KR20240045412A - Method for providing smart food truck service and apparatus and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of providing a smart food truck service and an apparatus and system therefor, wherein a control server connected to a plurality of robots and at least one drone mounted on a food truck according to an aspect of the present disclosure provides a food truck service. The method includes receiving food order information, driving a cooking robot based on the food order information, driving a packaging robot based on completion of food preparation, and preparing the food packaged with the drone waiting at a drone station. It may include transmitting a delivery preparation command for and transmitting a delivery command to the drone based on the drone being ready for takeoff according to the delivery preparation command.

Description

Method for providing smart food truck service and apparatus and system therefor}

The present invention relates to food truck service, and in detail, a smart food truck service provision method capable of automatically providing and controlling food truck service through linkage with food manufacturing and packaging robots and delivery drones, and devices and systems therefor. It's about.

Advances in communication technology have made it possible for drones to be remotely controlled and autonomously fly even in non-visible areas, and to provide high-definition video relay services in real time.

Recently, interest in delivery services using unmanned drones is increasing.

Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket, recently introduced a pilot service using drones for home delivery of groceries.

Customers in the area can order about 700 products through an application called FlipDish, and Tesco store employees directly package the delivery items and then deliver the items via drone.

Attempts to use drones to deliver goods in stores have already occurred in the logistics company DHL, which delivered medicines using drones in 2014, and in 2016, Amazon also introduced a drone delivery service on a pilot basis. In early 2020, the British government used unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver essential medical supplies and relief supplies at the state level, and not only in the United Kingdom but also in many overseas countries, unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, and self-driving robots are used to search for missing people, provide disaster relief, and deliver logistics. , various services such as agricultural pest control are gradually increasing.

However, in order to use drones, there is a problem that experts in drone operation are needed, and experts must be mobilized in all processes of flight preparation, mission performance, takeoff and landing.

Therefore, in order for business using drones to be more cost-effective and activated early, there is a need for all processes of flight preparation, takeoff, mission performance, and landing to be unmanned.

Korean patent application 10-2020-0187587 (December 20, 2020) (Unmanned courier processing system and method based on drone-droid collaboration) includes delivery of goods by drone to the delivery point courier storage system, and final delivery from the delivery point courier storage system. A delivery technology using droids to the delivery location has been introduced.

Korean patent application 10-2021-0012338 (February 28, 2021) (Automated food manufacturing system that can be installed in a food truck) includes an automated food manufacturing system that can be installed in a food truck that automatically manufactures and packages food for the selected menu. It has been initiated.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a food truck service by integrated operation of a food manufacturing robot and a drone that delivers finished food.

Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a smart food truck system that can optimally prepare ingredients by predicting the order quantity for each menu on the day in advance through learning based on food sales data and ingredient inventory data collected by the food truck control system. It is done.

Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a smart food truck system that reduces labor costs by operating a food truck unmanned from food manufacturing to packaging and delivery.

Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a control system that can be expanded to services in various fields by controlling robots and drones for various purposes to interact with each other.

Another purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to manufacture goods through a manufacturing robot at the same time as the user orders, and to deliver the goods through a delivery drone immediately upon completion of manufacturing, so that not only can the time taken from order to delivery be minimized, but also the delivery area around the delivery destination can be minimized. The goal is to provide a convergence delivery platform of manufacturing robots and delivery drones that can ensure safer delivery by analyzing images captured by delivery drones in real time and dynamically determining the optimal delivery point.

The technical problems of the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

A method of providing a food truck service from a control server connected to a plurality of robots mounted on a food truck and at least one drone according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes receiving food order information and using a cooking robot based on the food order information. A step of driving a packaging robot based on the completion of food production, a step of transmitting a delivery preparation command for the packaged food to the drone waiting at a drone station, and the delivery preparation command of the drone according to the delivery preparation command. It may include transmitting a delivery command to the drone based on completion of preparation for takeoff.

In an embodiment, the food order information may be received from a kiosk provided in the food truck or a user terminal connected to a mobile communication network.

In an embodiment, the food order information includes delivery address information, and the delivery address information is information about the delivery location selected by the user on a map provided by a food truck mobile app mounted on the user terminal or the kiosk, or information about the delivery location of the user terminal. May include GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinate information.

As an embodiment, the method may further include determining a recommended delivery location where the drone can safely deliver based on the GPS coordinate information and transmitting information about the determined recommended delivery location to the user terminal. there is.

In an embodiment, the method includes receiving a cooking completion message including inventory status information of cooking ingredients from the cooking robot, and receiving a packaging completion response message indicating that packaged food has been loaded into a food storage box from the packaging robot. It may further include.

