IBM Patents Blockchain Use For Preventing Thefts by Drones
- The patent describes a system where packages will be equipped with an altimeter, tracking their altitude to prevent drones from stealing it.
- Blockchain will be preferably used as a way to store the tracking data, granting access to the consumer, merchant, and shipper.
Drone recording videos and images at a high altitude. Freepik
The American multinational company triumphed with a patent on November 12. With the use of an IoT altimeter that triggers upon liftoff, a package’s altitude is tracked and uploaded to a blockchain interface with the goal of preventing drones from stealing it.
As more people buy goods online and fly their own drones, IBM foresees sly intentions:
“The confluence of the increase in drone use and the increase in online shopping provides a situation in which a drone may be used with nefarious intent to anonymously take a package that is left on a doorstep after delivery,” reads the patent.
The computing giant’s solution is to equip packages with an IoT sensor that activates once it detects a change in altitude beyond the ceiling height set when lifting off by a drone. Once it activates, the sensor periodically updates a blockchain and the intended recipient with the altitude of the package.
There are no signs that IBM plans to build an operational sensor, but if it does, the patent records that a different, secure database would be used instead of a blockchain platform.
According to the patent, blockchain is the desired platform because it allows unrelated users like the merchant or shipper to input a package’s location.
It remains uncertain how rampant drone thefts are in America. Most shipping companies are still focused on building innovative delivery mechanisms than on heists by remotely-operated small planes.
- This is the second patent filing from the blockchain analytics firm that outlines a Monero tracking technology.
- Both applications are the result of the firm’s work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which began in 2019.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, VA, USA on June 30, 2018. Shutterstock
- Spanish olive oil producer Conde de Benalua and Argentinian olive oil supplier Rolar de Cuyo are the latest companies to join IBM’s Food Trust network.
- IBM has claimed that 73% of consumers are ready to pay premium for products that are transparent about their production.
- IBM will establish an R3 center of excellence to focus on developing interoperability solutions for blockchain networks.
- The company expressed their desire to further collaborate with other blockchain operators in order to advance their ecosystem.