UAS/UAV/Drone PUS
Land/Mobile System for Retailer and Consumer Order fulfillments, Satellite
Weather and Traffic
Data - for Real Time Weather and Traffic Decision Making (such as a Flow
Constrained Area
(FCA)), Block Chain Management, Block Chain Logging, Block Chain Ledgering,
Block Chain
Recording, and Block Chain Data Mining.
[0113] Fig. 3d shows the 4-Dimensional (4-D) Weather (Wx) Cube
320, incorporated
into the cloud-based operating system of the smart city Smart Drone
UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL
Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101, enabling continuously updated
weather
observations (surface to low Earth orbit, including space weather and ocean
parameters), high
resolution (space and time) analysis and forecast information (conventional
weather parameters
from numerical models), designed to predict various aviation parameters
(icing, turbulence,
wind, visibility, wind gusts, low level wind shears, humidity, temperature,
and other weather
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anomalies), in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention. Each Smart
Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 will be broadcasting to the
Drone Airport
System 300, the information regarding the surrounding weather conditions, and
at the same time,
the system will collect the data requested by the end-user via the mobile app.
A plurality of Smart
Drone Mailbox Landing Pads and Charging Station 101 broadcasting the same
information will
form a network, which may be integrated with the Drone Airport System (DAS),
the NextGen
Air Transformation System, and the 4-Dimensional (4-D) Weather (Wx) Cube 320,
as shown on
Fig. 3c.
[0114] The 4-Dimensional (4-D) Weather (Wx) Cube 320, is
incorporated into but not
limited to the DAS Weather Module, enabling continuously updated weather
observations
(surface to low Earth orbit, including space weather and ocean parameters),
high resolution
(space and time) analysis and forecast information (conventional weather
parameters from
numerical models), designed to predict various aviation parameters (icing,
turbulence, wind,
visibility).
[0115] Fig. 4a-h illustrate example embodiments of a smart
mailbox landing pad and
charging station for use in package perishable and non-perishable delivery to
a customer
according to the present invention. Figs. 4a-b illustrate an example
embodiment of a smart drone
mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 for a system providing smart
modular containers
(permanently fixed on the drone and or a leave behind container packaging)
used by drones,
smart drones and drone charging and or launching stations, smart drone
charging and or
launching stations according to the present invention. The autonomous flying
devices 100 travel
from vendor establishments to customers to deliver items that have been
ordered for delivery.
The autonomous flying devices 100 land upon a landing pad assembly 101 in
order to permit
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customers to retrieve purchased items from within an attached container of the
autonomous
flying devices 100.
[0116] Fig. 4a shows a non-descriptive UAV vehicle 100 hovering
directly above the
landing pad assembly 401. The landing pad assembly 101 is mounted to the
ground utilizing a
support tube 402 in accordance with the present invention. The assembly 101
includes a support
tube 402, quick release pin 404, telescoping tube 406, tube to pad adapter
408, landing pad
assembly 410, landing sensors 412, beacon lights 414, near field communication
(NFC)
transmitter/receiver 416, wireless fidelity/wireless intemet (WiFi) system
418, and solar panel
120.
[0117] Fig. 4b shows a non-descriptive UAV vehicle 100 hovering
directly above the
landing pad assembly 410. Moreover, the figure shows the top surface of the
landing pad
assembly 410, displaying its functional features. Imbedded into the assembly
410 is a solar panel
420 designed to provide the assembly 410 with uninterrupted electrical power.
When functional,
the landing pad 410 utilizes the imbedded NFC transmitter/receiver 416 and the
built-in WiFi
418 systems to establish the radio data communication with the incoming UAV
100. These
systems are designed to guide the incoming UAV 100 to the landing pad 410
utilizing GPS.
Upon approach to the landing pad 101, the UAV 100 can rely on the landing
pad's 410 built-in
landing sensors 412 and the beacon lights 414 to guide it to the final landing
position. The entire
process is controlled/monitored by the end-user via readily available
electronic devices, such as
smart phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, smart watches, mind control head
gear, and or smart
tv' s.
[0118] The landing pad 410 was also designed with various public
facilities and
government agencies in mind. Accordingly, the landing pad 410 can be easily
adapted for use on
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military installations, law enforcement facilities, airports, schools,
hospitals and various other
public properties. The landing pad 410 can be attached to a top surface of any
existing structure,
or by utilizing the tube to pad adapter 408 as shown in Fig. 4a.
[0119] The landing pad assembly 101 depicted in Fig. 4a, shows
several new
improvements applicable to both a portable version of the landing pad 101 and
a stationary
version of the landing pad 101. The first improvement addresses the existing
solar panel unit 120
of the landing pad 101. As described in Fig 4a, the solar panel 420 was
primarily designed to
charge the landing pad 101 and its internal systems. These systems,
specifically the WiFi
communications system 418, the landing pad sensors 412, and the beacons 414,
assist the drone
100 in locating the landing pad 401 and provide guidance during the landing
process. The new
solar panel 420 will not only provide the energy for the internal systems of
the landing pad 101,
but it will also serve as a charging station for any drone 100 utilizing the
landing pad 101 itself. It
is important to note that the landing pad assembly 101, both portable and
stationary, is not strictly
dependent on the solar panel 420 for its power supply. Inductive Charging Pads
will also be a
choice of wireless charging that simply requires the drone to land on the
inductive charging pad
and immediately begin charging, which may use Qi Standards (the wireless
standard for
inductive charging) wireless drone charging. The smart landing pad and drone
or smart drone,
may use either or a hybrid of the two energy sources. The landing pad 101 may
also draw its
power directly from the nearby source of alternating current (A/C) and or
Direct Current (D/C)
by utilizing an optional power cord. If the alternating current is not
available, the landing pad 101
may draw its power from an optional, portable battery pack supplying an
appropriate level of
direct current to power the assembly and its components. The combination of
all or two or more
of these power sources may also be used simultaneously if and when needed by
direct use and or
conversion use.
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[0120] Fig. 4c shows the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad's and
charging station's
operation features including a digital touch screen 413, three-access points
(envelope slit 414, top
lid 402 and front door 412 that can either be scaled up or down based on
custom order
modulation), solar panels 403, induction charging pad 426, water drainage and
de-icing channels
405-406, mail flag 422, automated and or manual handicapped mode 417, for
telescopic height
and door(s)/hatch(es) mode, motion and environmental sensors, telescoping pole
421, external
and internal cameras 419, as well a plurality of options, including but not
limited to side solar
panels 424, portable systems drawer, inductive charging pads 426, hand held
remote controls,
and micro space containers. Solar panels are modular and can be exchanged for
direct power.
(AC and or DC).
[0121] The touch screen can be used for manual operation of the
Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and charging station 101, which means the end-user may, without
the mobile app,
operate all internal/external features of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad
101. The touch
screen implements, and utilizes fingerprint capabilities, retina reading
function, and drone
identification numbers and Remote IDs to enable anyone's access to the Smart
Mailbox Landing
Pad and Charging Station 101, including the ability to open the front door
412, or the top lid 402
of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101. Once the top
lid 402of the
Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 is opened, the end-
user may use the
large monitor, attached to the internal surface of the top lid, to control the
features of the Smart
Mailbox Landing Pad 101. Here, the end-user can monitor the incoming parcels,
and may review
the collected data.
[0122] The internal monitor also implements two video cameras.
