Dispenser Concept for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV, Drone, UAS)

! ! 1 ! ! Whit epap er! ! DISPENSER CONCEPT FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES, PLATFORMS AND SYSTEMS (UAV/ UAS/Drone) . Author :! Manan!Sur i ! ! V1:! 20 th ! May!2016! ! Abstract ! System,! design! and! methodology! to! load! and! dispense! different! articles! from! an! autonomous! aircraft! are! disclosed.! In! one! embodiment,! the! design! of! a! unique! detachable! dispenser! for! delivery! of! articles! is! described! along! with! an! intelligent! methodology! of! loading! and! delivering ! the! articles! to! and! from! the! dispenser.! Design! of! the! dispenser,! interaction! of! the! dispenser! with! the! flight! control! unit! and! ground! control! or! base-station,! and! interaction! of! the! base! station! with! the! sender! or! recipient! of! the! article,! are! al so! described.!!! ! ! Background ! The! subject! matter! described! herein! relates! to! delivery! of! one! or! more! articles! at! s pecifi c! targets,! including! but! not! limited! to! mail,! postage,! letters,! newspapers,! magazines,! post! cards,! packages! etc.! from! fixed! wing,! rotor! based,! or! any! other! type! of! unmanned! air! borne! vehicles!or!systems.!! Aircraft! particularly! small! and! mid-size,! autonomous! or! semi-autonomous,! rotor-! or! fixed - wing! based,! may! use! the! invention! to! drop! or! lower! or! release! mail! and /or ! packages! at! designated! targets.! There! exists! a! strong! need! for! smart! air-borne! systems! to! deliver! mail,! packages!and!articles!to! desired !targets.!!!!!!! !!! ! About&Drone/UAV&Technology& An !unmanned! aerial! vehicle!( UAV ),! commonly! known! as! a! drone ! or !as! an!unmanned! aircraft/aerial! system!( UAS ),! is! an! aircraft! without! a! human! pilot! aboard.! The! flight! of! UAVs! may! operate! with! various! degrees! of! autonomy:! either! under! remote! control! by! a! human! operator,!or!fully!or!partially!autonomously,!by!onboard!computers/on-ground!computers.!! Compared! to! manned! aircrafts,! UAVs! are! often! preferred! for! missions! that! are! either! too! routine! or! too! dangerous ! for! humans.! They! originated! mostly! for! military! purposes,! although! their! use! is! fast! expanding! in! law-enforcement,! commercial,! scientific! and! even! recreational! domains.!For! example,! applications ! such! as! policing! and! surveillan ce,! high- definition! (HD)! aerial! photography/videography,! agriculture,! automated! delivery,! and! even! drone!racing !sports.!Currently!civilian!drones!vastly!outnumber!military!drones,!with!estimates! of!over!a!million!sold!by!2015.! ! ! 2 ! The! UAV! global! military! market! is! dominated! by! pioneers! United! States! and! Israel.! The! US! held! a! 60%! military-market! share! in! 2006.! It! operated! over! 9,000! UAVs! in! 2014.! From! 1985! to! 2014,! exported! drones! came! predominantly! from! Israel! (60.7%)! and! the! United! States! (23.9%);! top! importers! were! The! United! Kingdom! (33.9%)! and! India! (13.2%)! [a].!Northrop! Grumman!and! General! Atomics! are! the! dominant! manufacturers! for! high-end! military! drone/UAV!systems.! The! leading! civil! UAV! companies! are! currently! (Chinese)! DJI! with! $500m! global! sales,! (French)! Parrot! with! $110m! and! (US)! 3DRo boti cs! with! $21.6m! in! 2014! [b]. ! As! of! February! 2016,! about! 325,000! civilian! drones! were! registered! with! the! U.S.! FAA,! though! it! is! estimated!more!than!a!million!have!been!sold!in!the!United!States!alone![c].! ! Delivery&Application& UAVs! have! been! proposed! for! delivery! applications.! For! e xample,! medicines! and! medical! specimens!into! and! out!of! inaccessible!regions.! In! 2013,!in! a!research! project! of!DHL,!a! small! quantity!of!medicine!was!delivered!via!a!UAV.!! Initial! attempts! at! commercial! use! of! UAVs,! such! as! the! Tacocopter! company! for! food! delivery,! were! blocked! by! FAA! regulation.!A! 2013! announcement! that! online! ecommerce! giant! Amazon!was! planning! deliveries! using! UAVs! was! met! with! skepticism.! In! 2014,! the! government! of! UAE! announced! that! they! plan! to! launch! a! fleet! of! UAVs ! to! deliver! official! documents! and! supply! emergency! services! at! accidents. ! Technology! g iants! like! Google,! small! startups! like! Matternet! and! Firefly! have! also! entered! the! drone! delivery! segment! although! they! are! still! in! a! nascent! R! &! D! phase.! Government! postal! departments! of! different! countries! such! as! Singapore,! Australia! and! Germany! have! all! run! small! pilot! projects!on!drone!delivery.!!! ! Our&Novelty & By! far,! most! of! the! above! mentioned! examples! involve! some! proof- of -concept! deliv eries! using! UAVs! for! single! packages! and! a! single! pre -determined! address.! Such! an! approach,! single -package-to- single -address,! while! technically! easy! to! demonstrate,! is! grossly! limiting! to! the! overall! scope! of! the! technology.! The! full! commercial,! environmental! and! societal! benefits! and! potential! of! UAV! based! automated! delivery! can! only! be! realized! when! a! single! UAV! is! designed,! engineered,! opti mized! and! operated! in! such! a! way! that! it! can! be! used! for! multiple! intelligent! deliveries.! A! revolutionary! landmark! will! be! reached,! when! a! delivery! drone! can! drop! multiple! articles! like! a! postman.! In! this! patent! document,! we! propose! an! invention! for! societal,! commercial! and! environmental! gains:! a! first* of* its* kind,* mu lti -articl e* UAV*delivery*system !and!its!associated!operation!methodology.! Objective ! The!objective!of!the!system!is!to!benefit!society!at!large,!in!several!ways.!! ! ! 3 ! Firstly,! the! system! employs! clean! electric! energy,! instead! of! fuel,! burnt! by! the! alternatives! (such!as! trucks! etc.)! that!it! intends! to! replace.! This! is! highly!benefici al! for! mankind! as!well! as! for!the!environment!and!a!key!consideration!in!this!age!of!global!warming.! Secondly, ! the! system! intends! to! reduce! the! average! delivery! time! for! a! plethora! of! articles! from! several! days! to! just! 24! hours! or! less.! Not! only! do es! this! make! delivery! of! goods! more! efficient! and! convenient! for! consumers,! it! also! has! far! reaching! implications! for! critical! and! time-sensitive!items!such!as!medicines!or!blood!supplies!from!hospitals.! Thirdly,! the! system! intends! to! reduce! reliance! on! ground-based! modes! of! transportation! (cars,! trucks,! bicycles! etc.),! thereby! reducing! traffic! in! the! cities! i n! which! it! operates,! and! making!navigation!for!everyone,!a!more!pleasurable!pursuit.! Fourthly,! the! system! intends! to! reduce! sound! polluti o n! ( usually! caused! by! motor! vehicles )! by!utilizing!a!much!quieter!rotor!based!technology!for!navigation.! Last! but! not! the! least,! the! system! intends! to! empower! consumers,! by! introducing! more! direct! interaction! (whether!with! senders,! or! receivers! of ! articles)!and ! by! providing! real-time! communication! protocols! and! tracking.! In! this! way,! the! system! replaces! the! co mplexity! of! current ! ground -based! transportation! organizations,! with! a! cleaner! and! more! efficient! interface!which! provides!far! more!accurate! real-time!information! regarding!the! location! and! status!of!the!article,!out!f or ! delivery. ! ! Detailed ! description ! The&Dispenser& Fig .! 