In an embodiment, the method further includes receiving drone status information from the drone, wherein the drone status information includes information on the current location of the drone, information on whether delivery has been completed, and whether the drone has returned to the station. It may contain at least one of the following information.

In an embodiment, the plurality of robots include at least one camera,

The method includes receiving an image captured by the camera, analyzing the received image to determine whether the stock of the material is below a standard value, and sending a low-stock warning alarm message based on the stock being below the standard value. It further includes transmitting to a preset manager terminal or an ingredient supply device, where the ingredients may include at least one of cooking ingredients and packaging ingredients.

In an embodiment, the stock shortage warning alarm message includes information about the type and remaining amount of the insufficient material, and the material supply device automatically replenishes the material based on the stock shortage warning alarm message, or the material cannot be replenished. In one case, you can automatically order by searching for the lowest price site for the material.

In an embodiment, it is determined that the take-off preparation is complete based on the calibration state of the sensor mounted on the drone being within the normal operating range, and the sensor includes a GPS sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an altitude sensor, and an ultrasonic wave. It may include at least one of a sensor, a vision sensor, an air pressure sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, and a magnetic sensor.

As an embodiment, the method further includes collecting weather data, data on daily sales volume by menu, data on material consumption by time period, and drone delivery history data by region and storing them in an internal memory, and storing the data in the stored data. By performing machine learning-based machine learning, the amount of materials required can be predicted by season/day/weather/location.

When executed by at least one processor provided in a control server linked to a plurality of robots and at least one drone mounted on a food truck according to another aspect of the present disclosure, the at least one processor performs operations for food truck service. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium storing at least one computer program including instructions to perform, the operations comprising: receiving food order information and driving a cooking robot based on the food order information; Driving a packaging robot based on the completion of food production, transmitting a delivery preparation command for the packaged food to the drone waiting at a drone station, and confirming that the drone is ready for takeoff according to the delivery preparation command. Based on this, it may include transmitting a delivery command to the drone.

A food truck system according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes at least one cooking robot, at least one packaging robot that packs food produced by the cooking robot, at least one drone that loads and delivers the packaged food, and food. It may include a control server that controls the operation of the cooking robot and the packaging robot upon receipt of order information, and transmits a delivery command to a drone waiting at the drone station when the packaged food is loaded into a storage box. there is.

In an embodiment, the food order information may be received from a kiosk provided in the food truck or a user terminal connected to a mobile communication network.

In an embodiment, the food order information includes delivery address information, and the delivery address information is information about the delivery location selected by the user on a map provided by a mobile app mounted on the user terminal or the kiosk, or GPS of the user terminal ( Global Positioning System) coordinate information may be included.

In an embodiment, the control server may determine a recommended delivery location where the drone can safely deliver based on the GPS coordinate information, and transmit information about the determined recommended delivery location to the user terminal.

In an embodiment, the control server may receive a cooking completion message containing inventory status information of cooking ingredients from the cooking robot, and may receive a packaging completion response message indicating that the packaged food has been loaded into the food storage box from the packaging robot. there is.

In an embodiment, the control server receives drone status information from the drone, and the drone status information includes at least one of information about the current location of the drone, information about whether delivery has been completed, and information about whether it has returned to the drone station. It can contain one.

In an embodiment, at least one of the cooking robot and the packaging robot is provided with a camera, and the control server receives an image captured by the camera and analyzes the received image to determine whether the inventory of ingredients is below the standard value. and transmits a stock shortage warning alarm message to a preset manager terminal or material supply device based on the fact that the stock is below the standard value, and the material may include at least one of a cooking material and a packaging material.

In an embodiment, the stock shortage warning alarm message includes information about the type and remaining amount of the insufficient material, and the material supply device automatically replenishes the material based on the stock shortage warning alarm message, or the material cannot be replenished. In one case, you can automatically order by searching for the lowest price site for the material.

In an embodiment, the control server determines that the drone is ready for takeoff based on the fact that the calibration state of the sensor mounted on the drone is within the normal operating range, but the sensor is a GPS sensor and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). ), it may include at least one of an altitude sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a vision sensor, an air pressure sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, and a magnetic sensor.

In an embodiment, the control server collects weather data, data on daily sales volume by menu, data on material consumption by time zone, and drone delivery history data by region, stores them in internal memory, and performs machine learning based on the stored data. By performing this, you can predict the amount of materials required by season/day of the week/weather/location.

The technical problems to be achieved in the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. You will be able to.

The present invention has the advantage of providing a fully automated food truck service by integrated operation of a food manufacturing robot and a drone that delivers finished food.

In addition, the present invention provides a smart food truck system that can optimally prepare ingredients by performing learning based on food sales data and ingredient inventory data collected by the food truck control system to predict the order quantity for each menu on the day in advance. There is an advantage.

