KR20220162311A - Autonomous delively system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The self-driving parcel delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an autonomous driving robot that loads parcel parcels at a parcel delivery warehouse and delivers parcel articles by autonomous driving, and ultraviolet sterilization treatment for the parcel delivery articles moved by the autonomous driving robot. The ultraviolet sterilization processing unit, the transport lift and the autonomous robot for transporting the delivery goods sterilized by the ultraviolet ray sterilization processing unit to the corresponding floor with the input delivery address, and the operation of the ultraviolet sterilization processing unit or the transport lift It may include a control unit for controlling.

Description

Courier autonomous delivery system and its autonomous delivery method {AUTONOMOUS DELIVELY SYSTEM AND METHOD}

The present invention relates to an autonomous courier delivery system and an autonomous delivery method thereof, and more specifically, it is possible to autonomously deliver courier goods unmanned, thereby maintaining security and reducing the labor force of courier workers. It relates to an autonomous courier delivery system that can prevent workers from harming their health due to overwork and an autonomous delivery method thereof.

Courier service is a service industry in which people and businesses deliver packaged goods and items directly to the place where they are requested. Usually confined within a country, international logistics companies may handle international parcels.

In particular, in recent years, due to social distancing for the prevention of Corona 19, the delivery volume has increased significantly than before, and therefore, a large burden has been placed on delivery workers, and recently deaths from overwork have occurred. Since all the items of the assigned courier service had to be delivered on a fixed day, they had to work until late at night, which caused various side effects.

In addition, there are cases in which courier workers are reluctant to come directly to the orderer's delivery address for reasons such as security, and in fact, there are cases in which courier workers are accused of trespassing.

So, in order to prevent this, methods for delivering courier items by other means are being researched and commercialized. Although not yet commercialized, a courier delivery method using a drone is being developed, and in addition, a method of delivering goods using a robot or the like is being devised.

However, in the conventional method, for example, in the case of product delivery using drones, there is a limit to the weight of items that can be lifted by drones, and it is not easy to apply the drone method to move items to a designated place in a building. can think of that.

Therefore, there is a need for a new autonomous parcel delivery system and autonomous delivery method thereof, which can autonomously deliver parcels unmanned, maintain security, and reduce the labor force of courier workers.

As related prior art, there is Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0063500 (Title of Invention: Apparatus and Method for Receiving Delivery Delivery by Drone).

Embodiments of the present invention can deliver courier goods unmanned and autonomously, thereby maintaining security, as well as reducing the labor force of courier workers, which can prevent courier workers from harming their health due to overwork. A delivery system and its autonomous delivery method are provided.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned problem (s), and another problem (s) not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

The self-driving parcel delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an autonomous driving robot that loads parcel parcels at a parcel delivery warehouse and delivers parcel articles by autonomous driving, and ultraviolet sterilization treatment for the parcel delivery articles moved by the autonomous driving robot. The ultraviolet sterilization processing unit, the transport lift and the autonomous robot for transporting the delivery goods sterilized by the ultraviolet ray sterilization processing unit to the corresponding floor with the input delivery address, and the operation of the ultraviolet sterilization processing unit or the transport lift It may include a control unit for controlling.

In addition, when the goods are loaded into the storage space of the self-driving robot in the parcel delivery warehouse according to an embodiment of the present invention, the receipt of the goods is confirmed by a scanner and the delivery address of the goods is obtained, and the self-driving robot And corresponding information may be input to the control unit.

In addition, the self-driving robot according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided with a conveyor member to form a cabinet-type storage space to load the article, and a robot housing having an opening and closing gate for entering and exiting the article, and the robot It may include a moving wheel mounted on the lower end of the housing.

In addition, the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a processing housing forming a space in a longitudinal direction, a transfer conveyor mounted in the processing housing and transporting the article moved by the autonomous robot in one direction, and the It includes an ultraviolet sterilization member that sterilizes the article delivered from the transfer conveyor, and the transport lift can receive the article sterilized by the ultraviolet ray sterilizer and move up to a set position.

In addition, the ultraviolet sterilization member according to an embodiment of the present invention is disposed in at least one of the upper, lower, left and right positions of the conveyor part and the conveyor part for conveying the article received from the transfer conveyor, and the conveyor part is transported through the conveyor part. It may include an ultraviolet ray generating part that irradiates ultraviolet light to the article.