1a! shows! a! three! dimensional! view! of!our! proposed! intell igent! dispenser.!The! dispenser! is! essentially! a! box! type! of! structure! with! one! o r! more ! symmetric! or! non-symmetric! internal! compartments.! The! number! of! compartments,! and! the! dimensions! of! individual! compartments,! may! be! defined! as! per! user! requirement.! In! a! modular! approach,! the! walls! of! some! of! the! individu al! compartments! may! also! be! removed! (or! added! back)! in! order! to! make! room! for! larger! articles! wherever! necessary.! Each! compartment! will! be! used! to! hold! one!or!more! articles!such! as!mail,!letter,! postcard,!newspaper,!book,! package,!magazine! etc.! which! is! to! be! delivered! to! any! specifi c! target .! Each! ‘compartment’! may! have! all! sid es! in!the! form! of! openable! doors! and! walls,! or! may! have! some! sides! that! are! hollow! i.e.! open! to! air.! In!the!latter!case,!the!articles!may!be!held!inside!the! compartment!by!mechanical,!magnetic,! electronic! or! any! other! method.! The! shape! of! compartments! shown! in! Fig.1a! are! cuboidal! for!reference! purpose,! however! it! may! change!to! trapezoidal,! elliptical,! circular! or! any! other! polygon! configuration.! The! shapes! and! dimensions! of! the! individual! compartments! will! vary! c orrespondingly.! ! Fig! 1b! shows! the! bottom! or ! top! face! of! the! proposed! dispenser.! The! shaded! portions! are! intelligently! control led! orifice s! that! will! be! used! to! load! and ! dispense! the! articles! in! the! dispense r! compartments.! Each! compartment! will! have! one! or! more! orifice! for! loading,! and! or ! for! delivering ! the! article(s).! The! opening! and! closing! (if! any)! of! the! orifices! may! be! ! ! 4 ! controlled! by! mechanical,! magnetic,! electronic,! electro-mechanical,! electro-magnetic! or! a! combination! of! more! than! one! of! the! aforementioned! mechanisms.! ! In! one! variant,! the! orifices!may!be!hollow,!leaving!the!compartments!open!to!air.! In! another! variant,! there! may!be! an!enclosure! which!is! placed! un der! and!encompas ses! (one! or! more! than! one)! compartment(s),! and! may! extend! across! the! entire! length! or! breadth! of! the! dispenser.! Once! th e! dispenser!is! ready!for! a!drop,! such!a n! enclosure! may! open!first! at!a! pre -determined!angle,! and!once! the!d esired! article! is!released! from!its! compartment,!it! may! potentially! land! on,! and! mo ve ! (or! slide) ! do wn! the! path! of! this! enclosure! (voluntarily! or! involuntarily)! into! a! desired! slit! or! opening,! such! as! (but! not! limi ted! to)! a! mailbox.! Such! a n! enclosure ! may! also! have! sensor (s)! on! it,! that! enable! it! to! establish! a! contact! with! the! point! of! landing! Fig! 1d! shows! one! p ossible! i teration! of! such! an! enclosure.! The! dimensions! of! the! enclosure!can!be!chosen!according!to!the!user’s!specifications.! ! On - board&Electronics & Fig.! 1c! shows! a! schematic! of! different! functional! blocks! of! the! proposed! intelligent! dispe n se r.! ! The! heart! of! the! system! is! an! electronic! microprocessor (s) /microcontroller! (s) ,! wh i ch! controls!the!working!of!the!dispense r.! The!processor(s)! control s! and!interfaces!with!all!other! blocks! of! the! dispenser! such! as! –! I/O! interface,! Memory,! Battery/Power! block,! Sensors,! Communication!block!and! delivery !mechanism.!! The! I/O! interface! enables! communication,! data! and! instruction! exchange! between! the! dispense r! and! any! external! system! such! as! the! aircraft! flight! control! board,! external! computer! or! digital! electronic! system.! The! dispense! and! load! mechanism! block! consists! of! the! mechanical,! magnetic,! electronic,! electro-mechanical,! electro-magnetic! apparatus! to! enable! opening! and! closing! (if! any)! of! the! orifices! of! the! d isp enser.! ! It! may! con sist! of! actuators,! switches,! ICs,! MEMS! circuits,! gears,! pulleys,! motors,! drives,! magnets,! hinges,! shutters,! and! any! o ther! component! as! per! requi rement.! ! If! and! w her ever! applicable,! t he! processor!issues!orifice!open/close!instruction(s)!to!the! delivery !mechanism!block.!! The!communication! block! consists! of! one!or! more! systems! i ncl ud ing,! but! not! limited! to! GPS,! GPRS,! GSM,! Wi Fi,! bluetooth,! single/multi- frequency ! transmitt er/receiver, ! transponder ,! antennas,! etc.! for! enabling! communication,! transmission! and! receipt! of! data/instructions! between!the! d is penser! and! any!external! digital! or! analog!electroni c! system! or! platform!with! relevant! receiver! capabil iti es.! For! example,! these! may! include! and! are! not! limited! to! stationary! or! moving! communication! base! stations,! smart! devices! such! as! smart! phones,! tablets,! servers,! PCs,! other! similar! intelligent! dispensers,! satellites,! cell! phone! towers,! antennas!etc.!!!!!! The! sensor! block! consis ts! of! one! or! a! combination! of! multiple! mechanical,! electronic,! electro-mechanical,! acoustic,! electro-magnetic,! chemical! sensors! such! as-! visual,! IR,! temperature,! humidity,! thermal,! multi-spectral,! acoustic,! cameras,! pressure,! weight,! accelerometers,! gyroscopes,! etc.! to! sense! various! parameters! of! the! dispenser,! the! articles! ! ! 5 ! inside! it! and! its! surroundings! when! it! i s! stationary! or! in! motion. ! In! one! variant,! the! sensor! block! may! also! comprise! a! sensor! for! detecting! contraband! or! explosives!to! avoid! loading! of! such!articles!onto!the!dispenser.! The! memory! b lock! is! to! provide! on-board! storage! for! any! data! or! instructions! and! in! particular! coordinates! of! the! addresses! where! specific! articles! stored! in! specific! dispense r! compartments! need! to! be! dropped! or! lowered! or! released! or! unloaded .! In! one! variant! where! a! camera! or! visual! recorder! is! attached! to! the! dispenser,!the! memory! block! may! also! store! previously! recorded! images! of! drop! sites! for! enhanced! accuracy! in! subsequent! drops.! The!memory!block!will!be!read!and!programmed!with!the!help!of!the!microprocessor.!! The! battery! and! power! management! block! consists! of! the! battery! and! required! electron ic! circu its!used!to!power!any!sub!block!of!the!dispense r.! ! Fig! 2! shows! a! representative! sample! configuration! in! which! the! intelligent! dispense r! is! attached! to! an! aircraft! module! or! block! (s) .! The! aircraft! module! basically! enables! air- borne! movement! of! the! dispense r.! The! aircraft! block! maybe! remotely! piloted,! autonomous! or! semi -autonomous.! It! may! be! based! on! rotary,! fixed- wing! or! hybrid ! flight,! landing! and! take- off! mechanisms.! For! example,! it! may! be! in! a! standard! quadcoptor,! hexacoptor,! octacoptor! or!any!other!configu ration! as!per!the! requirements!of!aerodynamic!stability! of!the!dispense r! and!itself!when!in!flight.!! The! dispense