In addition, the present invention has the advantage of providing a smart food truck system that reduces labor costs by operating a food truck unmanned from food production to packaging and delivery.

In addition, the present invention provides a control system that monitors the real-time operation status of robots and drones for various purposes and adaptively controls robots and drones, so it has the advantage of being applicable not only to food truck services but also to other services in various fields. there is.

In addition, the manufacturing robot and delivery drone convergence delivery platform according to the present disclosure enables the manufacture of goods through a manufacturing robot at the same time as the user orders, and immediately delivers the goods through a delivery drone upon completion of manufacturing, reducing the time required from order to delivery. Not only can it be minimized, but it has the advantage of ensuring safer delivery by dynamically determining the optimal delivery point by analyzing images taken by delivery drones around the delivery location in real time.

In addition, various effects that can be directly or indirectly identified through this document may be provided.

The drawings attached to this specification are intended to provide an understanding of the present invention, show various embodiments of the present invention, and together with the description of the specification, explain the principles of the present invention.
1 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a food truck system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 2 is a diagram for explaining an intelligent delivery platform that combines a manufacturing robot and a delivery drone according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 3 is a flowchart for explaining a method of providing a smart food truck service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a food truck service provision procedure using a food truck platform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a food truck service provision procedure using a food truck platform according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 6 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a drone according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail through illustrative drawings. When adding reference numerals to components in each drawing, it should be noted that identical components are given the same reference numerals as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. Additionally, when describing embodiments of the present invention, if detailed descriptions of related known configurations or functions are judged to impede understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the detailed descriptions will be omitted.

In describing the components of the embodiments of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the nature, sequence, or order of the component is not limited by the term. Additionally, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as generally understood by a person of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related technology, and should not be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal sense unless explicitly defined in the present application. No.

In various examples of this disclosure, “/” and “,” should be interpreted as indicating “and/or.” For example, “A/B” can mean “A and/or B.” Furthermore, “A, B” may mean “A and/or B.” Furthermore, “A/B/C” may mean “at least one of A, B and/or C.” Furthermore, “A, B, C” may mean “at least one of A, B and/or C.”

In various examples of this disclosure, “or” should be interpreted as indicating “and/or.” For example, “A or B” may include “only A,” “only B,” and/or “both A and B.” In other words, “or” should be interpreted as indicating “additionally or alternatively.”

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

1 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a food truck system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the food truck system 100 includes a food truck 1, at least one cooking robot 11, 12 mounted on one side of the food truck, a packaging robot 12, and the cooking robots 11, 12. ) and a material supply device 50 that supplies materials necessary for the packaging robot 12, various transmission devices 14, 15, 16, a drone station 18 where at least one drone 20 is placed, and the food It may be configured to include at least one of a control server 30 that monitors the overall status of the truck system 100 and controls input/output and operation, and a kiosk 40 for menu selection and ordering.

The food truck system 100 may be connected to the user terminal 60 through the mobile communication network 70.

Additionally, the food truck system 100 may be connected to an external server - for example, a weather server (not shown), a cloud server (not shown), etc. - through the mobile communication network 70.

The control server 30 is a communication network provided inside the food truck system 100 (and/or a mobile communication network 70 and/or a vehicle Wi-Fi communication network (not shown) and/or a short-range wireless communication network - for example, Bluetooth communication, Communication can be performed with the cooking robots 11 and 12, the packaging robot 13, the material supply device 50, the drone station 18, and the kiosk 40 through infrared communication, etc.

As an example, the food truck system 100 can collect weather information from a weather server and predict the ingredients needed for the day - that is, the required inventory amount - by linking with a cloud server. To this end, the cloud server can be equipped with a learning engine to predict the amount of inventory needed for the day. The control server 30 receives information about the current inventory amount from the cooking robots 11 and 12 and the packaging robot 13, information about the daily sales volume for each menu, information about the amount of ingredients consumed by each time zone of the day, and the location and delivery amount of the delivery address. Information can be collected, and the collected information (or data) can be transmitted to the cloud server. The cloud server can create a learning dataset based on information collected from the control server 30 and perform learning to predict inventory volume based on the generated dataset. The cloud server can transmit the learning results to the control server 30. The control server 30 or the material supply device 50 calculates the required inventory amount for the day based on the learning result received from the cloud server - that is, the required inventory amount prediction result - and creates a purchase order based on the calculated inventory amount and remaining inventory amount. After creating it, you can send the purchase order to the relevant seller.

The control server 30 may receive food order information from the kiosk 40 or the user terminal 60. Here, the food order information may include information about the user-selected menu and delivery address information. Here, the delivery address information may be location information that can be delivered through the drone 20, but is not limited to this, and may include information for identifying whether it is an on-site sale.

