US Patent Issued to United States Postal Service on Feb. 10 for "System and method for delivering items using autonomous vehicles" (Maryland Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,547,967, issued on Feb. 10, was assigned to United States Postal Service (Washington).

"System and method for delivering items using autonomous vehicles" was invented by Donald E. Crone (Frederick, Md.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An autonomous vehicle for delivery of items can detect its location and the location of targets on item receptacles in order to position the vehicle at a receptacle. The vehicle, in an autonomous mode, can automatically travel between delivery points along a delivery route. A presence sensor on the vehicle can detect ingress and egress from the vehicle to determine when the vehicle is ready to travel to the n...