r! may! be! attached! and! detached! from! the! aircraft! module! mechanically,! magnetically! or! through! any! other! appropriate! mechanism.! For! a! rotary! configuration,! the! aircraft! module! will! consist! of! motor(s),! motor! controller(s),! propeller (s),! flight! control! system,!sensor(s),!batteries,!and!related!electronic/mechanical!components.!! ! Aircraft&System& Fig!3!shows!a!schematic!of!the!aircraft!and! dispense r!blocks!interacting!with!each!other.!!! The! aircraft! system! and! dispenser! will! communicate! with! each! other! (if ! and! when! required) ! directly! using! wired! connections! and ! standard! communication! protocols! such! as! USB! etc! through! their! respective! I/O! interfaces! or! wirelessly! using! their! communication! sub- blocks ! (wireless! communication! may! include! protocols,! but! not! limiting! to,! such! as! bluetooth,! wifi,! gsm,! gprs) .! The! sub -blocks! shown! in! Fig! 3! aircraft! system! are! not! all! exclusive! and! may! increase!depending!on!the!complexity!and!functionality!desired!from!the!aircraft!system.! ! Delivery&Process& Fig.! 4! shows! the! process! flow! for! an! article! delivery! using! the! proposed! aircraft! and! dispenser! combination.! Ini tial ly! articles! are! manually! or! automatically! loaded! in! the! dispenser! compartments! and! their! addresses! are! electronically! recorded! and! stored! in! the! dispenser!and /or !aircraft!memory.!! ! ! 6 ! In! one! advanced! variant! of! the! dispenser,! each! individual! compartment! can! be! equ ipp ed! with! a! sensor! to! automatically! read! the! pickup! and /or ! drop! address! of! the! articles! placed! in side ! it.! For! example,! an! RFID!tag! system! may! be!used! for! such!functionality.! ! After!reading! of! addresses! in! individual! compartments! they! are! stored! in! the! memory! of! the! dispenser! and /or !!the!memory!of!the!aircraft.!! A!software! or! electronic! h ardware! will! use! an!intelligent! algorithm! to! compute!an! optimized! flight! plan! for! the! aircraft! covering! all! article! pi ckup! and(or)! d eli very ! addresses! for! a! given! dispenser ! load (s) .! The! intelligent! algorithm! will! also! determine! the! altitudes! at! which! the! aircraft!will!fly!in!the!course!of!its!entire!flight-plan.!! After!flight-plan!generation,! the!dispe ns er!is! attached!to!th e! aircraft!module! and ! is!ready!fo r! flight.! Alternatively,! the! optimized! flight! plan! may! be! transmitted! to! the! dispenser! and /or ! aircraft!during!the!course!of!a!flight.! The! aircraft! flies! carrying! the! dispenser! to! th e! respective! d elivery ! addresses.! Aircraft! flight! control! may! be! remotely! piloted,! autonomous! or! semi-autonomous.! Whil e! en! route! to! any! deliv ery! location,! the! dispenser! will! send! a! notification! to! the! base! statio n! and! recipient! of! the! article,! informing! them! that! it!is! on! its!way! and! the!estimated! time! of! arrival.!In! another! variant,! the! internal! algorithm! of! the! system! will! have! it! compute! the! estimated! delivery! times!for! all! the!addresses! on! a!given! flight! plan! in!advance,! and! will!send! the! notification! to! the!base!station!and!recipients!well!i n! advance!via!mechanisms!including!