The cameras provide an
overview of the internal contents of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and
Charging Station.
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The cameras functionality is accessed via the mobile app. and may be used to
confirm the
delivery of a specific parcel. The external camera, attached to the front door
of the Smart Drone
Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101, is designed to provide the end-
user with a view
of the outside, or the surrounding area of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad
and Charging
Station 101. Once again, the end-user via the mobile app. will be able to
review the weather
conditions, and if necessary, confirm which individuals approached, touched or
delivered mail to
the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101. The external
camera will also
provide the end-user with a visual confirmation of drones landing, charging,
and departing, the
Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101. As well as act as a
security feature
that the end user may view by mobile ap a live and real time stream of
anything that moves and
activates the camera or by personal manual use from the Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and
Charging Station 101.
[0123] Moreover, to ensure precise synchronization of movement
between the drone and
the Smart Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101, the system
incorporates a wide
variety of flight directing and controlling systems, including but not limited
to the global
positioning system (GPS) 401, geo-tracking system, object tracking system,
autonomous take-off
and landing support system, precision landing functions, light detection and
ranging (LiDAR),
positional sensors, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, flight
routing and re-
routing system, and the external vision and sensor systems.
[0124] Fig. 4d shows drone deliveries of items exceeding the
internal capacity of the
collection cavity, will be disposed on the top lid of the Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and
Charging Station 101. The weight of the package can allow for the inside base
of the packaging
floor to push down further to accept additional packages by assessing the
weight with a spring
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and or automated hydraulic in order to lower the base of the packaging floor
to accommodate the
additional packaging of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging
Station 101. These
deliveries utilize reusable and fixed non-reusable temperature-controlled
perishable foods,
pharmaceutical, lab testing, vaccines, and non-perishable, etc., smart
delivery containers;
therefore, they do not rely on the temperature controlling systems of the
Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and Charging Station 101. However, the said reusable and fixed non-
reusable
temperature-controlled perishable foods, pharmaceutical, lab testing,
vaccines, and non-
perishable, etc., delivery containers, similarly to the modern cell phones,
may utilize the charging
capabilities of the Smart Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101, once
the reusable and
fixed non-reusable temperature-controlled perishable foods, pharmaceutical,
lab testing,
vaccines, and non-perishable, etc., smart delivery container makes contact
with the top lid the
Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101.
[0125] Additionally, regular parcel deliveries, thus parcels not
requiring temperature-
controlled environments, will be delivered via drones by placing said parcels
inside the collection
cavity. The drones 100 carrying the parcels will continuously communicate with
the Smart
Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101. Upon approach, the Smart Drone
Mailbox
Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 will open the top lid, enabling the
placement of the parcel
inside the collection cavity. Also, the drone 100 delivering the parcel may
signal the need to
recharge its batteries. If the process of recharging drones 100 has been
permitted via the app. by
the end-user, the drone will signal the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and
Charging Station
101 to close the top lid, allowing the drone to gently land on the top,
thereby initiating the
process of recharging the batteries. The smart drone, drone or drone and smart
drone deliver
container may also be placed direct on the top of the closed Smart Drone
Mailbox Landing Pad
and Charging Station 101, where notification of delivery will require the end-
user to come out,
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confirm their identity and order, automatically open the door of the smart
delivery container, then
take the detached delivered reusable container or open the fixed non-reusable
smart delivery
container and take the perishable and or non-perishable item(s) out of the
smart delivery
container, whereby the smart delivery container door will automatically open
and the drone will
leave to its next destination.
[0126] The Smart Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101
will draw its power
from the solar panels, located on the top lid, or from other auxiliary solar
panels, or from the
inductive charging panel, which may be attached to the top and or the side
walls the Smart
Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101. The Smart Mailbox Landing Pad
and Charging
Station 101 may also be connected to a direct source of AC current, which in
turn will be
converted to DC current, and used for recharging its batteries, and the
batteries of the drones
using the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101.
[0127] Individuals wanting to deliver mail will have to open the
front door and place their
parcels inside the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station's
collection cavity, as
shown in Fig. 4e. Envelopes may be placed inside through the envelope slit,
also located inside
the front door. The end-users, will be able to confirm the new delivery using
the mobile app. or
by looking at the package notice lights, disposed on the front door; wherein
the red light indicates
no new deliveries, and the green light confirms the existence of newly
delivered mail, while a
yellow light feature indicates delivery in transit to the Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and
Charging Station 101.
[0128] The Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station
101 utilizes a wide
variety of support systems. The most basic support is a fixed pole, designed
to firmly attach the
Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 to the ground. The
alternative to
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the fixed pole is a telescoping pole, shown in Fig 5a. Using the mobile app.,
the end-user may set
the telescoping pole to automatically adjust its height, and the height of the
Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 attached to it. The end-user may also
preprogram the
height of the pad to accommodate individual(s) revisiting the Smart Drone
Mailbox Landing Pad
and Charging Station 101. The automatic adjustment may also be set to rely
upon the exterior
camera, located in the front door; wherein said camera will scan the height of
the approaching
individual and automatically adjust the height of the Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and
Charging Station 101 to accommodate that individual. A remote control can also
manage the
heights for the end-user of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging
Station. 101.
[0129] The fixed, or the telescoping mounting pole, may be
replaced with a micro space
container, shown in Fig. 4f. The end-user may rent the micro space to various
entities interested
in storing hardware, firmware, and APIs used for aggregation and dissemination
of data such as
but not limited to Block Chain Mining, Logging, Ledgering, Recording or for
Surface Weather
Reporting Data. As shown in Fig. 4g, The Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and
Charging
Station 101 comprises of several, function-oriented modular components 425-
426, including but
not limited to the mailbox landing pad, charging station, portable system
drawer 425, micro
container, collection cavity, optional side solar panels432a-c and inductive
charging panels. The
side solar panels, shown in Fig. 4f, may be used to generate more operational
energy, or to store
the accumulated energy, which may be sold to the local power grid company. The
modulated
spaces within drawers 425-426 are not just for scalability and
interoperability of the parts,
hardware, and software. This additional space also may provide a housing of
all the same with
the option for a third party to rent space within the modulated system by
using our hardware,
software or their own. This usage would be a Smart Mailbox Landing Pad that
can rent and or
sell physical and or virtual software and or hardware modulation, container
and storage space.
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[0130] As with the side solar panels of Fig. 4h, the sides of
the Smart Drone Mailbox
Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 may be covered by removable panels 432a-c
over other
decorative materials, prefabricated and sold as panels, wherein these
materials include but are not
limited to brick, stone, wood, cement, carbon fiber, glass and or plastic.
These sliding panels
432a-c are shown in Fig. 4h as adding additional solar panels become
eclectically connected to
the power within the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101.
Prefabricated decorative marketing and advertisement materials may be sold as
panels where
these materials include but are not limited to paper, cardboard, plastic,
carbon fiber, wood, brick
stone, glass, and or cement.
[0131] As disclosed herein, the smart mailbox landing pad and
charging station 101 is
considered a node that is part of the US SIN 300 that may include processing
elements that
perform additional functions as contained within software downloaded into the
node. With this
ability to add software, the smart mailbox landing pad and charging station
101 may include an
ability to enable components of the smart mailbox landing pad and charging
station 101 that are
not part of every configured smart mailbox landing pad and charging station
101. For example, a
smart mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 may include a postage scale
within this
container that permits a customer to place outgoing mail and packages within
the smart mailbox
landing pad and charging station 101 for pickup after the appropriate amount
of postage has been
purchased.
