DeliveryPoints: DeliveryPost

Overview

Properties that are a long way from the road may not justify a doorstep delivery - and certainly not every time the delivery van passes along the road. In the same way that isolated properties in the U.S.A. have had their mail-boxes at the turn-off from the main road, so localnet DeliveryPoints can be situated there too. In this case, the householder has to travel to the DeliveryPost to bring his goods home.

Construction

Although a DeliveryCabinet can be sited away from the house, it would need to be fixed to the ground somehow and it is unlikely that localnet will be used as extensively by such households as for those where doorstep delivery several times a day is the norm. In this case a cheaper option is available. The locking post is a four inch square post approximately five feet tall.

Unattended Delivery

Delivery staff can attach a stack of boxes to and remove boxes from the post - the front and back of which have the same latching mechanism used to hold boxes together and to the delivery vehicles when in transit. Electronics within the (hollow) post sense the identity of those approaching and can identify the boxes that are attached to it.

Display/Control Panel

There is no display panel on the post itself but any existing smartphone, laptop or other internet connected device can be used to see what is attached to the post and to interact with the localnet system.

Recyclables

OmniBoxes arrive most days with the food you need for that evening and the next morning. As these are emptied, you place recyclables (glass, plastic, tins and compostable waste) in the box and attach back to the post as you collect the next one.

Chilled and Frozen Goods

These are delivered in insulated boxes but only when the householder has indicated that they will be present to unpack them within an appropriate period of time. The system will take account of the outside temperature at the post when calculating the “appropriate” period of time. Boxes may have cooling or heating blocks in them to extend this period when necessary.

Security

The post is firmly concreted into the ground to deter theft and the boxes are firmly latched onto it until the householder or authorised delivery staff approach it.

Power

The small amount of power needed by the electronic sensing and communications devices inside the post can typically be powered by batteries charged from a solar cell on the top of the post.

Refuse

The WasteBox is left near rather than attached to the post as there is no need for it to be secure and it should be kept separate from the fresh deliveries.