(but!not! l imi ted! to)! cellphone!applicati on s,! sms,! email! etc.!In! a! further!enhanced! version,! recipients! may!choose! to! receive! the! articles! at! another! time! of! the! day,! and! the! aircraft! system! may! re-arrange! its! flight! plan! and! send! them! a! revised! estimated! time! of! arrival! which! is! closer! to,! or! exactly! the!same!as!their!requirement.! Once! the! aircraft! reaches! the!GPS! coordinates!corresponding! to!any! of!the! drop!address,! its! on -board! flight! control! system! will! issue! an! alert! to! the! base! station! and! to! the! dispenser! processor.! The! dispenser! sensors! will! then! verify! the! GPS! coordi nates! of! the! air- borne! location.! If! the! location! coordinates!don’t! match!with! a! pre-stored!drop! point!address! i t! will! issue! an! address! re-verify! instruction! to! the! aircraft! processor.! If! the! address! locatio n! is! a! match,! the! sensors! in! the! dispenser! will! evaluate! or! calculate! the! current! altitude! of! the! dispenser! with! respect! to! ground! level! below! it.! As! requ i red,! t he! dispenser! processor! will! issue! a n! altitude! correction! instruction! to! the! aircraft! processor,! to! lower! or! raise! th e! aircraft! altitude! and! bring! it! in! a! pre-determined! safe- drop ! altitude! range.! As! required,! t he! aircraft!processor!will! control!the!motors! and! propellers !to! take!the!aircraft!an d! dispenser!in! the! safe- drop! altitude! range.! Once! the! aircraft! and! dispenser! reach! and! hover! in! the! safe- drop! altitude! range,! the! dispenser! processor! will! issue! a! d elivery ! alert! to! the! base! station! receiver ! and /or! the! aircraft! and /or ! any! registered! addressee (s) ! for! the! d elivery ! address! through!its!communication!bl ocks! (the!alert!to!addressee! may!be!issued!using! metho ds! such! as,! but! not! limited! to,! text,! sms,! voip,! call,! email).! After! issuing! the! alert! the! processor! will! activate! the! load/dispense! block! to! open! the! orifice! (wherever! applicable)! corresponding! to! the! article! to! be! delivered ! at! that! specific! address.! The! article! will! either! fall! free ly ! under! gravity! at! the! location! or! be! lowered! by! an! appropriate! lowering! mechanism! (including! but! not!limiting!magnetic,!mechanical,!electronic,!or!any!combination!of!the!aforementioned) .! ! ! ! 7 ! For! multiple! consecutive! deli very! addresses! next ! to! each! other,! the! intelligent! flight! plan! algorithm!wi ll ! determine! the! most! optimal! altitude!ch anges! for! the! aircraft! to! save!time! and! battery/fuel.!The! algorithm!will! decide! when!to! fly!the! aircraft!at! a!high! cruising! altitude!and! whe n!to!fly!it!at!a!safe-drop!altitude.! For! example ,! i n! one! variant! if! two! or! more! consecutive! drop! addresses! are! within! a! specific! range,!the! aircraft! will! stay! in! the! safe-drop! altitude! and! navigate! from! one! address! to! other! till!it!completes!all!drops!in!t he!region !without!rising!back!to!the!cruising!altitude .! ! In! another! variant,! before!op ening! the! orifice! or! releasing! an!articl e! the! dispenser! may! seek! a! delivery! permission! from! the! base-station! or! the! aircraft! or! any! registered! user.! In! the! event! of! no! response! or! a! negative! response,! the! di spenser! may! abort! delivery! an! re- attempt!it!at!a!later!stage.! In! yet! another! variant! the! sensor! payload! on! the! aircraft! and! (or)! the! dispenser! may! await! an! approval! permission! from! the! drop! address! and /or ! the! addressee.! The! approval! process! or! handshake! may! involve,! but! is! not! limited! to,! matching! of! a! specific -! visual! and/ or! acoustic,! and/or! thermal! and/or! electronic-! pattern,! and/o r! signal! that! the! recipient! d rop! addressee! can! place! anywhere! on! its! property! or! even! a! characteristic! property! of! the! address .! For! example,! in! one!variant! the!aircraft! cameras!