The control server 30 identifies the cooking robot 11 or 12 to be driven based on the user order menu information, and transmits a manufacturing command including the user order menu information to the identified cooking robot 11 or 12 to manufacture food. can be started. When food production is completed, the cooking robot 11 or 12 may transfer the prepared food to the packaging robot 13 through the corresponding food transmission device 14 or 15.

When the control server 30 receives a production completion response indicating that food production has been completed from the corresponding cooking robot 11 or 12, the control server 30 may transmit a packaging command to the packaging robot 13. Here, the packaging command may include user order menu information, and the packaging robot 13 can prepare packaging materials according to the user order menu and perform packaging.

The packaging robot 13 can load packaged food into the item storage box 17 through the item transfer device 16.

When the loading of goods for drone delivery is completed, the packaging robot 13 may transmit a packaging completion response indicating that the packaging of goods for drone delivery has been completed to the control server 30. As an example, the packaging completion response may include volume and weight information of the packaged item.

When the loading of goods for drone delivery is completed, the control server 30 may transmit a flight preparation command to the drone station 18. Here, the flight preparation command may include at least one of delivery location location information, volume information of the packaged product, and weight information of the packaged product.

The drone station 18 may identify a drone that is optimal for the flight preparation command based on the flight preparation command being received, and transmit a flight preparation complete response including the identified drone identifier to the control server 30. As an example, the drone station 18 may determine the optimal drone for the corresponding delivery item based on the battery charge status of each drone waiting in the drone station 18, maximum delivery weight and volume, sensor calibration status, etc.

When the control server 30 receives a response that the flight is ready, it can arrange the drone corresponding to the drone identifier to load the packaged goods. To this end, a transmission device for adjusting the position of the packaged article may be additionally provided on one side of the article storage box 17.

When the arrangement of goods for drone delivery is completed, the control server 30 may transmit a flight command including delivery location location information to the drone 20 corresponding to the drone identifier.

When the arrangement of goods for drone delivery is completed, the control server 30 may transmit a take-off command including a drone identifier to the drone station 19.

The drone station 19 that has received the take-off command may control the opening and closing device 19 to open the station door 19 for the drone 20 to take off.

In addition, when the station door 19 is opened, the drone 20 can take off according to a flight command and then move to the delivery destination by performing autonomous flight through autonomous navigation means.

When the drone 20 arrives at the delivery location, it can transmit a predetermined notification message to the user terminal 60 to notify that the drone 20 has arrived at the delivery location.

The user may transmit a product receipt completion message indicating that product reception has been completed to the control server 30 or the drone 20 through the user terminal 60. When a product receipt completion message is received, the drone 20 may perform autonomous flight based on preset food truck location information or received from the control server 30 and return to the drone station 18. When the delivery of the product is completed, the drone 20 may transmit a delivery completion message to the control server 30 indicating that the delivery of the product has been completed.

When the drone 20 approaches a food truck within a certain distance, it can transmit a landing request signal to the drone station 18 or the control server 30.

The drone station 18 or the control server 30 may open the station door 19 according to a landing request signal received from the drone 20 to induce the drone 20 to land.

Once the landing of the drone 20 is completed, the open station door 19 can be closed.

The drone 20 that lands at the drone station 18 can be automatically charged using a battery charging device (not shown) provided in the drone station 18. As an example, battery charging may be performed through wireless charging.

The drone station 18 can monitor the battery charging status of the drone 20 waiting at the station in real time.

Additionally, the drone station 18 can monitor in real time the sensor calibration status of the drone 20 waiting at the station.

Based on the fact that the calibration state of the sensor mounted on the drone 20 is within the normal operating range, the drone station 18 may determine that the drone is ready for takeoff. As an example, the sensors mounted on the drone 20 include a GPS sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an altitude sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a vision sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, and a magnetic sensor. It may include at least one of, but is not limited to, fewer or more sensors than that depending on the specifications and purpose of the drone 20.

The delivery address information included in the food order information is information about the delivery location selected by the user on the map provided by the food truck mobile app or kiosk 40 mounted on the user terminal 60, or the GPS (Global) location of the user terminal 60. Positioning System) coordinate information may be included.

The control server 30 determines a recommended delivery location where the drone 20 can safely deliver based on the GPS coordinate information, and transmits information about the determined recommended delivery location to the user terminal 60, making it easier for the user. You can control the receipt of delivery items.

In an embodiment, at least one of the plurality of robots 11 to 13 provided in the food truck 1 may be equipped with a camera, and the control server 30 receives the image captured by the camera of the robot, and receives By analyzing the image, it is possible to determine whether the material inventory is below the standard level. The control server 30 may transmit an inventory shortage warning alarm message to a preset manager terminal (not shown) or the material supply device 50 based on the inventory being below the corresponding standard. Here, the ingredients may include packaging materials as well as cooking ingredients.

