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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

#71

Post by mertd »

spectramax wrote: post #55

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 g…

> No one talks about the noise.

That's almost the only thing the article talks about.

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

#72

Post by genericone »

skykooler wrote: post #49
bloopernova wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible to use a drone with a balloon on top to help it lift more? Or does that make it too susceptible to wind? Maybe if we have to dome our cities and thus have no wind to disrupt the drone. I wonder if it would be cheaper to use a small electric self-driving car like a mobile version of the amazon locker?

> Is it possible to use a drone with a balloon on top to help it lift more? That's essentially a blimp. Due to square/cube scaling, blimps have less lift and more drag relative to their size at small scales than large ones. The extra power needed to overcome the drag would by far negate the power savings from reduced lifting requirements.

If there were a mini-compressor-pump aboard the drone, is it possible that it could inflate/evacuate a balloon on demand during hover mode? Is the economics of such a thing even possible?

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

#73

Post by Udik »

elithrar wrote: post #59
Udik wrote: post #46

Earlier 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…

Yes, and I imagine it would be really difficult, for good reasons (mostly esthetical), to convince a city to install poles and cables for package delivery. At the same time, we've seen drone trials going on for some time, and the idea of having expensive, autonomous flying machines, on a very limited battery life, carrying weights over our heads and delivering them possibly without even landing but just hovering and lowering a winch, well it seems pretty implausible.

A Google wing drone probably costs a few thousands, can deliver two cups of coffee on range of about 1.5km, in extremely controlled conditions, for 100 suburban homes. And has already pissed off people in the neighborhood. Imagine how it would work inside a city center, and how it would scale. And how would you adapt it to homes and buildings that have no garden and no roof terrace?

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

#75

Post by judge2020 »

truebosko wrote: post #62
marsRoverDev wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

More often than not takeout delivery services will drive with gas-fueled cars, and reducing emissions is one of the big points the article and video [0] touch on.

0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19633810

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

#76

Post by waltbosz »

cs02rm0 wrote: post #16
michaelt wrote: post #11

There's a better video of the drones here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prhDrfUgpB0 Google's delivery drones combine a multirotor design with fixed-wings. It seems like an eminently sensible design to me; fixed-wing operation will be quieter and more power-efficient, allowing longer travel distances (unlike the early Amazon Prime Air videos [1]), while hover capability avoids the need to parachute the load (unlike…

I wonder if the winch is to prevent people nicking the drone.

I saw the winch in the video and thought "what if someone grabbed the rope and used it to pull the drone to the ground", but then I saw the comment speculating that the drone could jettison the winch.

I predict that when drone delivery services are commonplace, there will be a community of drone hunting enthusiasts.

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

#77

Post by Udik »

penagwin wrote: post #63
elithrar wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 sig…

Battery life. And noise. And carrying anything substantial. And adding all the safety mechanisms that prevent it from killing someone in case of malfunction. And mechanisms to prevent it from being stolen or damaged. And autonomous navigation in case of unforseen obstacles (a construction crane?). And the ability to either land or negotiate a delivery point (imagine an urban road, with tall builings, walkways and traffic). And the ability to coordinate with other autonomous drones (avoid collisions, etc.).

I do fly a drone for fun as well. Last Christmas I had the idea of flying it over the frozen surface of a mountain lake, not far from my hometown. Well, about 30 seconds in, a pretty angry buzzard made a straight line for it and crashed it. It weighs about 2.5kg, it crashed on the ice from about 10m. No major damage, but retrieving it from there was, well, tricky :)

Here you can see an eerily similar incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTTiLXYMAZk

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

#78

Post by maxxxxx »

Reedx wrote: post #69
spectramax wrote: post #55

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 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…

"quieter" doesn't mean "quiet". I am very doubtful that they can reduce it to bearable levels.

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

#79

Post by rhacker »

> Wing said the feedback obtained during its trials had been "valuable" and it hoped to "continue the dialogue".

That's code for they have asked their lawyer to see what was legal and if they can simply ignore the complaints.

We continue to wage war on silence. The other day I was far the heck out there on a trail and the only things I could hear were squirrels birds and a few other things. My soul was at peace. We can't have that in cities or even suburbs any more. Instead we get BUMP BUMP BUMP from passing cars. The level of anxiety we get from cities is insane and people don't really even understand this until they are 60 years old. I'm 38 and I understand it.

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

#80

Post by rubicon33 »

genericone wrote: post #72
skykooler wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it possible to use a drone with a balloon on top to help it lift more? That's essentially a blimp. Due to square/cube scaling, blimps have less lift and more drag relative to their size at small scales than large ones. The extra power needed to overcome the drag would by far negate the power savings from reduced lifting requirements.

If there were a mini-compressor-pump aboard the drone, is it possible that it could inflate/evacuate a balloon on demand during hover mode? Is the economics of such a thing even possible?

Inflate it with what? Raw air? That would do nothing.

Are you proposing that it could somehow hook itself up to a helium or hydrogen source, while hovering?

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