Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google Wing will deliver to about 100 homes in Canberra

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 149 posts

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

#81

Post by jerf »

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?

You'll experience the same scaling issues with whatever it is you expect to inflate with. You're going to have a lot of volume dedicated to the pressure vessel and not so much in the pressure vessel, because of scaling issues.

And I'm discarding the pump to put it back, assuming we're just going to vent to the atmosphere when we're done. Things get worse if you want to pump it back in.

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

#82

Post by nradov »

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?

No that doesn't really work. High pressure helium pumps are expensive, heavy, and require a lot of maintenance. Plus they require a lot of power to operate. And they produce a lot of waste heat.

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

#84

Post by ansible »

The design of the drones is interesting.

I've though that the original Project Wing design (flying wing that transitions 90 degrees for vertical hover) would have been more efficient. Or a larger version of the E-flite X-Vert VTOL:

https://www.horizonhobby.com/x-vert-vtol-bnf-basic-efl1850?g...

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

#85

Post by tdhoot »

slashink wrote: post #68
tdhoot wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Googles inclination to deprecate products is common knowledge at this point. What value is added by restating the obvious in every Google related thread?

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

#86

Post by dr_dshiv »

bloopernova wrote: post #40
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…

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?

You use the Zeppelin for the mothership holding the delivery drones

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

#87

Post by fooqux »

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?

Assuming there weren't already problems with the balloon idea, what you'd have then is a pressurized vessel, the pump, and of all the compressed helium weighing you down for 99% of your trip just to save a tiny bit of energy (and I'm assuming a day with zero wind here) during the offloading procedure which probably doesn't even last long enough for the balloon to fully inflate.

Also, as far as I know, the cheapest/lightest material to make the balloon out of would be mylar, which is conductive and not something you want around powerlines.

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

#88

Post by tannerc »

bloopernova wrote: post #40
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…

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?

Re: a small self driving car, that's exactly what Nuro[1] is doing commercially today.

1. https://nuro.ai/

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

#89

Post by dreamcompiler »

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.

Also, helium is for all practical purposes a nonrenewable resource. One drone wouldn't use a lot, but a few million refilling every day would put a dent in the world's helium supply.

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

#90

Post by yaacov »

rhacker wrote: post #79

> 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 c…

I don’t get anxiety from cities. I love cities. Your experience is common but not universal.
Post reply on HN