In addition, a scanner is provided at the top of the transfer conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention to check the accuracy of delivery of the goods and read information about the delivery address of the goods, and the control unit is based on the information received by the scanner. Thus, the transport lift can be operated in a data tracking manner.

In addition, the transport lift according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided in an elevator type that moves up and down along the elevating space connected to the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit, and the transport lift moves to each floor of the building along the elevating space to each floor. The article may be delivered to a set location through a gate provided in the.

In addition, a sliding plate on which the article is placed may be provided in front of the gate of each layer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, the sliding plate according to an embodiment of the present invention may be an inclined plate that goes down as the distance from the gate increases.

In addition, each floor according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided with a camera for taking a delivery completion video or image of the product delivered through the gate, and the information captured by the camera is transmitted to the control unit. Accordingly, the recorded video or photo may be provided to the orderer who ordered the product, the recipient who received the product, the courier company, or the management office.

In addition, when the product according to an embodiment of the present invention is a bulk product, the product is put in a circulation case and delivered to the delivery address, and the circulation case can be collected after the delivery is completed.

On the other hand, the autonomous delivery method of the self-delivery delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an article loading step in which an article to be delivered is loaded by an autonomous robot at a delivery collection point, and the article is sterilized by ultraviolet rays by the autonomous robot. An ultraviolet sterilization treatment step in which the ultraviolet sterilization treatment is carried out by the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit after being transported to the processing unit, and the article, which has been subjected to ultraviolet sterilization treatment by the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit, is loaded on a transport lift to the corresponding floor where the delivery address where the article is entered is located. It may include a lifting step of transporting and a delivery step of delivering the article by transferring the article from the transport lift through an open gate of the corresponding floor.

In addition, in the step of loading the goods according to an embodiment of the present invention, the reception of the goods loaded into the autonomous driving robot is confirmed using a scanner, and the address of the goods is acquired to the control unit controlling the self-delivery delivery system. Corresponding information can be entered.

In addition, during the ultraviolet sterilization treatment step according to an embodiment of the present invention, the accuracy of delivery of the article transported through the transfer conveyor of the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit is confirmed using a scanner provided in the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit, and the Information on the delivery address is read, and the control unit can operate the transport lift in a data tracking manner based on the information received by the scanner.

In addition, in the delivery step according to an embodiment of the present invention, a delivery completion video or image of the delivered goods is photographed through a photographic camera provided on each floor, and the information photographed by the photographic camera is transmitted to the control unit. A video or photo taken may be transmitted to the orderer who ordered the item, the receiver who received the item, the courier company, or the management office.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, courier goods can be autonomously delivered unmanned, but security can be maintained thereby, and the labor force of courier workers can be reduced, so that courier workers can be prevented from harming their health due to overwork. .

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of an autonomous parcel delivery delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the inside of the autonomous robot shown in FIG. 1 .
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit and a transport lift shown in FIG. 1 .
Figure 4 is a view schematically showing the configuration of the ultraviolet sterilization member in Figure 3.

Advantages and/or features of the present invention, and methods of achieving them, will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below and will be implemented in various forms different from each other, only these embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and common knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to completely inform the person who has the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numbers designate like elements throughout the specification.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of an autonomous parcel delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the inside of an autonomous robot shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is FIG. It is a view schematically showing the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit and the transport lift shown in , and FIG. 4 is a view schematically showing the configuration of the ultraviolet sterilization member in FIG. 3 .

First, referring to FIG. 1, in the autonomous parcel delivery delivery system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, for example, a parcel storage area 101 is provided on the ground and a transport space for transporting goods is provided on the first basement floor. As a delivery system 100 that can be applied to buildings such as apartments, etc., the controller (not shown) controls the autonomous robot 110, the ultraviolet sterilization unit 120, the transport lift 130, and the system 100. city) may be included.

With this configuration, while the courier goods 1 can be delivered autonomously unmanned, security can be maintained, and the labor force of courier workers can be reduced, thereby preventing overwork of courier workers, which has recently become a problem. can

Each configuration will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1 , the autonomous robot 110 of the present embodiment loads an article 1 to be delivered from the parcel delivery warehouse 101 and autonomously drives the parcel delivery article 1. ) can be transferred to the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit 120.