(or! on-board!sensors)! will!be! used! to! take! images! (or! record! other! characteristic! signals)! specific! to! each! drop! address.! These! images! (or! signals)! will! be! saved! in! the! flight! control! and! base! station! database.! After! creation! of! the! database,! when! a! flight! will! arrive! at! the! GPS! coordinates! of! a! delivery! address,! its! sensor! payload! will! re-take! an! image! or! capture! other! signals! at! that! location.! It! will! then! compare! the! re -captured! image! (or! signal)! with! the! one! stored! in! its! database! for! the! corresponding! address.! If! the! two! match! with! a! certain! degree! of! confidence,! the! del ivery! mechanis m! wil l! b e! in iti ated.! If! the! match! is! below! a! certain! degree! of! confidence,! the! aircraft! flight! control! will! issue! an! alert! notification! to! th e! base! station! requesting! for! further! course! of! action.! A!human! or!computer! at! the!base! station!will! take!decision! in ! such! a!case!for!the!delivery!to!be!executed!or!not.!! The! proposed! system! will! have! a! provision! for! delivery! success! acknowledgement.! The! acknowledgement! (in! form! of,! but! not! limited! to,! sms,! text,! email! notification! or! alert)! will! be! sent! to! the! base! station! (or! a! registered! sender! of! the! article)! from! the! communication ! block! of! the! dispenser.! In! an! enhanced! version,! variant! the! acknow le dgement! alert! will! be! issued! after! a! receipt! of! confirmation! from! the! addressee! either! through! a! smartphone! application! or! a! specific! sensor! handshake! with! an! on -bo ard! sensor! of! the! dispensor! or! aircraft! carrying! the! dispensor.! The! addressee! will! also! have! the! option! of! taking! a! bar! code! scan! or! RfiD! scan! of! the! delivered! article! for! generating! a! delivery! success! acknowledgement.! Post! such! a! scan! the! acknowledgement! will! be! sent! from! the! scanner! device! of ! the! addressee! to! the! dispenser! communication! block! and /or ! to! the! base! station ,! and!finally! relayed! to!the! sender! of!the! article.! In ! another! variant,!which! addresses! the!need! for! delivery! of! sensitive! documents! (which! must! be! delivered! only! to! the! intended! recipient),! the!system! may! send! a! barcode! to! the! recipient! in! advance! via! email,! sms,! or! any! other! method.! Upon! approaching! the! delivery! location,! th e! dispenser,! equipped! with! a! ! ! 8 ! barcode! scanner,! will! scan! the!barcode! from! the!recipient’s! phone!or! tablet!or! other! media,! and!only!then!dispense!the!required!article!to!the!recipient.! In! yet! another! variant,! in! the! event! of! any! unusual! circumstance,! wherein! the! sender! or! recipient!requires!some!manual!intervention!or!assistance,!he!or!she!may! make! contact! with! a! call! center! at! the! base! station! (via! the! cellphone! app,! o r! by! i nd icatin g! to! the! system! that! he! or! she! needs! special! assistance! through! a! variety! of! ways! including! but! not! limited! to,! saying!a!pre-determined!keyword).! In!such!an!instance,! an!operator!at!the! base!station,!who! can! see! the! sender! or! recipient! via! the! camera! installed! on! the! system,! can! al so ! speak! to! them!to!resolve!any!problems!they!may!have.! Once! the! article! has! been! d elivered ,! the! orifice! will! be! automatically! closed! (where ver! applicable) .! The! aircraft! and! dispenser! will! then! proceed! to! repeat! the! above! mentioned! d elivery !process!at!the!next!d eliver !address!in!the!aircraft’s!flight!plan.!! The! aircraft! unit! will! have! intelligent! awareness! of! its! remaining! battery! life! at! any! given! point! in! time.! Whenever! the! remaining! battery! life! is! approaching! a! pre- set ! critical! ‘remaining! p ercentage! of! battery’,! the! aircraft! unit! will! send! a! message! to! the! communication!block!of!the!dispenser!informing!it! to!pause!all!deliveries!and!will!proceed!to! fly!back!to!the!base!station!for!re-charging!or!retirement!for!the!day.!! ! Customization&of&A rticles & In! one! variant,! an! additional! material! may! be! added! to! one! or! more! articles! which! are! due! for!delivery.! This!may! include,! but!not! be! li mited! to,! a!device! with!low! mass! but!high! density! compared! to! air.! Examples! include,! a! pi ece! of! cork,! or! cellophane! paper,! amongst! others.! This! may! enhance! the! positional ! accuracy! of! the! article! being! delivered! and! reduce! the! air! drag!during!drop.! & Crowd&Sourcing & The! abovementioned! system! may! also! be! used! for! a! crowd! sourcing! platform! wherein! via! a! cellphone! application! or! other! system,! users! in! need! of! articles! to! be! delivered! may! ‘hail’! a! dispenser! to! carry! out! the! activity.! The! application! will! show! the! user,! the! nearest! dispenser! location! and! the! estimated! time! of! arrival! of! the! dispenser! at! the! desired! location.! The! user! may! book! the! dispenser! for! either! collecting! articles! for! delivery! to! another! location,! or! collecting! articles! from! another! location! to! bring! to! the! us er.! The! user! will! input! the! pick- up! and! drop! addresses! into! the! cellphone! application ,! for! this! purpose.! Upon! reaching! a! designated! pick-up! location,! the! dispenser! will! land! at! the! location.! With! the! sensor! block! being! aware! of! the! available/empty! compartments,! one! of! the! avai lab le/empty! compartments!wil l! open! from! the! top! (top-loading),! and! the!user! can! place! his/her! article! in! that! compartment,! after! which! the! compartment! will! shut.! Once! the! user! confirms! completion! of! the! loading! by! pressing! a! designated! button! on! the! cellphone! app,! the! dispenser! will! fly! to! the! drop! off! location! and! complete! the! delivery! as! described! in! the! ! ! 9 ! earlier!sections!of!thi s! report.!The!drop! off!location!may!be! a!manually!entered!add ress,! or!a! be! based! on! the! cellphone! location! of! an! intended! recipient! (in! which! case,! it! may! chan ge! from!time! to!time! as! the! recipient! moves).!The! cellphone!appl icati on! may! also!be! integrated! into!already!existing!chat!applications!for!users’!convenience.! ! ! Figures ! Fig!1! –!D ispenser! 3D!view,!top!and!bottom!faces!of!the!dispenser!and!system!block!diagram! Fig!2! –!Dispenser!attached!with!aircraft!module! Fig!3! –!Interaction!between!aircraft!system!and!the!dispenser!system!! Fig!4! –!Intelligent!aerial!article!dispense!methodology! Fi g!5! –!Diagram!showing!airborne!aircraft!and!dispenser,!base-station!and!drop!location! ! References!&!Priori!Ar t: ! 1. US20110084162A1 ! 2. DE202014000236U1 ! 3. CN204750568U ! 4. CN103268121A ! 5. CN203276032U ! 6. CN105139178A ! 7. CN205080593U ! 8. US20140254896A1 ! 9. DE102015104052A1 ! 10. US9336506B2 ! 11. WO2014080389A2 ! ! A. "The numbers behind the worldwide trade in drones" . 2015 - 03 - 16. B. "The Consum er Drone Marke t: Tren d Analysis" . Emberif y Blog. Retrieved2016 - 02 - 04. C. "Drone s in 2016: 4 Numb ers Everyone Sh ould Know" . The Motley Fo ol. Retri eved June 15, 2016. ! ! Terms ! ! Delivery,!delivering !-!releasing/dropping/lowering/unloading/loading/dispensing! Target !-!Aerial,!Land!or!Sea!based!address,!location,!reci pient ! ! ! ! 10 ! ! ! ! ! ! 11 ! ! ! ! ! ! 12 ! ! !