Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America

Gaku Sasaki

Mitsuaki Oshima

Hideki Aoyama

Fumio Muramatsu

Takuya Takahama

Nobuaki Hayashi

Tatsuya Kato

Naoyuki Taniuchi

Kazuma Kitazawa

Ryosuke Amagai

A delivery device that travels along rails and delivers a package is provided. The rails include at least first and second rails. The delivery device includes: a main body; a connector that is configured to be connected to the rails, with the main body hanging from the connector, and with the rails being spaced apart from a ground surface; at least one actuator that drives the connector; a lift motor that is capable of taking up a wire for unloading the package; and a control circuit. When the delivery device is slidably hung from the first rail, the control circuit: switches from the first rail to the second rail by controlling the actuator; and lets out the wire and lowers the package by controlling the lift motor.

Unmanned aerial vehicle and delivery system

A lifting system includes an unmanned aerial vehicle, a thruster device, a first wire, a first reel, a second thruster device, a second wire, a second reel, and a controller. When the unmanned aerial vehicle is in a position separated from the ground, the controller detaches the first thruster device and the second thruster device from the unmanned aerial vehicle, causes the first reel to reel out the first wire, detaches the second thruster device from the first thruster device, and causes the second reel to reel out the second wire.

Lifting system

An unmanned aerial vehicle that delivers a package includes a plurality of rotary wings, a plurality of first motors, a main body, a connector, a movable block, and a processor. When the connector is connected to a rail, the processor sets a rotation rate of the plurality of first motors to a rotation rate that is lower than a minimum rotation rate necessary for floating and higher than a minimum rotation rate necessary for propulsion along the rail. Furthermore, the processor causes the movable block to increase the angle formed by the normal direction of an imaginary plane containing the plurality of rotary wings relative to a support direction of the connector.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Gaku Sasaki