In other words, when the article 1 is loaded into the storage space of the autonomous robot 110 in the parcel delivery warehouse 101, the receipt of the article 1 is confirmed by a scanner (not shown) and the A delivery address may be obtained and corresponding information may be input to the autonomous robot 110 and the control unit. Therefore, the control unit can control the autonomous robot 110, the ultraviolet sterilization unit 120, and the transportation lift 130 based on this information.

The location of the self-driving robot 110 may be tracked by, for example, GPS satellites 105, and information about this may be transmitted to the controller, and the controller may control the autonomous robot 110.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the autonomous robot 110 of this embodiment may include a robot housing 111 and a moving wheel (not shown) mounted on a lower end thereof. The robot housing 111 is provided in a cabinet type to form a storage space 110S, a conveyor member 112 is provided in the space 110S, and an article 1 can be loaded thereon.

One side wall of the robot housing 111 is provided with an opening and closing gate 115 for entry and exit of the article 1, so the autonomous robot 110 of the present embodiment, for example, has the article 1 and an ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit. When moving to 120, by opening the opening and closing gate 115 and operating the conveyor member 112, as shown in FIG. 3, the article 1 can be delivered to the ultraviolet sterilization unit 120.

Referring to FIG. 1, the autonomous robot 110 can reach the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit 120 by going down an inclined section. In order to prevent this, although not shown, some components of the storage space 110S including the conveyor member 112 may have a horizontal structure.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit 120 of this embodiment, for example, is provided on the ground floor of a building to perform ultraviolet sterilization treatment on the article 1, and the treatment housing 121 And, a transport conveyor 122 provided in the processing housing 121 to transport the article 1, and an ultraviolet sterilization member 123 for UV sterilization treatment of the article 1 delivered from the transport conveyor 122. can do.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the treatment housing 121 may form a space in the longitudinal direction, and a transport conveyor 122, an ultraviolet sterilization member 123, and a transport lift 130 may be provided therein.

The article 1 may be loaded on one side of the transfer conveyor 122 by the above-described autonomous robot 110, and the transfer conveyor 122 may transfer the article 1 by a circulation operation of the conveyor.

As shown in FIG. 3 , a scanner 127 may be provided at the top of the conveyor 122 to check the accuracy of delivery of the article 1 and to read information about the delivery address of the article 1 . The control unit may control the operation of the transport lift 130 to be described later in a data tracking method based on the information received by the scanner.

The ultraviolet sterilization member 123 of this embodiment receives the article 1 transported by the conveyor 122 and performs ultraviolet sterilization treatment on the article 1. To this end, the ultraviolet sterilization member 123 is shown in FIG. As shown in, a conveyor part 124 for conveying the article 1 and an ultraviolet ray generating part 125 for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the article 1 when the article 1 is conveyed through the conveyor part 124 can include

Referring to FIG. 4 , ultraviolet ray generating parts 125 are disposed on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the conveyor part 124 to irradiate ultraviolet light toward the product 1, so that the product 1 can be treated with ultraviolet sterilization as a whole.

The article 1 treated with ultraviolet sterilization by the ultraviolet sterilization member 123 is transferred to the transport lift 130, as shown in FIG. 3, and the transport lift 130 receives the article 1 and is controlled by the controller It can be lifted to the position set by As shown in FIG. 3 , the transport lift 130 may load and unload an article 1 by a conveyor operation, which will be described later.

This transport lift 130 is provided as an elevator type that moves up and down along the elevating space 130S connected to the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit 120, so the transport lift 130 moves along the elevating space 130S, for example, each of the buildings. The goods 1 may be delivered to a set location, that is, in front of the door of a delivery address or indoors through gates 150 provided on each floor by being operated on each floor.

Referring to FIG. 1, each floor is provided with a gate 150 connected to a lift space 130S. The gate 150 is opened and the transport lift 130 operates as a conveyor, so that items loaded on the transport lift 130 ( 1) may be transferred to the sliding plate 151 provided on each floor through the gate 150.