[0132] The customer may purchase the postage using any of the
computing devices
disclosed herein including but not limited to a smartphone, tablet, public
kiosk, laptop, personal
computer, and the like. Alternatively, the node within the smart mailbox
landing pad and
charging station 101 may interact with a display and keypad that is on the
face of the smart
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mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 to purchase the postage. In such
a situation, the
postage may be printed into a label to be added to the package. The postage
may also be
communicated to the worker who makes the pickup of the package and added once
obtained.
[0133] The above example is considering the United States Postal
Service (USPS) to be
the carrier making the pickup and delivery. Of course, the node of the smart
mailbox landing pad
and charging station 101 may also communicate with other carriers, such as UPS
and FedEx.
The node of the smart mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 may also
provide the
customer with the cost required for each of these carriers and the expected
transit time to permit a
customer to obtain a desired deal. The additional of downloadable software to
the node in the
smart mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 allows a 3d party service
provider to create
their own applications that utilize the functions of the smart mailbox landing
pad and charging
station 101 for any other possible service. These 3d party service provider
may implement a
version of this same application onto mobile devices, a server accessible
using a web browser,
and kiosks that may be located spaces that may interact to ship a package or
perform any
function supported by the smart mailbox landing pad and charging station 101.
[0134] The smart mailbox landing pad and charging station 101
may provide additional
functional capabilities through the use of peripheral devices and processing
nodes as disclosed
herein. These additional capacities comprise integration within an Unmanned
Airport and
Delivery Infrastructure, internal Environmental Control, hazard detection and
mitigation of
Chemical, mechanical, electrical and biological hazards, integration within a
Point of Sale
System, telemetry collection, storage and forwarding, integration into a Smart
UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL/Rooftop and Ground Airport System, and integration with a
3rd Party
Delivery and Ordering System.
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[0135] The unmanned airport and delivery infrastructure includes
but is not limited to
addition of smart mobile application development platform devices (MADP),
smart mobile
consumer application platform (MCAP), smart mobile application platform
(MEAP),
autonomous ground vehicle delivery integration, and autonomous UAS, UAV, V-
TOL, EV-TOL
delivery integration.
[0136] The internal environmental control includes but is not
limited to addition of
internal thermal insulation and soft padding in storage cavity, internal hvac
digital climate
control, and noise abatement measures.
[0137] The hazard detection and mitigation of chemical,
mechanical, electrical and
biological hazards includes but is not limited to addition of internal UV
disinfectant, internal
explosive trace detectors (ETD), internal biohazard scanner, internal positron
emission
tomography (PET), internal computerized tomography scan (CT), and bird and
insect audio and
sent deterrent.
[0138] The integration within a Point of Sale System includes
but is not limited to
addition of point of sale system integration, and point of sale delivery
system integration.
[0139] The Internet of Things (IoT) integration includes but is
not limited to the addition
of internal camera for real time mobile app viewing of packaging and internal
bar code scanning
device when package is delivered.
[0140] The integration with a 3rd Party Delivery and Ordering
System includes but is not
limited to addition of internal rental storage space for third-party hardware
storage use, smart
mailbox landing pad opens vertically as a door hatch on top of the mailbox
when a package is
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delivered., digital and manual keypad interface, manual keylock, manual use
doors, slots and
compartments for delivery, and receive and ship packaging.
[0141] The blockchain processing within a node of the smart
mailbox landing pad and
charging station includes but is not limited to blockchain delivery logistics
ledger and order
tracking, blockchain merchant transaction, shipping 8z handling and service
fee processing,
blockchain ledge data mining and transaction calculations, and blockchain
record and tangible
and intangible asset tracking and trading.
[0142] Figs. 5a-c illustrate additional embodiments of a smart
drone mailbox landing pad
and charging station for use in perishable and non-perishable package delivery
to a customer
according to the present invention. Fig 5a shows a smart drone mailbox landing
pad and
charging station 101 having an adjustable telescoping post to accommodate
different users.
[0143] Fig. 5b shows a smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station 101
communicating with a customer via a mobile application regarding a particular
delivery of a
perishable and or non-perishable package having sensitive environmental
requirements. The
customer utilizes a Downloadable In-House and Third Party Mobile interactive
application 511
that is typically provided by a vendor and may be supported on mobile devices
running a
commercially available operating systems, including but not limited to an in
house DOS, i0S,
Android, etc.). The customer downloads the mobile app 511 onto mobile devices
515 including
but not limited to a Mobile Phone, iPad, Laptop, Desktop, Online, etc., The
mobile app 511
updates all other hardware on end user network, while updating the Smart
Mailbox Landing Pad
and adding functionality for each custom and specific the mobile app 511. For
example,
perishable and or non-perishable product being delivered may require specific
hardware to
support the delivery.
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[0144] The mobile app 511 is tailored to accommodate the type of
smart mailbox landing
pad available by the customer with the specific hardware and software to
achieve the needed
functionality. Each mobile app 511 will have its own parameters, codes and
instructions that will
allow for the Smart Drone, Smart Drone Rooftop and Ground Airport, Smart
Container, Spart
POS System, Smart Charging Storage Garage Hanger and DOS and third Party
Operating
Systems to communicate with it, modify and scale it and deploy it. The mobile
app 511 also
displays relevant information to the customer when receives a specific type of
package. For
example, the delivery notice provided to the customer by the mobile app 511
may provide
different information when package is an ordinary package 512 or a temperature
sensitive
package 513. The mobile app 511 may tailor such notifications to support any
number of
package types supported by the smart mailbox landing pad 101.
[0145] Fig. 5c shows a drone or smart drone 100 delivering a
package to a smart drone
mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 communicating with a customer
regarding the
delivery. The Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 also
incorporates a
handicapped mode of operation. Here, the end-user may pre-program the mobile
app. to adjust
the settings of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101
to accommodate
the individual disability-related needs. The adjustment may include the
enlargement of the
mobile app. screens, or pre-programmed height adjustment of the telescoping
pole. In the event
that the settings of the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station
101 were reset to
accommodate another individual, the handicapped individual will be able to
reinitiate his/her
custom settings, without the mobile app. by simply pushing the handicapped
mode button,
located on the front door.
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[0146] Additionally, a Smart Doorbell and Smart Watch 600 is a
hardware and software
node that has both security camera features, push notification features, it
turns on when it detects
an object moving in front of it. The Smart Watch 600 turns on when the drone
101 has notified
the smart doorbell 600 or smart watch 600 that the drone 101 is about to
arrive. The Smart
Watch 600 also turns on when someone physically rings the doorbell 506. A user
may turn on the
Smart Watch 600 if the customer simply wishes to monitor their home for
security and or safety.
The Smart Watch 600 allows for the end user to see the video in real time on
their device (mobile
or otherwise). The Smart Watch 600 automatically turns off after an end of a
user receipt of
goods, and end of a user request, receipt of a Smart Drone Request during
completion, and/or
when the package is no longer in or on the smart mailbox landing pad 101.
[0147] The Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station
101 also
incorporates a smart doorbell video/audio hardware feature that allows for the
end user to view
and hear the package being delivered via mobile device. This will allow for
the recordation,
replay, archiving and distribution of the file for each delivery via cloud.
