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Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#51

Post by elicash »

peteretep wrote: post #7
elicash wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Noise is already solved in the one they're using in the commercial service, per the article. Politics also were cleared, as the aviation authority there gave them permission. So yes, financial feasibility remains.

> Noise is already solved The article simply says they have a quieter drone than their first one

Fair, but it's at least solved to a degree with they have permission to use it commercially. There could be other standards for what's considered solving the problem, but that seems like a reasonable one.

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#52

Post by bamboozled »

It's difficult to imagine that this is ok from a privacy standpoint. I mean yes, the claim is that there is a "low-resolution fitted for debugging purposes", but why would Google stop there?

There are now cameras flying around Canberra and there is seemingly not a single way for a civilian to differentiate between a Google delivery done or a fake drone used for spying. There will be no way for people to opt-out of this.

I see this will end up similar to the way people who send emails to Gmail users cannot opt out of Google being able to use their personal information without consent. You will be on camera whether you like it or not.

Canberra also supports large native bird populations, this can't be too healthy for their stress levels as this scales up.

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#53

Post by lm28469 »

What's the use case besides delivering to remote areas ?

I can get Zipline's mission [0], but personal deliveries ... ? A UPS truck with hundreds of packages surely is more efficient than an army of drones in urban areas.

https://x.company/projects/wing/

> "Wing is developing a new method of transporting goods that’s faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly"

What's the advantage compared to an electric van ?

> 27% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation.

I mean, yeah sure, but changing the last 3km of the delivery from van to drone won't change the fact that the coffee beans or new iphone you just bought came from the other side of the world via shipping containers which is 99%+ of the pollution associated to the delivery. [1]

[0] https://flyzipline.com

[1] https://medium.com/@victoria27/heres-how-much-pollution-ship...

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#54

Post by govg »

lm28469 wrote: post #53

What's the use case besides delivering to remote areas ? I can get Zipline's mission [0], but personal deliveries ... ? A UPS truck with hundreds of packages surely is more efficient than an army of drones in urban areas. https://x.company/projects/wing/ > "Wing is developing a new method of transporting goods that’s faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly" What's the advantage compared to an electric van…

One advantage could be speed - drones will allow you to move faster for smaller orders. Just like you have the shipping container -> warehouse -> trucks -> local warehouse -> smaller trucks -> home, you can extend this to respond faster to customer requests, as well as not involve any humans in the whole last mile delivery system (avoiding costs etc)

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#55

Post by spectramax »

No one talks about the noise. Every time I read about drone delivery, this major aspect is omitted from the discussion but I believe it would be a nuisance to have drones droning around all the time making a huge amount of noise.

Airplanes make a lot of noise and it is still a hot topic in neighborhoods adjacent to airports.

Little hobby drones make some noise but when you’ve got a drone lifting 5kg of weight, it’s going to make a tremendous amount of noise.

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#57

Post by bagacrap »

lm28469 wrote: post #53

What's the use case besides delivering to remote areas ? I can get Zipline's mission [0], but personal deliveries ... ? A UPS truck with hundreds of packages surely is more efficient than an army of drones in urban areas. https://x.company/projects/wing/ > "Wing is developing a new method of transporting goods that’s faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly" What's the advantage compared to an electric van…

Your medium link doesn't support the 99% claim. There's no way the last mile is less than 1%. Strikes me as obvious that cargo ships are vastly more efficient per pound than a FedEx truck.

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#58

Post by Udik »

icebraining wrote: post #42
Udik wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hadn't heard of Zipline. And when I read it I imagined a simple cableway with small autonomous cars zipping along the line, possibly with branching points. I suspect it would be way cheaper to set up as an infrastructure and much more reliable than drones.

We're talking about drones which can serve an area of 7800 sq miles (20000 km²), going at over 60mph (100km/h), across rivers and mountains inaccessible by vehicles. I don't think there's any way you could even install enough poles and cables to cover such an extension, let alone keeping them functioning without permanent maintenance teams trekking across the peaks. Plus all that would fail exactly when you need it t…

Yes, I was thinking more of an urban context, there are surely places and situations where a real flying drone (basically a model airplane in this case) works better.

I was merely trying to suggest that maybe we are too dazzled by the technology (flying! straight to your garden!) to see simpler and more effective solutions.

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#59

Post by elithrar »

Udik wrote: post #46
penagwin wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drones don't really require infrastructure though? They don't require any setup at the physical locations, and they have a pretty obstacle free path above the trees. Zipline would require infrastructure setup on the scale of roads/telephone lines to be useful wouldn't it?

Yep. But it seems it would be rather cheap to set up an infrastructure made principally of steel towers and (thin) cables, and there shouldn't be many technological challenges. It would be probably faster, more reliable and energy efficient than drones, allowing for heavier packages. Of course at the cost of having to build an infrastructure, and maybe of a smaller, fixed number of delivery points.

> But it seems it would be rather cheap to set up an infrastructure made principally of steel towers and (thin) cables, and there shouldn't be many technological challenges.

Just huge logistical challenges with right-of-way, construction labour, tearing up and making good the {sidewalks,lawns,gardens,driveways,etc}, actual acquisition of poles, ongoing maintenance and trimming duties, etc.

Greenfield installation of infrastructure in public areas is incredibly complex.

Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

#60

Post by marsRoverDev »

lm28469 wrote: post #53

What's the use case besides delivering to remote areas ? I can get Zipline's mission [0], but personal deliveries ... ? A UPS truck with hundreds of packages surely is more efficient than an army of drones in urban areas. https://x.company/projects/wing/ > "Wing is developing a new method of transporting goods that’s faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly" What's the advantage compared to an electric van…

I imagine this would be used for Immediacy solutions. Amazon Prime Now being a great example of which.

It would cost more, but per order it's probably cheaper than a guy on a bike given guy on said bike + insurance + overheads will take a bigger cut than the drone will.

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