As an example, the low-stock warning alarm message may include information about the type and remaining amount of insufficient materials, and the material supply device 50 automatically replenishes the robot with pre-prepared materials based on the low-stock warning alarm message. If the material cannot be replenished due to insufficient inventory, you can search for the lowest price site (company) for the material and automatically order it.

The food truck system 100 according to the embodiment is equipped with a GPS receiver (not shown) and can calculate the current location of the food truck 1. The management server 30 may provide information about the current location of the food truck 1 to allow the drone 20 to return to normal. As an example, the management server 30 may transmit the current location information of the food truck 1 to the drone 20 based on a change in the location of the food truck 1 after the start of drone delivery.

As described in the above embodiments, the food truck system according to the present disclosure has the advantage of being able to provide food truck service unmanned without separate manpower by integrated operation of a plurality of robots and at least one drone.

Figure 2 is a diagram for explaining an intelligent delivery platform that combines a manufacturing robot and a delivery drone according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the intelligent delivery platform 200 includes a drone station 210 where a plurality of delivery drones are deployed, a product placement device 220 for loading packaged items onto the drone, and a control server 230. , a packaging robot 230 that packages the product, a material supply device 260, a manufacturing robot 250 that receives materials from the material supply device 260 and manufactures the product, an external server 270, and a user terminal 280. And it may be configured to include a communication network 295 for communication and control between the elements constituting the above-described intelligent delivery platform 200. Here, the communication network 295 is a mobile communication network including a 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) communication network and a 5G NR (New Radio Access Technology) communication network, a Wi-Fi communication network, a short-range wireless communication network - for example, a Bluetooth communication network -, and an in-vehicle communication network. -Examples include CAN (Controller Area Network), CAN-FD (CAN flexible data rate), FlexRay, LIN (Local Interconnect Network), SENT (Single Edge Nibble Transmission), PSI5 (Peripheral Sensor Interface 5), etc. - It may contain at least one of:

Referring to drawing number 210, first to N drones can exchange information and signals with each other through V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle) communication.

As an example, the external server 270 is equipped with a weather server 271 that provides weather information, an event information providing server (not shown) that provides various event and event information, and an inventory prediction learning engine to determine the amount of inventory required for each food truck on the day. It may include, but is not limited to, a cloud server 272 that provides information about.

According to the embodiment, a plurality of manufacturing robots 250 and packaging robots 240 may be provided for the same function (purpose) or different functions (purpose).

Each of the manufacturing robot 250 and the packaging robot 240 according to the embodiment is equipped with at least one camera and can capture the current remaining amount of material in real time.

When the control server 230 receives an order message containing information about the ordered product and delivery address information from the user terminal 280, the control server 230 may transmit a manufacturing command to the corresponding manufacturing robot 250 according to the received order message. Additionally, the control server 230 may provide the material supply device 260 with information about the product type and the identification information of the manufacturing robot that will manufacture the product according to the corresponding order message. The material supply device 260 can prepare materials according to product type information and automatically supply the prepared materials to the manufacturing robot corresponding to the manufacturing robot identification information.

When manufacturing the product is completed, the manufacturing robot 250 may transmit the manufactured product to the packaging robot 240.

The packaging robot 240 may pack the relevant article according to a packaging command from the control server 230 and transmit the packaged article to the article placement device 220 .

The product placement device 220 can place packaged products so that they can be loaded onto the drone according to a control signal from the control server 230.

The drone station 210 can determine the optimal drone to deliver the goods in accordance with the flight preparation command from the control server 230, and transmit information about the determined drone to the control server 230.

When the drone is ready for takeoff, the control server 230 can transmit a flight command including delivery address information to the drone.

The drone can take off and fly autonomously according to the flight command of the control server 230, deliver the goods to the delivery destination, and then automatically return to the drone station 210.

The drone according to the embodiment can move near the delivery location, photograph the surroundings of the delivery location with a camera, and analyze the captured images to determine the optimal delivery point. For example, a drone can determine a place with no obstacles and few or no people as the optimal delivery point. The drone may transmit information about the determined delivery point to the user terminal 280. The user can move to the delivery point displayed on the user terminal 80 and receive the product.

As described above, the manufacturing robot and delivery drone convergence delivery platform 200 according to the present disclosure is capable of manufacturing goods through a manufacturing robot at the same time as the user orders, and immediately delivers the goods through a delivery drone upon completion of manufacturing, starting from the order. Not only can it minimize the time it takes to deliver, but it has the advantage of ensuring safer delivery by dynamically determining the optimal delivery point by analyzing images taken by delivery drones around the delivery location in real time.

Figure 3 is a flowchart for explaining a method of providing a smart food truck service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The method of FIG. 3 may be an operation performed by the control server 30 or 230 of FIGS. 1 and 2 described above, and in the following description, the corresponding operations are performed by the control server 30 as an example. I decided to do it. However, depending on implementation, some steps of the method of FIG. 3 may be performed not only by the control server 30 but also by other components constituting the food truck system.

Referring to FIG. 3, the control server 30 may receive food order information including order menu information and delivery location information (S310). As an example, food order information may be received from the user terminal 60 or kiosk 40.

The control server 30 may transmit a manufacturing command including order menu information to the cooking robot (S320). The cooking robot can manufacture the food of the menu according to the manufacturing command.

The control server 30 may transmit a packaging command for the manufactured food to the packaging robot based on the completion of food manufacturing (S330).

The control server 30 can identify available drones that can deliver packaged food through collaboration with the drone station 18 and control the identified drones to be loaded with packaged food (S340).

The control server 30 can check the take-off preparation status of the drone loaded with packaged food (S340).

The control server 30 may transmit a delivery command including delivery location information to the drone and/or drone station 18 based on the drone being ready for takeoff.

Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a food truck service provision procedure using a food truck platform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The ordering terminal 430 may transmit a food order request message including user-selected menu information and delivery address information to the control server 440 (S401).

The control server 440 may transmit a manufacturing command including menu information to the cooking robot 450 (S403).

The cooking robot 450 performs food preparation according to the received preparation command, and when food preparation is completed, it may transmit a preparation completion response to the control server 440 (S405). At this time, the cooking robot 450 may deliver the manufactured food to the packaging robot 460 through a food transmission means (for example, a conveyor belt).

The control server 440 may transmit a packaging command to the packaging robot 460 based on the received manufacturing completion response (S460). Here, the packaging command may include information about the user order menu, and the packaging robot 460 may prepare packaging materials corresponding to the user order menu and perform food packaging.

The packaging robot 460 may load the packaged goods into the article placement device 470 according to the packaging command (S409).

The packaging robot 460 may transmit a packaging and loading completion response to the control server 440 (S411).

The control server 440 may transmit a take-off preparation command to the drone station 480 based on the completion of packaging and loading of the ordered menu (S413).

The drone station 480 identifies a drone ready for takeoff among the drones waiting in the station (S415), and sends a ready for takeoff response containing information about the identified drone - for example, a drone identifier - to the control server 440. ) can be transmitted (S417).

The control server 440 may transmit an article placement command including a drone identifier to the article placement device 470 (S419).

The product placement device 470 moves and arranges the products loaded in the product placement device to the location of the drone corresponding to the received drone identifier according to the product placement command, and controls the drone to load the products (S421). .

The product placement device 470 may transmit a product placement completion response indicating that product placement for the corresponding drone has been completed to the control server 440 (S423).

The control server 440 may transmit a flight command including delivery location location information to the drone station 480 based on the completion of product placement (S425). As an example, the drone station 480 can set the delivery location to the drone and then operate the drone. Afterwards, the station door can be opened so that the driven drone can take off.

Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a food truck service provision procedure using a food truck platform according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

In detail, Figure 5 is a diagram to explain a procedure for automatically replenishing insufficient inventory by monitoring the current material inventory.

Referring to FIG. 5, the control server 510 can receive a report on the current inventory status of food ingredients (or parts) from the manufacturing robot 520 (S551).

Additionally, the control server 510 can receive a report on the current inventory status of packaging materials from the packaging robot 530 (S553).

Reporting of the inventory status of the above-described manufacturing robot 520 and packaging robot 530 may be performed periodically, but this is only one embodiment, and the manufacturing robot 520 and packaging robot 530 according to other embodiments may perform inventory status reporting based on the current inventory falling below a predetermined standard.

The control server 510 may store the received inventory status information in internal memory (S555). Here, the stored inventory status information can be used as learning data for predicting future inventory volume.

The control server 510 may identify materials that require additional supply based on the material inventory status (S557).

If there is a material requiring additional supply, the control server 510 may transmit a material supply command including information on the type of material requiring additional supply to the material supply device 540 (S559).

The material supply device 540 can supply materials to the corresponding robot according to the type of material requested to be supplied (S561).

The material supply device 540 may transmit a material supply completion response to the control server 510 based on the completion of material supply.

Figure 6 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a drone according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, the drone 600 includes a controller 610, a sensor 620, a GPS receiver 630, a communication terminal 640, an automatic navigation system 645, an output device 650, and an electronic control unit. It may be configured to include at least one of electric control units 660, memory 670, charging device 680, and battery 690.

The controller 610 can control the overall operation and input/output of the drone 600.

The controller 610 may obtain real-time sensing data from the sensor 620 and transmit the acquired sensing data to the drone station 18. The drone station 18 may determine whether the drone 600 is ready for takeoff by performing sensor calibration based on the sensing data.

Additionally, the controller 610 may obtain real-time driving data from the ECUs 660 and transmit the obtained driving data and/or data collected from the sensor 620 to the control server 30. The control server 30 may determine the current location of the drone 600, flight status, and whether delivery has been completed based on the data collected from the controller 610.

The sensor 620 may include, but is not limited to, a camera 621, an ultrasonic sensor 622, a lidar (623), a radar (624), etc., and is not limited to SPAS (Smart Parking Assistance System). ) It may further include at least one of a sensor, an infrared sensor, and an inertial measurement sensor. The camera 621 according to the embodiment may include a front camera for capturing distant images and an SVM camera for capturing images around the aircraft. Here, the SVM camera may include at least one of a front camera, left/right side cameras, rear camera, and downward camera.

The controller 610 can collect various sensing information and status information from the lower module, and when specific control is required based on the sensing information and status information, it can transmit a control command to the corresponding lower module. Here, the lower module may include, but is not limited to, a sensor 620, a communication terminal 640, an output device 650, ECUs 660, and a charging device 680.

The controller 610 may communicate with at least one of the user terminal 60, other drones, the control server 30, and the drone station 18 through the communication terminal 640.

The communication terminal 640 includes a first communication module for connection to a 4G/5G commercial mobile communication network, a second communication module for short-range wireless communication, a third communication module for connection to an aviation voice communication network, and a third communication module for RF communication. At least one of three communication modules and a fourth communication module for emergency control communication may be installed. As an example, the communication terminal 640 communicates with at least one of the user terminal 60, an administrator terminal (not shown), the control server 30, and the drone station 18 using at least one of the first to fourth communication modules. can be performed.

The automatic navigation system 645 can perform autonomous flight to a set destination - for example, a delivery location, a food truck, etc.

The output device 650 may include an alarm light, a speaker, etc. When the output device 650 arrives near the delivery location, it can output a delivery notification message for the orderer. For example, the delivery notification message may be a voice message, but this is only one example, and may be an LED lighting signal with a specific pattern notifying the arrival of delivery.

When landing at the delivery location, the output device 650 may output a predetermined warning alarm to notify nearby neighbors that the vehicle is landing to deliver goods.

ECUs 660 may include, but are not limited to, a steering system, drive system, braking system, vertical takeoff and landing system, navigation control system, battery management system, etc. Here, the drive system may be configured to include a flight drive system that drives a motor for aerial flight.

The charging device 680 may charge the battery 690 by receiving wireless or wired power from a power supply device (not shown) provided in the drone station 18, etc. Additionally, when an emergency situation occurs during flight - for example, when a low battery level situation occurs - the charging device 680 may receive or transmit wireless power in conjunction with a charging device mounted on another drone.

The memory 670 can maintain various software/firmware and various parameter setting information necessary for the operation of the drone 600. Additionally, the memory 670 may be equipped with various learning software engines for machine learning. As an example, the controller 610 may determine the optimal delivery point near the delivery location using a learning engine for determining the optimal delivery point mounted on the memory 670.

The steps of the method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented directly as hardware, software modules, or a combination of the two executed by a processor. Software modules may reside in a storage medium (i.e., memory and/or storage) such as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM.

An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, the processor capable of reading information from and writing information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside within an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC may reside within the user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium may reside as separate components within the user terminal.

The above description is merely an illustrative explanation of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications and variations will be possible to those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.

Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but rather to explain it, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted in accordance with the claims below, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be construed as being included in the scope of rights of the present invention.

Claims (21)