The sliding plate 151 is provided in front of the gate 150 and is a part where the article 1 transferred through the gate 150 is loaded, and is capable of linear movement by itself, so that the article 1 can be transferred to a set position.

Although not shown, the sliding plate 151 may be an inclined plate having a downhill structure that goes down as the distance from the gate 150 increases. Therefore, when the gate 150 is opened and the article 1 is provided to the sliding plate 151, the article 1 slides down and is delivered to the set position.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a photographing camera 160 is provided on each floor to capture a delivery completion video or image of an item 1 delivered through a gate 150 . For example, when the gate 150 is closed, a photograph may be simultaneously taken by the photographing camera 160, and the information photographed by the photographing camera 160, that is, a picture or a video, is transmitted to the controller and the item 1 is stored. It may be provided to an orderer or a recipient receiving the item 1, a courier, or a management office.

On the other hand, if the item (1) is in the form of a box, it is sufficient to ship the box as it is, but for example, in the case of the item (1) in bulk form, the item (1) will be put in a circulation case (not shown) and delivered to the delivery address. can When the recipient receives the delivered item 1 and places the circulation case at a set location, the circulation case can be retrieved to the parcel delivery warehouse 101 by a person who manages the building.

Meanwhile, hereinafter, an autonomous delivery method of the autonomous parcel delivery delivery system 100 having the above configuration will be described.

The autonomous delivery method of this embodiment includes a step of loading goods by the autonomous robot 110, a step of ultraviolet sterilization by the ultraviolet sterilization processing unit 120, a step of ascending and descending by the transport lift 130, and an article to the delivery address. (1) may include a delivery step of delivering.

As described above, in the product loading step of the present embodiment, after the self-driving robot 110 loads the item 1 to be delivered from the parcel delivery collection point 101, the autonomous robot 110 autonomously drives the item 1 ) can be transferred to the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit 120.

Here, in the product loading step, the receipt of the article 1 loaded into the autonomous robot 110 may be confirmed using a scanner, and the address of the article 1 may be acquired and provided to the controller, and the controller may control the controller using this. can be done

In the ultraviolet sterilization treatment step of this embodiment, the ultraviolet sterilization treatment of the article 1 is performed by the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit 120, and then, in the lifting step, the article 1 is moved by the transport lift 130 to the corresponding floor where the delivery address is located. can be elevated to

Next, in the delivery step, the item 1 can be moved from the transport lift 130 to the sliding flight 151 while the gate 150 of the corresponding floor is opened, and the sliding plate 151 is placed in front of the recipient's door or indoors. can be located in At this time, the delivered product 1 may be photographed by the photographing camera 160, and photographing information may be sent to a related person, for example, an orderer, a recipient, a courier, a manager, and the like. As a result, unmanned autonomous delivery of the article 1 may be completed.

In this way, according to one embodiment of the present invention, while the courier goods 1 can be autonomously delivered unmanned, security can be maintained due to this, and the labor force of courier workers can be reduced, so that courier workers are healthy due to overwork. damage can be prevented.

Although specific embodiments according to the present invention have been described so far, various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments and should not be defined, but should be defined by not only the scope of the claims to be described later, but also those equivalent to the scope of these claims.

As described above, the present invention has been described by the limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art in the field to which the present invention belongs can make various modifications and transformation is possible Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should be grasped only by the claims described below, and all equivalent or equivalent modifications thereof will be said to belong to the scope of the spirit of the present invention.

1: Goods
100: Courier autonomous delivery system
101: courier collection point
105: GPS satellites
110: autonomous driving robot
111: robot housing
112: conveyor member
115: opening and closing gate
120: UV sterilization unit
121: processing housing
122: transfer conveyor
123: ultraviolet sterilization member
124: conveyor part
125: UV generating part
127: scanner
130: transport lift
130S: lifting space
150: gate
151: sliding plate
160: shooting camera

Claims (15)

An autonomous driving robot that loads delivery goods at a delivery collection point and delivers delivery goods by autonomous driving;
an ultraviolet ray sterilization processing unit that performs ultraviolet sterilization treatment on the courier goods moved by the self-driving robot;
a transport lift that transports the delivery product sterilized by the ultraviolet ray sterilization unit to a floor where the delivery address is entered; and
a controller for controlling the operation of the autonomous robot, the UV sterilization unit, or the transport lift;
Courier autonomous delivery system comprising a.
According to claim 1,
When the goods are loaded into the storage space of the self-driving robot at the courier collection site, the receipt of the goods is confirmed by a scanner, the delivery address of the goods is obtained, and the corresponding information is input to the autonomous robot and the control unit. Courier autonomous delivery system, characterized in that.
According to claim 2,
The self-driving robot,
A robot housing having a conveyor member to form a cabinet-type storage space and loading the goods, and having an opening and closing gate for entering and exiting the goods; and
Courier autonomous delivery system comprising a moving wheel mounted on the lower end of the robot housing.
According to claim 1,
The ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit,
a treatment housing defining a space in the longitudinal direction;
a transfer conveyor mounted in the processing housing and transporting the article transferred by the autonomous robot in one direction; and
It includes an ultraviolet sterilization member that performs ultraviolet sterilization treatment on the article delivered from the transfer conveyor,
The delivery system, characterized in that the transport lift is raised to a set position by receiving the article UV sterilized by the UV sterilization member.
According to claim 4,
The ultraviolet sterilization member,
a conveyor section for conveying the article received from the conveying conveyor; and
An autonomous parcel delivery system comprising: an ultraviolet ray generating unit disposed at at least one of the upper, lower, left, and right positions of the conveyor unit to irradiate ultraviolet rays to the goods transported through the conveyor unit.
According to claim 4,
A scanner is provided at the top of the transfer conveyor to check the accuracy of delivery of the goods and to read information about the delivery address of the goods,
The control unit operates the transport lift in a data tracking method based on the information received by the scanner.
According to claim 6,
The transport lift is provided in an elevator type that moves up and down along the lift space connected to the ultraviolet sterilization unit,
The transport lift is operated to each floor of the building along the lift space, and the goods are delivered to a set location through a gate provided on each floor.
According to claim 7,
An autonomous parcel delivery system, characterized in that a sliding plate on which the article is placed is provided in front of the gate of each floor.
According to claim 8,
The sliding plate is an autonomous parcel delivery system, characterized in that the inclined plate that goes down as it moves away from the gate.
According to claim 7,
Each floor is provided with a camera for taking a delivery completion video or image of the product delivered through the gate, and the information captured by the camera is transmitted to the control unit so that the orderer who ordered the product and the recipient receive the product. A courier autonomous delivery system characterized in that a video or photo taken by a recipient, a courier or a management office is provided.
According to claim 1,
If the goods are in bulk form, the goods are packed in a circulation case and delivered to the delivery address, and the circulation case is collected after delivery is completed.
An article loading step in which an article to be delivered is loaded by an autonomous robot at the delivery collection point;
an ultraviolet sterilization treatment step in which the article is transported by the autonomous robot to an ultraviolet sterilization processing unit and subjected to ultraviolet sterilization treatment by the ultraviolet sterilization processing unit;
an elevating step in which the article, which has been subjected to ultraviolet sterilization treatment by the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit, is loaded onto a transport lift and transported to a corresponding floor where the delivery address is entered; and
a delivery step in which the article is delivered by transferring the article from the transport lift through an open gate of the corresponding floor;
Autonomous delivery method of the courier autonomous delivery system comprising a.
According to claim 12,
In the step of loading the goods, the receipt of the goods loaded into the autonomous driving robot is confirmed using a scanner, the address of the goods is obtained, and the corresponding information is input to the control unit for controlling the courier autonomous delivery system. Characterized in that Autonomous delivery method of courier autonomous delivery system.
According to claim 13,
In the ultraviolet sterilization treatment step, using a scanner provided in the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit, check the accuracy of delivery of the goods transported through the transport conveyor of the ultraviolet sterilization treatment unit and read information about the delivery address of the product,
The control unit operates the transport lift in a data tracking method based on the information received by the scanner.
According to claim 12,
In the delivery step, a delivery completion video or image of the delivered product is taken through a camera provided on each floor, and information captured by the camera is transmitted to the control unit to order the product, An autonomous delivery method of an autonomous courier delivery system, characterized in that a video or photo taken is provided to a receiving recipient, a courier, or a management office.

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