The Smart Drone
Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101 will communicate with the
doorbell to ring the
doorbell upon delivery. The OS System will provide pre-notifications to
participate in the
viewing of the delivery through the doorbell video/audio hardware and well as
mobile push
notifications to provide an additional form of alert for delivery.
[0148] Fig. 5d, illustrates a schematic from the POS Point of
Sale System and POS
Customer Modules, using various mobile and land devices to place an order
using TV and or
Smart TV 451, and Alternative USB, SIM Card, SD Card or Similar Data Storage
Device.
This will allow for you to access the SDAS, DOS, USSD, system(s) and its
various agnostic
API applications for Drone Delivery and other Drone Services, allowing for
Picture in
Picture Viewing while placing your order
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[0149] Figs. 6a-d illustrate example embodiments of Smart
Drone/Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle (UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) Charging and Launching Stations according to the
present
invention. In addition to the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging
station 101, the
SDAS 150 includes rooftop and or ground smart drone launching and charging
garage/hanger
stations 600. The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 may
be used to pick
up items for deliveries from merchants' landing pads 101 and flown by smart
drones /drones
(UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100 to customer mailbox landing pads and charging
garage/hanger station
101 for delivery. As noted herein, a smart drone 100 may seek to recharge its
batteries while
resting on a smart mailbox landing pad and charging garage/hanger station 101
if the landing pad
101 is so equipped. The rooftop and ground smart drone launching and charging
garage/hanger
stations 600 provide a longer-term storage, recharging, and servicing location
for the smart
drones/drones (UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100 when the smart drones/drones
(UAV/VTOL/eVTOL)
100 are not in use.
[0150] The rooftop and ground smart drone launching and charging
garage/hanger
stations 600 are small stations of one or more hangers for a drone that may be
located on ground
surface as well as upon rooftops of buildings near locations that the smart
drones/drones
(UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) are intended to fly. As with all other components of the SDAS
150, the
rooftop smart drone launching and charging garage/hanger stations 600 act as
nodes on the
system 150 that communicate with the smart drones/drones (UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100,
the
server 115, and all other nodes in the system that are authorized for use. As
a node, the rooftop
and ground smart drone launching and charging/drones (UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) stations
600 may
download applications for execution on computing devices contained therein.
Sensors, such as
weather recording devices, web cameras, and the like may be attached as
peripherals to the
computing devices within the rooftop and ground smart drone launching and
charging/drones
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(UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) stations 600. The data obtained from any of these peripherals
may be
used by other nodes in the USSN 300 as needed.
[0151] Fig. 6a shows an example embodiment of components
comprising a rooftop and
ground smart drone launching and charging/drones (UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) stations 600
according
to the present invention. As showing in Fig. 6a, the common components of the
drone docking,
charging and launching station 600, include top cover 611, top solar panel and
or inductive
charging panel 612, top cover run off channels 613, linear actuator 614, side
walls 615, side solar
panel and or induction charging panel 616, side protective material 617, side
multiunit clips 618,
door 619, door hinges 630, retractable plate 631, landing pad compartment
6322, energy
convertor drawer 633, portable energy convertor 634, portable battery 635. The
drone charging
station 600 includes solar panel has been replaced with a power connecting
grid, designed to
ensure proper connectivity between the charging station's 600 solar energy
convertors 636 and
637 and the drone 100.
[0152] The solar panels 612 and 616 provide the necessary
energy to operate the charging
station 600 and to charge the drone 100 parked inside of said charging station
600. The unit 600
may utilize anywhere from two to eight solar panels and or inductive charging
pads 612, 616.
The two primary solar panels and or inductive charging pads are positioned on
the top cover 611
of the charger 600. The additional solar panels 616 may be attached to the
charger's 600 side
walls 635. The energy captured by said solar panels and or inductive charging
pads 612 and 616
is directed to the portable energy converter 114, positioned inside of the
energy converter drawer
633, shown in FIG. 1 and 2. The necessary conversion of the solar energy and
or inductive pad
energy may also be done by using the stationary energy convertor 637,
utilizing the hard-wired
connection 636.
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[0153] Fig. 6b shows an example embodiment of a rooftop smart
drone charging and
launching /drones (UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) stations 600 according to the present
invention. As
shown in Fig. 6b, in situations where the stationary energy convertor 637 is
utilized, the energy
convertor drawer 633 may be removed, to reduce the profile of the charging
station 600 visible
on a building structure.
[0154] To protect from the external elements, the charging
station 100 may utilize a wide
variety of protective materials 617, including but not limited to wood, steel
and roof shingles, as
shown in Fig. 6a, which could be attached to its side walls 615. To ensure
protection of a drone
100, positioned inside of the charging station 600, the top cover 611 also
includes run off
channels 613, designed to guide the collecting rainwater away from the
charging station's 600
external structure.
[0155] Fig. 6c shows various different styles of smart drone
charging and launching
/drones (UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) stations 600 according to the present invention. The
charging
station 600 comes in two configurations: 1) single unit configuration,
offering a wide variety of
styles, shown in Fig. 6c, capable of forming multiple units as needed. The
single configuration
charging station 600, using the roof mounting brakes 642, may be attached to
the roof of a
residential building 640, tool shed or a garage structure. Moreover, using the
deck mounting
plate, the charging station 600 is perfectly suitable for mounting on a deck
structure 643, as
shown in Fig. 6c, or when using the ground mounting bracket 644, for
positioning the charging
station 600 on a lawn of either commercial or residential 640 structure.
[0156] Fig. 6d shows a smart drone/drone (UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL)
100 and a non-
detachable drone fixed package smart delivery container 100a but a detachable
smart delivery
container only for maintenance, according to the present invention. The smart
drone/drone
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(UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100 is shown above a fixed non-removable smart
drone/drone
(UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) container that can be a removable container for
maintenance only
100a for maintenance but is fixed on the drone. There is a cavity inside the
smart delivery
container whereby a custom sliding drawer or simply the perishable or non-
perishable can be
placed into and in which items for delivery may be stored in one possible
embodiment of the
present invention. The non-removable container 100a may provide environmental
controls and
be detached when arriving at a smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging
station 101. In
other embodiments, the container 100a may open to place its package contained
therein into a
storage cavity of the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
101. The removable
disposable/reusable packaging is a leave behind container, with the perishable
and or non-
perishable product, instead of actually taking the container 101a with the
drone 100 after the
customer has taken delivery of the perishable and or non-perishable delivery.
[0157]
FIG. 7a illustrates a schematic of the smart drone rooftop and ground
airport
system 700 including a Smart Drone Rooftop Airport, Smart Charging/Docking
Station, ATC
and LAANC. 701 to receive and harbor a plurality of vehicles including drones
and unmanned
vehicles requiring storing and or charging before operational deployment to a
destination. Drones
represent in this description ("UAV's" or "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" or "UAS"
or "Unmanned
Aerial Systems" or "VTOL's or "Vertical Take Off and Landing Vehicle" or
"eVTOL's" or
"Electric Vertical Take Off and Landing Vehicle" or "VSTOL' s" or Vertical
Short Take-Off and
Landing Vehicles" or "STOL' s" Short Take-Off and Landing Vehicles" or "eSTOL'
s" or
"Electric Small Take-Off and Landing Vehicle" or "CTOL' s" or "Conventional
Take-Off and
Landing Vehicle" or "eCTOL' s" or "Electric Conventional Take-Off and Landing
Vehicle" or
"AV's" or "Autonomous Vehicles" or "CAV's" or "Connected and Autonomous
Vehicles" or
"Cargo Air Vehicles" or "CAV's" or Electric Cargo Air Vehicles" or "eCAV's" or
"PAV' s" or
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"Passenger Air Vehicles" or hydrogen unmanned vehicle or a hydrogen and
electric unmanned
vehicle hybrid or ePAV's" or "Electric Passenger Air Vehicles").
