The present invention generally relates to an automated delivery of physical mail packages, and more specifically, to a method, system and computer program product for automatically delivering and collecting physical mail to a first secure mailbox using unmanned aerial vehicles.
Mail package delivery and reception may be complicated for those outside their homes due to work or travel. In general, a recipient of physical mail may be required to be physically present to receive mail packages. Additionally, delivery services may indicate a time span during which they may deliver the physical package instead of a fixed time and date. As a consequence, recipients may need to waste valuable time waiting for the package to be delivered.
Attempts have been made to deliver packages by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones. However, the drones may deliver the mail packages at a specified location without any control that the package was delivered to the right person. In addition, the service may not solve the problem of sending packages in a safe manner, since they may be generally brought to a regular post office for distribution. Moreover, some drone systems may allow package delivery only to a central station where the delivery to the correct mailbox is managed using a simple barcode. This, may not allow sending and receiving packages via drones to people not served by the central station.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds