Patent ID: 11879745
Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 8:
9. A method comprising:
providing a first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or a first terrestrial robot;
providing a smartphone of an individual;
reaching, by the individual, an area to be traversed during a final leg of a journey of the individual, wherein reaching the area comprises the individual exiting a mode of transportation;
transmitting, by operating the smartphone, a summoning command for the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot to traverse to the area;
evaluating one or more characteristics of an item from the individual that is to be transported by the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot over the area during the final leg of the journey of the individual, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a weight and a size of the item;
determining that the item is a heavy package;
either selecting the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot from a plurality of UAVs and a plurality of terrestrial robots because the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot is particularly configured for the heavy package and the other of the plurality of UAVs and the plurality of the terrestrial robots are not configured for the heavy package because the weight of the heavy package is too heavy, or declining to use the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot because the weight of the heavy package is too heavy for the UAV or the terrestrial robot; and
if the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot is selected because the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot is particularly configured for the heavy package,
securing the heavy package from the individual to the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot; and
accompanying, by the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot, the individual as the individual traverses the final leg of the journey of the individual, wherein the heavy package is transported by the first UAV or the first terrestrial robot.