[0158] An agnostic AT Cloud Computing Microservices System with
DaaS, IaaS, PaaS,
SaaS, RaaS, C-RAN, SDAS, DOS, USSN, Cyber and Network Security Network 702 in
operable
communication with a point-of-sale (PUS) system 703 and similar auxiliary
systems utilized by
the Smart Drone Rooftop and Ground Airport System 704 described herein. A
network 705
operates via a USSN-to-cloud communication protocol (control and command,
telemetry, etc.) to
communicate with the smart airport drone system 704 provided on a rooftop or
similar terminal
and a ground control system 706 permitting operators to control various
aspects of the
embodiments provided herein, which can be either ground or autonomous and
virtual(VR, AR,
MR). The Device Authentication Authority 308 is also utilized to receive
flight plans that
specify a take-off location, a proposed route, a landing location, and a
remote ID associated with
a specific smart drone 100. The Device Authentication Authority 308 determines
whether the
smart drone 100 may fly along the proposed route to land at the landing
location. Once the
authorization is granted and sent to the smart drone 100, the ground control
station 706, and the
smart mailbox landing pad 101, the flight may commence.
[0159] Each node may be characterized by at least one of the
following: Node type
(drone, battery, point-of-sale, rooftop, mailbox, etc.), Industry Type
(Public, Private, Public
Private Participation(PPP), Military), Sector type (for special-purpose
applications like medical
delivery or law enforcement), Unique 160-bit ID, Public-private key pair,
Public-key certificate,
Primary status (available or unavailable), Secondary status (additional
detail), Event log, and
Schedule of commitments. Each node may include the following NextGEN weather
data streams,
ADS-B data exchange, GPS, Drone Flight Planner (DFP), Drone Data Exchange
(DDE), Drone
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System State (DSS), Drone Missions Database (DMDB), Device Authentication
Authority
(DAA), and Drone Mission Checker (DMC).
[0160] Individual nodes will publish status and event
information to the DDE at regular
intervals. From this, the current state of the entire system will be built and
updated. Users and
customers have access to another service called the Drone Request System (DRS)
303 through
which they can hail services.
[0161] In some embodiments, four types of delivery order
services are available for UAV
delivery. Drone Industry Systems Corp Orders (DISC) taking a direct order from
our customer,
who are using our In-house web site or mobile app., which only allows for
selecting our direct
participating vendors. Vendor's direct customer order operates by a vendor
taking a direct
order from the customer, using the vendor's web site or mobile app., connected
to our API-OEM
POS operating system and UAS hailing service. Vendor in-house hailing request
operates by a
vendor in our DISC network, hailing a drone from our POS system for an in-
house and or phone
delivery order. A third party take away delivery service hailing request
operate by a third party
taking an order direct from their customer, using our OEM API hailing app. and
UAS hailing
services.
[0162] In some embodiments, nodes may include controllers,
rooftop clients (r-clients),
and extended clients (e-clients). Each rooftop airport will employ one
controller node and as
many client nodes as the rooftop can accommodate. The controller providers
services to the
client nodes and serves as the rooftop airports central point of contact. The
controller node sends
commands and configuration information to the client nodes and receives data
and service
requests from them. The controller and client's communication with each other
over a local Wi-
Fi network or similar network configuration.
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[0163] In some embodiments, the controller node consists of an
internet-connected
computer, authentication fob, GPS transmitter, and a mobile network antenna.
The computer and
authentication are housed in a theft-proof container and resilient container.
[0164] In some embodiments, The Future Air Navigation System
(FANS) integration
modulation: to provide an option for direct data link communication between
the pilot, remote
pilot and the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), an Aircraft Communications
Addressing and
Reporting System (ACARS) communications (satellite-based), Communication,
Navigation and
Surveillance (CNS)/ Air Traffic Management (ATM) for Air Traffic Service(ATS)
Providers,
and Data Link Service Providers (DSP)/Communication Service Providers (CSP).
[0165] Radio or satellite technology (SatCom) may be used to
enable digital transmission
of short, relatively simple messages between the aircraft, UAS, UAV, VTOL,
Heliport,
Vertiport's and ground stations. Communications typically include the
traditional: air traffic
control clearances, pilot requests, and position reporting.
[0166] The goal of FANS is to improve performance related to
Communication,
Navigation and Surveillance (CNS)/Air Traffic Management (ATM) activities
within the
operating environment. Through a satellite data link integration feature,
airplanes UAS, UAV,
and VTOL equipped with FANS can transmit Automatic Dependent Surveillance
(ADS) reports
with actual position and intent information at least every five minutes. The
position is based on
the highly accurate Global Positioning System (GPS).
[0167] In some embodiments, a Real-time En route and Re-Route Al
Weather Reporting
feature from FANS and NextGen to and between airplanes UAS, UAV, and VTOL
aircraft. An
additional integration modulation is included for observation, prediction,
UAS/UAV deployment
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and third- party services, that will be available with the assistance of
UAS/UAVs,
meteorological, networking, and operating system equipment on the UAS/UAV
rooftop drone
port/airport.
[0168] Information is disseminated from UAS/UAVs equipped with a
UAS/UAV
anemometer and or barometer, in order to create UAS/UAV Aircraft Reports
(AMDAR) that
were deployed from UAS/UAV rooftop drone port/airports. Common Support
Services-Weather
(CSS-Wx)- which publishes info provided by the NextGen weather processor and
use of the
system wide information management network, to the FAA and National Airspace
System
(NAS).
[0169] Observations are performed through the following: Next
Gen CCS-Observations:
Satellite imagery; Radar imagery; Aircraft reports (AMDAR); Surface reports
(METARS);
Upper air reports (balloon sounding), numerical modeling; Statistical
forecasting including NWS
forecasters, auto forecast system and forecast integration; Consolidated Storm
Prediction for
Aviation (CoSpa), Storm Prediction Center (SPC), UAS/UAV Weather Avoidance
Field (WAF
and UASWAF) Module-with UAS/UAV Deviation Model and Forecast UAS/UAV Avoidance
Regions Models; Vortex 2 and 3-For Weather Chasing and reporting with
UAS/UAVs, National
Severe Storms Laboratories (NSSL), and UAS/UAV in-house, Mesonet and or other
third-party
UAS/UAV fleets.
[0170] In some embodiments, each r-client includes the
following: a system-on-a-chip
(SoC) computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, that is equipped with a WiFi antenna,
a USB key that
includes the R-client's 160-bit identification number and private key, an R-
Client configuration
manager that holds the 160-bit ID and public key of the Controller, an R-
Client messenger tool
for communicating instructions and data with the Controller, a Wi-Fi router,
NEC antenna, or
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Bluetooth antenna to communicate with other R-Clients or, for Smart Landing
Pads/Mailbox
Landing Pads/Charging Stations/Hangers/Heliport, Vertiports for UAV and VTOL,
that land on
it.
