Does Walmart’s Latest Patent Application Signal The Age of Robots?

If you have ever envisioned a time when robots take over humans and wreck havoc, you might have seen this coming. But not to worry, robots aren’t wreaking havoc (yet), they are just helping deliver goods (for now).

Retail giant Walmart has recently applied for a patent at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), for a unique blockchain system which would be used for package deliveries.

The patent termed “Systems, Devices, and Methods for In-Field Authenticating of Autonomous Robots” reads:

“[i]n exemplary embodiments, two autonomous electronic devices, such as delivery drones or household autonomous robots, can authenticate each other using embodiments of security procedures described herein.”

It further adds that this new technology will be used for “in-field authenticating of autonomous electronic devices” to facilitate deliveries in a secure manner.

It is essentially underlining a system of deliveries that would include several drones and robots, who will conduct package deliveries across a supply chain. Filed in January 2018 by Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., this patent has finally come to light in the recent days.

The electronic devices’ identities would require to be verified, which is where a blockchain powered secure verification process would operate. It will run on wireless signals, along with the robots and the drones,

Due to blockchain’s added layer of security and transparency that it offers to any technology, it will be deployed to record authentication signals and data and thereby keep them safe from hackers.

“Updates to the blockchain may comprise authentication signals or identification information, and one or more nodes on the system may be configured to incorporate one or more updates into blocks to add to the distributed database.”

This is not the first time Walmart has applied for a blockchain-related patents in the U.S. In fact, they have applied for multiple such patterns over the last year. Back in July, they had applied for a patent that would allow a delivery management system, which will run on blockchain, to securely store packages until they are signed off on and collected,

So, is the age of robots upon us and can Will Smith save the day? Only time will tell.