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Automated Package Delivery
Tasks:
Determine the most efficient form of travel (land vs air)
Design a chassis capable of delivering small to medium size / weight packages based on the chosen form of travel.
Implement a path-finding algorithm to get from a distribution center to home addresses.
Implement a swarming algorithm to determine for how long robots should stay together before splitting off on their own to individual homes.
Implement object and collision detection to make minor corrections to the general path-finding.
Ensure all algorithms can adjust in real time.
Design Goals/Specifications:
Safety: Any solution developed shall not pose a threat to the general public by not crowding roadways, walkways, or airways.
Environmental Protection: The solution shall not be a threat to the environment. Emissions shall be kept to a minimum (if there are any), and the chassis should be built from materials that won't have a negative effect on the environment if lost or destroyed.
Public Acceptance: The chassis shall satisfy two things to be accepted by the public. One, be innocuous enough that people won't feel compelled to interact with it. Two, have a friendly enough design that it doesn't frighten people. The robots/drones are there to simply deliver packages and should not be played with, have things thrown at them, etc.
Reliability & Performance: In order for automated package delivery to be viable, it has to be more reliable and efficient compared to human delivery truck drivers. If automated delivery doesn't perform better than the status quo there's no point in adopting it.
Ease of Operation: There are two main users for this product, the delivery service and the recipient. The recipient shall have little, if any, interaction with the robot. All that will need to be done is to ask the recipient not to touch it while the delivery is being made. For the technology used to load the robot with a package, there shall be an easy and intuitive way to store the package on the robot, and assign it an address to go to.
Durability: The chassis shall be reasonably weather-proof in order to deliver packages in light rain, light snow, and windy conditions. Designing for harsher conditions wouldn't make sense as the packages would be at risk of damage.
Minimum Cost: In the testing phase initial prototypes shall be more expensive than the final version. The most important price point to hit is being less expensive up front and over time compared to purchasing new manual delivery equipment, and paying the wages of workers.
Maintenance Cost: Maintenance shall be the highest cost for the product. The robot / drone will need to have regular upkeep on its hardware, daily charging / refueling, and updated map data as construction occurs.
Ease of Maintenance: Any hardware, software, or other necessary materials shall be easily accessible for the company/ delivery service. Updates to software and data cannot be time costly as it may cause a decrease in deliveries during update periods.
Design Constraints:
Physical: The chassis shall be small enough that it does not affect its own travelling capabilities
Environmental: As mentioned in the specifications, the solution shall avoid usage of pollutants or materials that are damaging to the environment
Economic: The solution must be willing to be purchased by companies. If the solution is created but companies are unwilling to purchase it, the solution is ineffective. Because of this, searching for cost-efficient but sturdy materials is a necessity.
Legal: The solution shall not violate any environmental or privacy laws, including any laws regarding private properties.
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