[0171] In some embodiments, an e-client includes is any remote
device or application
that requests or uses the services of the rooftop airport. Examples of E-
Clients include in-flight
UAVs, point- of-sale systems, take away delivery apps, flight-hailing apps,
public safety
systems. weather- reporting systems, and logistics operators. E-Clients
communicate with
Controllers to request services, request data, provide data, arrange flights,
and coordinate
landings.
[0172] When installing the drone airport system provided herein,
the Controller maintains
an inventory of R-Clients. R-Clients include rooftop landing pads and other
equipment
associated with UAV services that share the roof To install a new R-client,
the rooftop operator
will (1) register the R-client's 160-bit ID in the Controller's R-Client
Inventory System; (2)
register the Controller's ID and public key with the R-client's configuration
manager; (3) assign
the R-client a fixed IP address through the Controller's Wi-F1 router; and (4)
install the R-Client
messenger tool on the R-client and configure it to communicate with the
Controller.
[0173] In some embodiments, to reserve and implement a landing,
A UAV operator
uses a desktop app, POS app, web browser or mobile app to connect to the
Controller's
reservations homepage. He specifies "landing request" as the type of
transaction, the UAV
model, id, payload, date and time of arrival, and special requests related to
the landing. The
Controller scans its reservations system and identifies which of its R-clients
can
accommodate the request. After the user acknowledges the arrangements and pays
any
associated fees, the Controller logs the schedule in its schedule database,
logs the financial
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transaction in its fees ledger, and sends the UAV operator the GP S
coordinates of the R-client
that will host the landing. The UAV operator, through its own Controller and
or the end user's
automated mobile app, will program the UAV with the GPS coordinates of the
landing site.
[0174] FIG. 7b illustrates the communications involved in
reserving and
implementing a landing. As disclosed above in reference to Fig. 3b, a flight
begins after a
flight route is planned and submitted to the Device Authentication Authority
308. The
systems Drone Flight Planner 302 creates a flight plan that specifies the
takeoff and landing
locations, a flight path to be followed, and the identity of the drone 100 to
be flying. When
the submitted flight plan is approved, the approval is sent 725 from the
Device
Authentication Authority 308 to the E or R-client landing pad 711 to inform it
of an
incoming flight. The authentication is also sent 723 to the controller 713
that oversees the
flight. Lastly, the Device Authentication Authority 308 sends 724 the
authentication to the
UAV/Drone 717 to begin the flight. For the embodiment disclosed herein the
Smart
Mailbox Landing and Charging Station 100 may operate as either an E-Client or
an R-client
depending upon its location within the US SN 300 as otherwise disclosed
herein.
[0175] When the incoming UAV 717 lands at the E or R-client 711,
the R-client will
communicate the landing to the Controller 713 via an operator 109, which will
mark the
schedule item completed and that E orR-client occupied. The landing pad 711
will use its
built-in communication device (Wi-Fi router, NEC antenna, and or Bluetooth
antenna) to
establish communications with the newly landed UAV. All of the users of the
Smart Drone
Airport System (SDAS) 150 whether controlling a specific UAV 717, a rooftop
airport and
charging station 102, weather forecasting, Drone Flight Planner 302, Drone
Request System 303,
Drone State System 304, Drone Mission Checker 305, and the Device
authentication Authority
308 may interact with these systems and components using a command line
interpreter interface,
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a graphical user interface, a voice-recognition interface, and any other means
of a user interacting
with and specifying instructions to a computing device.
[0176] FIG. 7c illustrates the communications involved in
reserving and
implementing a take-off A remote requestor 109 uses a web browser or mobile
app to
connect to the Controller's 713 reservations homepage. He specifies "takeoff
request" as the
type of transaction, which of the Controller's 713 available drone models to
schedule,
destination GPS, and type of payload. The Controller 713 scans its inventory
of available
drones to identify a match. After asking for and receiving confirmation from
the remote
requestor, including payment of the fees associated with the takeoff, the
Controller 713
submits a request to the Drone Route Planer 302 to generate the flight plan.
The controller
713 sends the proposed flight plan to the Device Authentication Authority 308
for approval
as disclosed above. Once the Device Authentication Authority 308 has provided
its
authorization to the controller 713 and the UAV 717, controller 713, at the
designated
takeoff time, sends GPS coordinates of the selected UAV's 717 destination to
the UAV's 717
host pad through the R-client messenger tool. The host pad communicates the
GPS
coordinates to the UAV 717 and initiates the takeoff. The host pad notifies
the Controller 713
that the takeoff occurred. The Controller 713 logs the event in its schedule
and resets the R-
client landing pad's 711 status to available.
[0177] Besides landing pads, a rooftop may contain other E or R-
clients whose
services and/ or data external users (E-clients) can request. For example,
service providers
may request low-altitude weather data from NextGen weather measurement and
data
collection devices. To request data from E or R-clients, a would-be consumer
will access the
Controller's web page to request the desired service / data set. It is up to
the owner /
configurator of the Controller to decide which services to make available to
which E-clients
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and to implement the communications needed to provide the service. Based on
that
configuration, the Controller and R-client will coordinate fulfilling the E-
clients request.
The Controller serves as the initial point of contact that authenticates and
then fulfills the
request.
[0178] In some embodiments, in-house and third-party APIs can be
customized for
customer needs.
[0179] In some embodiments, the drone airport system integrates
various
technologies including FAA guidelines, rules and systems (dynamic
integration), NASA
guidelines, rules and systems (dynamic integration), Advanced Air Mobility
(AAM)
guidelines, rules and systems (dynamic integration), DARPA guidelines, rules
and systems
(dynamic integration), local, municipal, corporate, state, federal and
military guidelines,
rules and systems (dynamic integration), and any governmental auxiliary rule
and regulation
system, which requires modi fi cation (dynamic integration).
[0180] In some embodiments, current system hardware and software
technologies
from corporations such as CommScope and Nokia, will be available for
integration into the
rooftop airport in order to provide for third party technologies which will
diversify the
features the rooftop airport for can be scaled up or down to base on the class
airport needs and
requirements.
[0181] Smart city, smart building, communication and network
technologies will be
scalable and integrated into the rooftop airport based on the rooftop airports
class, use and
requirements.
[0182] Also disclosed is a universal Automated Artificial
Intelligent Smart Rooftop
UAS/UAV Drone Port/Airport Station, for General Purpose Services of Robotic
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UAS/UAVs, and its Supporting Hardware & Equipment related to
Loading/Unloading,
Deliveries, Deployment/ Arrival, Dispatching, Air Traffic Control, Charging,
Storing/Garaging, Di- Icing/Anti Icing, Meteorological & Data
Dissemination/Retrieval, Big
Data Mining, and MIMO Network Services; ("UAS" or "Drone Airport System" or
"DAS").
Said Drone Airport System operation are supported by the Drone Operating
System ("DOS),
and provides the following capabilities: 1) Drone on demand delivery services;
2) Drones
are parked, stored and or charging in the drone garage and or on a drone 3)
landing pad; 4)
Orders are made via mobile, land, and TV applications using wire and or
wireless
connections; 5) Drone AT Cloud (Artificial Intelligence Cloud) figures out if
the weather
permits deliver to and from the location requested at the time requested; 6)
Drone Al Cloud
will figure out which drone is available, using the fastest, most convenient,
safest and
properly equipped drone for the weather conditions, payload requirements, and
any other
specific demand option(s); 7) The UTM deploys the Drone to the Landing pad for
loading/unloading, drop off and pickup; 8) The Drone is loaded and departs to
its
destination; 9) The Drone delivers arrives at its destination, confirms the
receiver of the
package, releases the product to the consumer and informs the POS that the
order has been
delivered; 10) The Drone AT then selects either the drone's next destination
for charging,
based upon its remaining battery use, sends it to its next order, or parks it
at the nearest Drone
AirPort Parking Station where it can recharge and wait for further
instructions; 11) All
Rooftop UAS/Drone Hardware, Exterior and or Interior Equipment and Landing Pad
equipment will have a water proof option such as superhydrophobic (water) and
oleophobic
(hydrocarbons) coating, that will completely repel almost any liquid and or
nanotechnology
coating, to coat an object and create a barrier of air on its surface; 12) All
UAS/Drone(s) that
deploy will have the option to use UAS.UAV de-icing inflatable boot equipment
on the
leading and trailing edges(s) of the propeller arm(s); 13) All UAS/Drone
Hardware will have
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impact protections options, using products like Mashable D30 Crystalex Clear
Formable
Elastomer Material for Protective Gear on the UAS/Drone for Drop Test Crash
Resistances;
4) All UAS/Drone Hardware will have Nanocrystalline Metal Alloy options for
lighter,
stronger, and more efficient, UAS.
[0183] Fig. 8 illustrates a computing system of software
components 800 of a system
providing a smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station according to
the present
invention_ Fig 8 shows a charging station set of computing components 800 used
within a smart
drone mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 that is one node in a
larger Smart Drone
Airport System (SDAS) 150 as disclosed above. The smart drone mailbox landing
pad and
charging station set of software components 800 running within a smart drone
mailbox landing
pad and charging station 101 include a landing pad controller 801, a landing
pad messenger 802,
a wireless network interface 803, a smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station
charging manager 804, a smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
smart container
device manager 805, a blockchain processor 806, a smart drone mailbox landing
pad and
charging station app loader 807, a weather forecaster 808, a user interface
809 coupled to input
and display devices 809a-c, local data storage 810, a peripheral device
interface 811, one or more
attached devices 812a-n, smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
motors 814, and
internal battery 815.
[0184] The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
controller 801 receives
drone retrieval and dispatch commands for use in moving the smart drone/drone
(UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100 from the vendor establishments to customers landing
pads 101,
and images, text, logos, and related advertising material data via the
wireless network interface
803 from the Drone Airport System (DAS) 150 and its various processing
systems. The smart
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drone mailbox landing pad and charging station controller 801 also interacts
with the remaining
set of processing components to cause the smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station
101 to receive, charge, store, and dispatch smart drones/drones
(UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100
from one location to another to both pick up items from vendor establishments
as well as deliver
these items to customers as needed.
[0185] The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
controller 801 executes
on computing hardware that is contained within the smart drone mailbox landing
pad and
charging station 101. The particular computing hardware of the smart drone
mailbox landing pad
and charging station controller 801 may be configured to support various
levels of data
processing throughput that may be utilized within the smart drone mailbox
landing pad and
charging station controller 801. The specific computing hardware may be
modularly configured,
uploaded and or downloaded software to allow easy upgrades to the processing
capacity of the
smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station controller 801 as needed.
[0186] As otherwise disclosed herein, the smart drone mailbox
landing pad and charging
station 101 is a node on the USSN 300 that may be addressed and interfaced by
other nodes on
the USSN 300. Because the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
controller 801
may execute instructions contained within software packages loaded into the
smart drone
mailbox landing pad and charging station controller 801, the smart drone
mailbox landing pad
and charging station 101 may perform any number of different operations in
addition to receiving
deliveries from smart drones 100 for customers.
[0187] The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
controller 801 may
interact with the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station app
loader 807 to
download mobile applications that may execute within the smart drone mailbox
landing pad and
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charging station controller 801. These mobile applications may utilize and
collect data from the
attached peripheral devices 812a-n and provide this data to any other node in
the USSN 300. For
example, a mobile application may collect local weather data near the smart
drone mailbox
landing pad and charging station 101 that may be shared with the UTM web
server 115, any
number of smart drones/drones (UAS,UAV, VTOL, eVTOL) 100, and related
shippers,
customers, and merchants. This local weather data may also be provided to
other third parties
who may desire to obtain and use the weather data for other purposes. The USSN
300 may offer
access to this data in exchange for a fee.
[0138] In addition to weather data, the smart drone mailbox
landing pad and charging
station 101 also includes cameras 809c that obtain real-time views of the area
in the vicinity of
the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station 101. These images and
video data
streams may be collected by the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging
station controller
701 and provided to any node on the USSN 300 as desired. Many other sensors,
input data, and
the like may be collected using the attached peripherals 812a-n that may be
provided to other
nodes in the USSN 300.
[0139] The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
messenger 802 assists
the smart drone/drone (UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100 to send and receive data over
the wireless
network 110. The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
controller 701
communicates with processing components within the DAS 150 to obtain orders
and associated
destinations, to obtain images, text, logos, and related advertising material
data via the wireless
network interface 803, and status, health and location information
periodically to permit the DAS
150 to monitor the activity of the smart drones/drone (UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL)
100. This
communication is performed with the exchange of commands and related messages
that are
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generated, monitored, and acknowledged by the mailbox messenger 802 to
maintain
communications with the DAS 150 as needed.
[0190] In addition, the smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station mailbox
messenger 802 may provide delivery confirmation to various interested parties
including the
SDAS 150 server 115, a shipping provider, a merchant using the smart
drone/drone
(UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) for a delivery, and a customer receiving a delivery.
These
notification messages may be sent to smaitphones and other mobile devices, to
mobile apps used
by any of the above parties, and computing systems of any of the above parties
that communicate
with nodes on the SDAS 150.
[0191] The wireless network interface 803 permits the station
controller 801 and other
components to communicate with remote computing devices that are part of the
DAS 150 and its
various processing systems. The wireless network interface 803 performs all of
the data
formatting, computer-to-computer communications, encryption processing, and
all similar
operations needed by the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
controller 801
and the DAS 150 and its various processing systems to communicate with each
other as needed.
[0192] The smart mailbox landing pad and charging station
charging manager 804
monitors the charging activity of batteries within the smart mailbox landing
pad and charging
station 101. The smart mailbox landing pad and charging station charging
manager 804 monitors
the current state of charge of these batteries and determines an expected
completion time for the
recharging of each battery. The smart mailbox landing pad and charging station
charging
manager 804 uses this data to monitor the health of the batteries in use by
the smart mailbox
landing pad and charging station 101 to identify batteries that need
servicing. The smart mailbox
landing pad and charging station charging manager 804 provides the current
state of the batteries
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to the UTM web server 115 for use in dispatching any maintenance or service
personnel as
needed. The batteries 815 are used to power the smart mailbox landing pad and
charging station
101 when direct electrical power is not available to the smart mailbox landing
pad and charging
station 101, to recharge smart drones/drones (UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100 that may
land at
the smart mailbox landing pad and charging station 101, and to provide power
to any attached
peripherals 812a-n that are collecting data for use by other nodes in the SDAS
150.
