Drone delivers coffee on demand

A new patent has been filed for a drone that can sense when people need a hot beverage.

Hankering for a cup of hot coffee? At Springwise, we have seen drones designed for uses including government surveillance and education, but now this technology could also be in charge of your daily caffeine dose.

Tech company IBM has recently patented designs for a drone that can deliver hot coffee on demand. The patent includes different possible options for delivering the coffee itself. One includes having a string attached to the cup and the drone cutting the string once the cup pulls away. Others are the drone pouring the coffee into a person’s mug, or delivering the coffee in a sealed bag. The patent filing also includes a gimbal arrangement to keep the cup steady, and an inbuilt heater. Perhaps most interestingly, however, the patent indicates plans for the drone to detect tiredness  and deliver coffee without being summoned.

The patent states that the drone could operate by, “using one or more sensors connected to the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)…which identifies an individual among the people that may have a predetermined cognitive state, based on sensor data and flying the UAV to the individual … to deliver the drink.” In other words, the drone would fly around, searching for those in need of a coffee. The details of the filing suggest that the drone would use sensors to collect data on energy and mood markers. Indicators such as facial expressions, gestures, and pupil dilation would help the drone map energy levels. Fitbit-type devices could also help track metrics.