In a method of providing food truck service from a control server connected to a plurality of robots mounted on a food truck and at least one drone,
Receiving food order information;
Driving a cooking robot based on the food order information;
Driving a packaging robot based on completion of food manufacturing;
Transmitting a delivery preparation command for the packaged food to the drone waiting at the drone station; and
Transmitting a delivery command to the drone based on the drone being ready for takeoff according to the delivery preparation command.
Method, including. According to paragraph 1,
The method, characterized in that the food order information is received from a kiosk provided in the food truck or a user terminal connected to a mobile communication network. According to paragraph 2,
The food order information includes delivery address information,
The above shipping address information is:
Information about the delivery location selected by the user on the food truck mobile app mounted on the user terminal or the map provided by the kiosk, or
GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinate information of the user terminal
Method, including. According to paragraph 3,
Determining a recommended delivery location where the drone can deliver safely based on the GPS coordinate information; and
Transmitting information about the determined recommended delivery location to the user terminal
A method further comprising: According to paragraph 1,
Receiving a cooking completion message including inventory status information of cooking ingredients from the cooking robot; and
Receiving a packaging completion response message indicating that packaged food has been loaded into a food storage box from the packaging robot;
A method further comprising: According to paragraph 1,
Further comprising receiving drone status information from the drone,
The method wherein the drone status information includes at least one of information about the current location of the drone, information about whether delivery has been completed, and information about whether it has returned to the drone station. According to paragraph 1,
The plurality of robots have at least one camera,
Receiving an image captured by the camera;
Analyzing the received image to determine whether the inventory of materials is below a standard value; and
Transmitting a stock shortage warning alarm message to a preset manager terminal or material supply device based on the stock being below the standard value.
A method further comprising, wherein the material includes at least one of a cooking material and a packaging material. In clause 7,
The inventory shortage warning alarm message includes information on the type and remaining amount of insufficient materials,
A method wherein the material supply device automatically replenishes the material based on the stock shortage warning alarm message, or, if the material cannot be replenished, searches for the lowest price site for the material and automatically orders it. According to paragraph 1,
It is determined that the drone is ready for takeoff based on the calibration status of the sensor mounted on the drone being within the normal operating range, and the sensor includes a GPS sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), an altitude sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a vision sensor. A method comprising at least one of a sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, and a magnetic sensor. According to paragraph 1,
It further includes the step of collecting weather data, data on daily sales by menu, data on material consumption by time, and drone delivery history data by region and storing them in internal memory, and performing machine learning based on the stored data. A method characterized in that the required amount of material is predicted by season/day of the week/weather/location. When executed by at least one processor provided in a control server linked to a plurality of robots mounted on a food truck and at least one drone, it includes instructions that cause the at least one processor to perform operations for food truck service. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium storing at least one computer program, comprising:
The above operations are:
Receiving food order information;
Driving a cooking robot based on the food order information;
Driving a packaging robot based on completion of food manufacturing;
Transmitting a delivery preparation command for the packaged food to the drone waiting at the drone station; and
Transmitting a delivery command to the drone based on the drone being ready for takeoff according to the delivery preparation command.
Storage media, including. In the food truck system,
at least one cooking robot;
at least one packaging robot that packages food produced by the cooking robot;
At least one drone that loads and delivers the packaged food; and
A control server that controls the operation of the cooking robot and the packaging robot upon receipt of food order information, and transmits a delivery command to a drone waiting at the drone station when the packaged food is loaded into a storage box.
Food truck system, including. According to clause 12,
A food truck system, characterized in that the food order information is received from a kiosk provided in the food truck or a user terminal connected to a mobile communication network. According to clause 13,
The food order information includes delivery address information,
The above shipping address information is:
Information about the delivery location selected by the user on the map provided by the mobile app installed on the user terminal or the kiosk, or
GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinate information of the user terminal
Food truck system, including. According to clause 14,
The control server,
Based on the GPS coordinate information, determine a recommended delivery location where the drone can deliver safely,
Transmitting information about the determined recommended delivery location to the user terminal
A food truck system, characterized by: According to clause 12,
The control server receives a cooking completion message containing inventory status information of cooking ingredients from the cooking robot,
A food truck system that receives a packaging completion response message indicating that packaged food has been loaded into a food storage box from the packaging robot. According to clause 12,
The control server receives drone status information from the drone,
The drone status information includes at least one of information about the current location of the drone, information about whether delivery has been completed, and information about whether it has returned to the drone station. According to clause 12,
At least one of the cooking robot and the packaging robot has a camera,
The control server receives the image captured by the camera, analyzes the received image, determines whether the stock of the material is below the standard value, and sends a low-stock warning alarm message based on the stock being below the standard value. Transmit to the set administrator terminal or material supply device,
A food truck system, wherein the ingredients include at least one of cooking ingredients and packaging ingredients. According to clause 18,
The inventory shortage warning alarm message includes information on the type and remaining amount of insufficient materials,
A food truck system, wherein the ingredient supply device automatically replenishes the ingredients based on the stock shortage warning alarm message, or, if the ingredients cannot be replenished, searches for the lowest price site for the ingredients and automatically orders them. According to clause 12,
The control server determines that the drone is ready for takeoff based on the fact that the calibration state of the sensor mounted on the drone is within the normal operating range, and the sensor includes a GPS sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and an altitude. A food truck system comprising at least one of a sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a vision sensor, an air pressure sensor, a LiDAR sensor, a radar sensor, and a magnetic sensor. According to clause 12,
The control server collects weather data, data on daily sales by menu, data on material consumption by time, and drone delivery history data by region and stores them in internal memory, and performs machine learning based on the stored data to determine seasonal A food truck system characterized by predicting the amount of ingredients required by day of the week/weather/location.