[0193] The smart mailbox smart container device manager 805
controls access to a
package cavity within smart mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 to
receive and hold
packages for their intended recipient. The smart mailbox landing pad smart
container device
manager 805 activates the doors 61 land related devices that are part of the
smart mailbox
landing pad and charging station 101. The smart mailbox landing pad smart
container device
manager 805 identifies the particular smart drone/drone (UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL)
100 landing
at the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station101 to the UTM web
server 115.
[0194] The blockchain processor 806 may be used by the smart
drone mailbox landing
pad and charging station controller 801 to create a permanent and trusted
record of all
transactions involving deliveries to the smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station
101. Each delivery may be recorded including the date, time, weather
conditions, a description
of the delivered packages, images collected at the time the packages are
received and retrieved,
shipping, shipper, receiver logging, flight logging, and any other relevant
data associated with the
smart mailbox landing pad and charging station101. The blockchain processor
806 adds the data
entry to its block chain ledger and performs all of the processing to ensure
its inclusion into the
permanent record. Because a blockchain ledger obtains tamperproof security
over the ledger by
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maintaining an identical copy of the ledger on multiple platforms, these
entries may be sent to
any number of other nodes in the USSN 300 for inclusion in all of the copies
of the ledger.
[0195] A ledger may provide recording of all of the nodes in the
USSN 300, or more
likely, various subsets of nodes depending upon the volume of entries to be
generated and the
processing capacity of the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging
station controller 801.
Any interested and or authorized party may retrieve ledger entries associated
with a delivery to a
particular smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station 101 by
retrieving the data from
any of the nodes that are sharing the ledger for the particular smart drone
mailbox landing pad
and charging station 101. The blockchain processor 806 stores any of its
ledger data onto the
local data storage 710 as needed.
[0196] Additionally, the USSN 300 may provide available
processing capacity and
available physical storage of the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging
station controller
801 and any other nodes in the USSN 300 to third parties to maintain their own
blockchain
ledger, logging, mining, and recording to leverage the distributed computing
capacity of all of the
smart drone mailbox landing pads and charging stations 101 in the USSN 300.
Any excess
processing capacity of the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging
station controllers 801
in the smart drone mailbox landing pads and charging stations 101, may also be
provided to third
parties for use as distributed computing resources.
[0197] The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
app loader 807
provides the capability to download mobile applications from the UTM web
server 115 or similar
data sources for execution by the smart drone mailbox landing pad controller
801. The smart
drone mailbox landing pad and charging station app loader 807 will download
the mobile
applications and store them in the local data storage 810 for use when
instructed. When the
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smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station app loader 807 receives
commands to
perform a desired function, the mobile application is retrieved from local
data storage 810 and
provided to the smart mailbox landing pad and charging station controller 801
to run. Updates to
existing mobile applications may be obtained and applied to the smart drone
mailbox landing pad
and charging station controller 810 when available. The smart drone mailbox
landing pad and
charging station app loader 807 enables the smart drone mailbox landing pad
and charging
station controller 801 to become an available cloud-based computing resource
that may provide
computing services based upon any unused processing capacity of each node in
the USSN 300.
[0198] The station weather forecaster 808 obtains current
weather condition data from
sensor devices located at the charging station 600 and smart drone mailbox
landing pads and
charging stations 101. The station weather forecaster and real time weather
808 attaches a time
stamp and observation location of the particular station to create weather
observation data that is
transmitted to the UTM web server 115 for use in monitoring the forecasted and
current weather
and routing the smart drones/drones (UAS/UAV/VTOL/eVTOL) 100 making
deliveries. The
station weather forecaster can provide third party surface and Very Low Level
Weather
Reporting and Meta Data needed for both forecasted and current real time
weather that can be
converted for example into virtual Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAFs) and
Meteorological
Aerodrome Reports (METARs) for data and charts or provide AIRman's
Meteorological
Information (AIRMETs) and Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMETs) by
way of
conversion into data and charts. Another example is Surface and Low Level Wake
Turbulence
forecast data and charts. Weather peripherals, hardware and software are
interoperable modular
and scalable on the Smart Drone Mailbox Landing Pad and Charging Station 101.
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[0199] The user interface 809 coupled to input and display
devices 809a-c provides input
and output processing to provide a user with access to the smart drone mailbox
landing pad and
charging station. This interface module 809 also accepts commands from the
driver to instruct
the application to perform these tasks. The users interact with the smart
drone mailbox landing
pad and charging station 101 using various display devices 809b and input
devices 809a, c
including LED and touch screen display devices, keyboards and keypads, and
cameras and
microphones to provide biometric identification and voice commands. The user
interface 809
allows any of the input and output devices to operate within the smart drone
mailbox landing pad
and charging station 101.
[0200] The peripheral device interface 811 coupled to any
attached devices 812a-n
provides an interoperability with generic and interconnection of external
devices to the smart
drone mailbox landing pad and charging station controller 801. The peripheral
device interface
811 transmits commands and blockchain mining, logging, ledgering, and
recording to the
attached devices 812a-n and receives any data generated therein with the smart
drone mailbox
landing pad and charging station controller 801. The peripheral device
interface 811 may include
one or more data connection protocols and physical data transmission channels
used to connect
computing devices to each other. These data connections may comprise wired
connections such
as USB-A, USB-C, FirewireTM, ThunderboltTm, ethernet, and other serial and
parallel data
connections. These data connections also may comprise wireless connections
including WiFi,
Bluetooth, IR, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G, and other wireless communication protocols.
[0201] The smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station
motors 814 controls all
mechanical devices that are part of the smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station
101. The package cavity may be accessed using locking devices, motorized
opening doors and
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lids, and similar motorized devices. The smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station
motors 814 receives commands from the smart drone mailbox landing pad and
charging station
controller 801 and activates and deactivates these mechanical devices to allow
users to gain
access to the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station 101. The
smart drone
mailbox landing pad and charging station motors 814 also may control any
environmental control
devices within the smart drone mailbox landing pad and charging station 801 to
maintain a
condition of a particular delivered package.
[0202] The embodiments described herein are implemented as
logical operations
performed by a computer. The logical operations of these various embodiments
of the present
invention are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer-implemented steps or
program modules
running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine modules or
hardware logic
within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice
dependent on the
performance requirements of the computing system implementing the invention.
Accordingly,
the logical operations making up the embodiments of the invention described
herein can be
variously referred to as operations, steps, or modules.
[0203] Even though particular combinations of features are
recited in the present
application, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of
the invention. In fact,
many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in
this application. In
other words, any of the features mentioned in this application may be included
to this new
invention in any combination or combinations to allow the functionality
required for the desired
operations.
[0204] No element, act, or instruction used in the present
application should be construed
as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such.
Further, the phrase
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"based on" is intended to mean "based, at least in part, on" unless explicitly
stated otherwise. Any
singular term used in this present patent application is applicable to its
plural form even if the
singular form of any term is used.
[0205] In the present application, all or any part of the
invention's software or
application(s) or smart device application(s) may be installed on any of the
user's or operator's
smart device(s), any server(s) or computer system(s) or web application(s)
required to allow
communication, control (including but not limited to control of parameters,
settings such as for
example, sign copy brightness, contrast, ambient light sensor
settings...etc.), transfer of
content(s) or data between any combination of the components.
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