Curious if mufflers for electric motors have been invented? Does the noise come from the motor, or from the prop cutting thru the air?
Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
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Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#62What'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.
There's not much overhead on contracted Uber-eats couriers, since they are acting as contractors, not full time employees.
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
I actually have a drone I fly around freestyle for fun, after seeing how truly versatile they are, not to mention how cheap, I'm really not sold on constructing more towers.
The EMax Hawk 5 is 250$ and while I don't know how much it can lift, it's actually a VERY decent amount, if we're just talking about a single person's mcdonalds then no problem. The expenses come from making it more robust, making sure it has signal, etc. But those issues are mostly already solved, especially with a winch the drone can stay above the tree line, a single radio tower would have incredible range - or they might be able to get away with existing 4G towers.
Now you're just down to battery life, and noise. The hybrid fixed wing/multirotor system seems to at least partially address both.
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Sorry, I got a little carried away, I get a bit excited by Zipline, as they actually seem to be doing something Important, unlike 99% of startups.
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#65133,000 Packages Lost as Google Cancels Wing Service in Midair
Doesn’t repeating this trope on every Google related topic get old? We get it, they cancel projects. Hahaha?
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#66I thought this was being done in rural China since mid last year by JD.com:
https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-03/china-s-o...
And in Japan:
> Rakuten has been offering drone delivery in Japan since 2016 and unmanned vehicle trials since 2018. It said that working with JD — which claims to have racked up 400,000 minutes of delivery flight time — will “accelerate the development and commercialization” of its human-free last-mile delivery efforts.
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#67It'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 th…
It is surprising to me that this is the straw that broke the camel's back. There are billions of Android users that appear to be browsing the web on their phones but are actually taking pictures of you (you personally!) and uploading them to Google. There are planes flying around taking pictures. There are drones flying around taking pictures. There are satellites flying around taking pictures.
The cat is out of the bag. There are pictures of you. Not sure why that should stop drone delivery (or self-driving cars for that matter, which guess what, have cameras on them).
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#68133,000 Packages Lost as Google Cancels Wing Service in Midair
Doesn’t repeating this trope on every Google related topic get old? We get it, they cancel projects. Hahaha?
I’d agree that it would have gotten old if this was an isolated past of Google but fact is that Google shuts downs products left and right even today, recently Google Inbox.
People will keep making fun of Google for this as long as Google keep throwing products at the wall that they don’t intend to keep supporting.
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#69No 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 g…
~1/3rd of this article is dedicated to noise. :)
Trials of the drones had attracted complaints from residents in Bonython, Canberra, who said they were noisy and intrusive.
The Bonython Against Drones campaign said the devices could be heard from "a long way off, both coming and leaving".
"When they do a delivery drop they hover over the site and it sounds like an extremely loud, squealing vacuum cleaner," the group said on its website.
In response, Wing said it had developed a quieter drone. The aviation authority says Wing must use this quieter drone for its commercial service.
Re: Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra
#70I just want to have a pizza delivered to my balcony one day
When in college, I once delivered to a 3rd story balcony via ladder. Anything is possible if you hire the right people. Unfortunately, this service requires a large spot in your yard. Sorry apartment dwellers.
People with the yard space will become hubs (for a relatively small fee) for apartment dwellers. Or, the drones will deliver to the roofs of the apartment blocks instead.