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Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

bloomberg.com

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Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#121

Post by FroshKiller »

chris_7 wrote: post #110
FroshKiller wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My threshold for what is safe is irrelevant, and we can change laws if we want. I can walk down to my sidewalk and have a half-ton vehicle going 45 mph drive within 20 feet of me in a moment. There is no question in my mind that that circumstance is much more dangerous than any delivery drone you care to send coming within half that distance. We live with some very generous tolerances for risk. But to speak to the Bl…

This sounds like your neighborhood needs some traffic calming. 20 is plenty.

It's funny you should say that. I've posted about traffic calming in my neighborhood before! It's calmed in one direction but not the other.

Still, even going 20 or 35 mph is enough to kill someone, and 20 feet is not a lot of room, especially with no barrier between the sidewalk and the car. Last weekend, a driver swerved to hit a car that was stopped in the street and struck the tree on the corner of my lot. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the key word is "luckily." Anyone who'd been on the sidewalk would've been paste.

Compare that to the rather less immediate concern of a drone that might fall out of the sky, a drone that might clip me.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#122

Post by dawnerd »

stevecalifornia wrote: post #20

Vacations are already being soiled by people flying loud drones in areas of natural beauty, now we get to have our day-to-day skies soiled by fleets of drones delivering popcorn. Am I the only one who doesn't want this specifically because of the noise nuisance?

I wonder how much the tech can change to reduce the noise. Maybe something similar to what Noctua does with their computer fans. It just seems like all the research has gone into making the props as powerful as possible while using the least amount of energy.

If I recall correctly, the Dyson air dryer was tuned to sound more like white noise than just a noisy fan. Maybe that's a solution too.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#123

Post by ghaff »

lettergram wrote: post #82
gamegoblin wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the video, they fly ~400ft up. Can anyone with more quadcopter experience describe how noisy that is? I know they are loud when they are nearby, but 400ft is far.

Interesting, technically don't home owners own the air above their house up to several hundred feet? What if I don't want it flying over me, can I knock it down?

The law about air rights isn't definitive. The closest seems to be a 1946 Supreme Court case (US vs. Causby). However, the general consensus seems to be that home owners have at least some degree of air rights up to some hundreds of feet.

In general, you don't have the right to destroy property in retaliation for trespassing though, especially if you'd be violating other laws by doing so such as discharging a weapon in the vicinity of other people/houses.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#124

Post by lostlogin »

sp00ls wrote: post #48
gamegoblin wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the video, they fly ~400ft up. Can anyone with more quadcopter experience describe how noisy that is? I know they are loud when they are nearby, but 400ft is far.

At 400ft up, you're not going to hear a thing. Would wager that even if I told you it was there you would not be able to locate it in a timely manner, let alone be annoyed by it.

Isn't 400 their max ceiling by regulation? Presumably they don't want to breach their operating rules so actually fly somewhat below this?

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#125

Post by libeclipse »

stevecalifornia wrote: post #20

Vacations are already being soiled by people flying loud drones in areas of natural beauty, now we get to have our day-to-day skies soiled by fleets of drones delivering popcorn. Am I the only one who doesn't want this specifically because of the noise nuisance?

I guess we shouldn't have planes or cars either because they make noise.

This is a massive step forward technologically for consumers. With every new technology I've noticed that there's always that croud of people that oppose it, talking nostalgically of the good old days when we didn't have phones or the internet.

Just for a second can we marvel at what has been accomplished here? Deliveries aside, ordinary people can buy, or even make, devices that _fly_. Actually fly. How anyone can just take it for granted and then dismiss it by saying it makes noise is beyond me.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#126

Post by wyager »

FroshKiller wrote: post #87
tqkxzugoaupvwqr wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Delivery trucks are way more quiet for each ton of goods they deliver. I’d rather have two trucks filled to the top on the road once a day instead of dozens of delivery drones delivering goods around the clock. It means the customer won’t get his toothbrush 30 minutes after ordering but at least the rest can live in peace.

To be clear, I don't really give a damn about the noise either way. I care about reducing the risk of loss of life in automobile accidents.

A negligible decrease in mortality in exchange for an intermittent high-pitched buzzing sound in any populated area... I think I'll pass on this one.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#128

Post by ekzy »

brenschluss wrote: post #25

I feel like this is a stunt. Drone delivery only works with customers that have private backyards - so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off. In a suburban/rural context, density is lower, meaning that with the limited range of drones, distribution centers won't be able to take advantage of density. Thus the range of products available at each distribution center will be mu…

> won't work in a city

You could have a kind of platform coming out of your front window (not necessarily for it to land, but to receive the package). Now imagine it would be fully automated, as the drone approach, the platform comes out or open, receives the items, comes back in. The mailbox of the future. We call it the iPost, and we think you're gonna love it

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#129

Post by DSingularity »

libeclipse wrote: post #125
stevecalifornia wrote: post #20

Vacations are already being soiled by people flying loud drones in areas of natural beauty, now we get to have our day-to-day skies soiled by fleets of drones delivering popcorn. Am I the only one who doesn't want this specifically because of the noise nuisance?

I guess we shouldn't have planes or cars either because they make noise. This is a massive step forward technologically for consumers. With every new technology I've noticed that there's always that croud of people that oppose it, talking nostalgically of the good old days when we didn't have phones or the internet. Just for a second can we marvel at what has been accomplished here? Deliveries aside, ordinary people…

We as technologists need to also learn to think beyond the technology. We need to think about broader impact of our tech. Especially social and psychological impacts.

Why not? We have the tools. The only barrier sense to be our ego. We view something as net positive and as a technical marvel and become upset at any suggestion that there maybe be done undesirable consequences.

I know this won't be the popular opinion here. But the least we can do is learn to engage these kinds of thoughts. Perhaps middle ground can be found. Dismissing them helps nobody.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#130

Post by manmal »

brenschluss wrote: post #25

I feel like this is a stunt. Drone delivery only works with customers that have private backyards - so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off. In a suburban/rural context, density is lower, meaning that with the limited range of drones, distribution centers won't be able to take advantage of density. Thus the range of products available at each distribution center will be mu…

In the future, I can imagine having drop off zones (one for every block, e.g. upgraded food/newspaper kiosks in very high density areas), where you can gather your packages if you provide the correct code/QR image. Or even pay only if and when you pick it up?

I can already order groceries online and pick them up myself for a small fee, here in Austria. Using drones would just take it farther and quicker, and I would have a lot more choices available. USB-C adapter I need for my new MacBook RIGHT NOW? Check. That new book? Check. Exotic batteries for my audio equipment? Yep.

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