US Patent 10310517 Autonomous cargo delivery system

An autonomous aerial system for delivering a payload to a waypoint. The autonomous aerial system may comprise an aerial vehicle to transport the payload to the waypoint and an onboard supervisory control system operatively coupled with the aerial vehicle. The aerial vehicle may be configured to navigate to the waypoint and to land at a designated touchdown zone within a landing zone at the waypoint. The onboard supervisory control system having a processor operatively coupled with a non-volatile memory device and a sensor package. The processor may be configured to generate flight control signal data based at least in part on data received via the sensor package, the sensor package configured to (1) dynamically sense and avoid obstacles along a flight route to the waypoint, and (2) perceive physical characteristics of the landing zone. The processor may be configured to autonomously navigate the aerial vehicle to the waypoint and to determine whether to touchdown at the designated touchdown zone based at least in part on physical characteristics of the designated touchdown zone perceived via said sensor package.