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Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

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Re: Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

#21

Post by tuberelay »

dgarud wrote: post #18

Couple of comments: 1) What is the size of the pipes you are considering? Will it be big enough for humans to get into for maintenance - I was thinking what would happen if a delivery vehicle breaks down or a small animal gets into a tunnel. 2) Have you considered small blimps as delivery vehicles? The technology has got considerably better and should be less noisy than drones.

1) 700mm diameter - broken down vehicles should be shuntable, but a person could get in there reasonably easily.

2) helium blimps lift 1 gram per litre of helium, so to lift 10kg of groceries they would need a 10 cubic meter blimp or a 2.7 meter diameter sphere - seems big and difficult to control especially in winds.

Re: Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

#22

Post by tuberelay »

heyjudy wrote: post #15

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but to think critically and not fall in love with an idea more than reality. TBH, sounds capex intensive and there must be reason(s) why it was abandoned, i.e., cost to hookup areas and inflexibility of rigid, expensive infrastructure deployed such that it's not scalable for the profit that it could generate... if Manhattan, HK and Tokyo don't use it anymore, why now?

why now:

- tunnelling tech has come a long way - pipejacking means you can install hundreds of metres of pipes from a single hole without digging a trench. Horizontal direct drilling means the chinese can put a 600mm diameter pipe spanning 3kms under the yangtze river from a single access point.

- lithium batteries and vehicle routing tech means that small delivery vehicles can do their jobs at incredible speed and efficiency.

Re: Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

#23

Post by madhavjha »

tuberelay wrote: post #22
heyjudy wrote: post #15

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but to think critically and not fall in love with an idea more than reality. TBH, sounds capex intensive and there must be reason(s) why it was abandoned, i.e., cost to hookup areas and inflexibility of rigid, expensive infrastructure deployed such that it's not scalable for the profit that it could generate... if Manhattan, HK and Tokyo don't use it anymore, why now?

why now: - tunnelling tech has come a long way - pipejacking means you can install hundreds of metres of pipes from a single hole without digging a trench. Horizontal direct drilling means the chinese can put a 600mm diameter pipe spanning 3kms under the yangtze river from a single access point. - lithium batteries and vehicle routing tech means that small delivery vehicles can do their jobs at incredible speed and e…

Just sent you an email. I believe this can work.

Re: Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

#25

Post by tuberelay »

Adamantcheese wrote: post #24

So why not use pneumatic tube transport instead? Too small? Also a failure of a vehicle can block a tunnel entirely, maybe electrified rail would be better. I'll keep an eye on your project, seems neat.

Pneumatic tube means a single transport vessel going in 1 direction per "airlocked" region of tube, as well as needing to be airtight. Having self-powered electric vehicles means cheaper infrastructure and multiple vehicles going in both directions at once.

Thanks :)

Re: Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

#27

Post by parallel_item »

macp wrote: post #12
reaperducer wrote: post #10

It would be interesting if you could revive this delivery method. Chicago still has its old delivery tunnel network beneath downtown. It’s not in great shape. The Palmer House Hilton uses its section to grow mushrooms for its restaurant. My father used to talk about delivery networks beneath Manhattan that he used. But I think those may have been pneumatic.

^^^ This. Or, build into the subway lines. Avoids drilling costs for early stages.

Maybe while they are at it they can make some additional $$ improving NYC MTAs sensor network so MTA can know where the trains are!

Re: Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

#28

Post by S4M »

tuberelay wrote: post #21
dgarud wrote: post #18

Couple of comments: 1) What is the size of the pipes you are considering? Will it be big enough for humans to get into for maintenance - I was thinking what would happen if a delivery vehicle breaks down or a small animal gets into a tunnel. 2) Have you considered small blimps as delivery vehicles? The technology has got considerably better and should be less noisy than drones.

1) 700mm diameter - broken down vehicles should be shuntable, but a person could get in there reasonably easily. 2) helium blimps lift 1 gram per litre of helium, so to lift 10kg of groceries they would need a 10 cubic meter blimp or a 2.7 meter diameter sphere - seems big and difficult to control especially in winds.

A person could get in a pipe of 700mm diameter? I seriously doubt it.

Re: Wanted: Cofounder for YC S19. Robotic Tunnel Delivery of Groceries/food/packages

#30

Post by reaperducer »

parallel_item wrote: post #27
macp wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^^^ This. Or, build into the subway lines. Avoids drilling costs for early stages.

Maybe while they are at it they can make some additional $$ improving NYC MTAs sensor network so MTA can know where the trains are!

There's no reason they can't. Public/private partnerships are done all the time.

In Chicago, AT&T got a deal to put small cell towers in places they wouldn't ordinarily be allowed in exchange for building the Office of Emergency Management and Communications a private wireless data network.

In the subways, there was some kind of deal struck with the wireless companies, as well. I don't remember exactly how it worked but it was something like Brand X gets 2-year exclusive on wireless service in the subways if it builds the infrastructure that everyone else can piggyback on later.

It was slightly comical years later when a dozen cities around the world were touting how awesome it was that they were "first" to have wireless service in their subways, while people in Chicago had already been living with the scourge of loud people Facetiming other nobodies about absolutely nothing for everyone to hear. The screeching of the L wheels is preferable.

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