DeliveryPilot

DeliveryPilot combines Ring live video with delivery schedules and smart receiving workflows, helping small businesses match arrivals, assign employees, and verify deliveries.

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DeliveryPilot — From Camera Activity to Confirmed Delivery

Inspiration

Small businesses often use security cameras to monitor their entrances, but video footage alone doesn't solve the operational problems surrounding deliveries.

When a supplier arrives, employees still need to determine which order is expected, who should receive it, whether someone has acknowledged the delivery, and whether the package was physically received.

I wanted to explore a different use for Ring cameras: What if camera activity could become the starting point of a structured business workflow?

That idea became DeliveryPilot.

What It Does

DeliveryPilot is a delivery coordination platform designed for small shops, offices, and warehouses.

It connects Ring camera capabilities with expected delivery schedules, employee receiving tasks, and an auditable history of actions.

The workflow consists of five stages:

  1. Camera integration: Connect to the Ring Developer Playground, discover available devices, map cameras to entrances, and stream video using WebRTC.
  2. Delivery scheduling: Register expected deliveries with suppliers, order references, arrival windows, entrances, and designated employees.
  3. Intelligent matching: When entrance activity is reported, compare its location and timestamp against scheduled deliveries to suggest possible matches.
  4. Employee coordination: A manager reviews the proposed match and initiates a receiving task for the appropriate employee.
  5. Receipt verification: Employees acknowledge their assignments, begin receiving, and explicitly confirm physical receipt.

DeliveryPilot maintains an audit trail so businesses can see how an arrival was handled and who performed each action.

How I Built It

DeliveryPilot is a full-stack web application built with:

  • Next.js and React for the application interface
  • TypeScript and Node.js for application and backend logic
  • Ring Partner API and Developer Playground for device discovery and video streaming
  • WebRTC/WHEP for Ring video playback
  • Prisma and SQLite for persistent delivery, employee, and audit records
  • HMAC-SHA256 for signed webhook verification
  • Vitest for automated testing

The backend separates camera events, matching decisions, receiving tasks, and audit history.

For security and reliability, the simulated signed-webhook pipeline validates message signatures, rejects unauthorized payloads, and prevents duplicate events from creating repeated tasks.

The matching engine evaluates entrance mappings and delivery time windows. Ambiguous matches remain subject to human review.

Challenges I Faced

1. Ring video streaming

One of the most challenging parts was establishing reliable WebRTC video streaming through Ring's WHEP integration.

I encountered connection negotiation issues involving ICE gathering and session URL validation.

After fixing these problems, I successfully streamed genuine Ring Developer Playground package footage directly inside DeliveryPilot.

2. Connecting camera events with business operations

Displaying a video stream is only one part of the problem.

The larger challenge was designing a workflow that connects entrance activity to expected deliveries without assuming that camera footage identifies the supplier or proves that a package was received.

I implemented schedule-based matching and a human approval process to address this.

3. Reliable webhook processing

Webhook handling must be secure and resilient to retries.

I implemented and tested signature verification, account validation, event normalization, duplicate prevention, and correct task creation.

4. Testing without a physical Ring camera

The Ring Developer Playground made it possible to test genuine Ring API video functionality without purchasing hardware.

The application's event-processing workflow was also tested using clearly labeled simulated activity and signed webhook requests.

Current limitation: Real Ring-generated webhook delivery has not yet been verified end to end. The demo therefore distinguishes real Ring video streaming from simulated activity events.

Accomplishments I'm Proud Of

  • Successfully integrated real Ring Developer Playground video streaming.
  • Built a complete delivery scheduling and employee receiving workflow.
  • Implemented automatic delivery-match suggestions with manager approval.
  • Added persistent records and actor-attributed audit history.
  • Passed 108 automated tests.
  • Passed 20 production-mode HTTP webhook verification checks using an isolated test database.
  • Successfully completed TypeScript validation, linting, and the production build.

What I Learned

This project taught me that integrating a camera into a business system involves much more than displaying footage.

Reliable event handling, clear responsibility, accurate matching, security, and human confirmation are essential.

I also gained practical experience with Ring APIs, WebRTC, backend architecture, database workflows, and integration testing.

What's Next

My next development priorities are:

  1. Verify real Ring-generated webhooks against a publicly reachable integration endpoint.
  2. Connect genuine motion notifications directly to arrival-candidate creation.
  3. Explore privacy-conscious package identification using computer vision or barcode recognition.
  4. Add richer employee notifications and operational analytics.
  5. Expand support for multiple business locations and entrances.

Vision

DeliveryPilot aims to turn business entrance monitoring into an accountable delivery process—from the first activity notification to the final receipt confirmation.

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