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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

#111

Post by grandmczeb »

yaacov wrote: post #90
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.

Same - I actually like city noise. It’s really annoying when people assume their preferences extend to everyone.

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

#112

Post by jonfw »

bluedino wrote: post #30
golergka wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Current deaddrop schemes seem to be working quite well, drones would be much easier to target than just a random person walking around.

Don't drones have to be controlled from a certain distance? Most prisons around here are in remote areas, so if you see car pulled over on the side of the road near a prison, maybe they are flying a drone to deliver contraband.

Legally they're not supposed to fly past a certain distance from an operator, but if you don't care about the law you could easily operate via cell towers, or even autonomously via a predefined GPS coordinate based route.

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

#113

Post by zaroth »

anoncake wrote: post #104
bsimpson wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only there were quieter places, out in the countryside, where you could have Really Uninterrupted Relaxing And Leisure - hey, we could even call them that: R.U.R.A.L.

That is no excuse for making cities louder than they need to be.

An available substitute is a great reason to allow a particular service to not be provided in a particular location.

If rural environments weren’t accessible it becomes much more important for cities to be more quiet. Because rural environments are available, cities can trade some silence for some pretty extraordinary economic advantages.

Building skyscrapers and moving millions of people around every day is noisy work, but it provides one heck of a boost to the GDP.

If cities can be quieter for free, they should be. If being quieter costs cities one of their inherent advantages than people who don’t like that can choose a different environ.

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

#114

Post by penagwin »

phpnode wrote: post #38
cs02rm0 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It's to keep the drone as far away from landing hazards as possible - you don't want someone accidentally losing a finger to a rotor or the drone crashing through someone's window or landing in a location it's likely to get stuck.

Yup it's a pretty good idea too. Pets, odd structures, children, terrain type, puddles, water run off areas.

Not to mention you need to account for the wind. Drones can actually fly really well in wind, and while obviously they won't be flying in strong winds, you never know if there'll be a gust.

In rural/suburban/residential districts the airspace is pretty darn clear above the treeline/buildings. Assuming you aren't next to a large airport, there is little to no air traffic, there's more wind but there's plenty of room, etc.

I couldn't tell from the video, but I'd assume they drop the entire string to prevent it from being snagged.

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

#115

Post by penagwin »

michaelmior wrote: post #36
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they? How often are delivery trucks stolen, for example?

Delivery trucks (currently) have drivers which does complicate theft.

You know, I thought of a bunch of reasons why drones would be more likely to be stolen, but it never occurred to me that delivery trucks are accompanied by people.

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

#116

Post by penagwin »

ProblemFactory wrote: post #102
neaden wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think having what essentially would be small robot controlled fire-bombs flying through the skies would be a tough sell. Even if you managed to make them as safe as possible it's not exactly the kind of thing people would be eager to approve.

Current drone batteries are a much higher fire risk than a hydrogen blimp.

Plus assuming the drone is above the tree line and not next to a tall structure, the actual "fireball" should move fairly skyward and not pose much of a fire threat? I'd be more concerned about the falling drone/battery.

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

#117

Post by tlrobinson »

waltbosz wrote: post #76
cs02rm0 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> there will be a community of drone hunting enthusiasts.

Probably not, at least in the US it's a federal crime: https://www.justice.gov/jm/criminal-resource-manual-2-aircra...

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

#119

Post by oska »

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…

> There's a better video of the drones here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prhDrfUgpB0

Mount Tennent in the centre background at 0:10 in the video. Tidbinbilla Deep Space tracking station is a bit off to the right (and behind a range of hills).

I'm frankly surprised that they've chosen Canberra (the nation's capital) as a launch city. The degree of nimbyism in Canberra would be very high with a lot of people who are very good at lobbying and political action (it's their job). In the case of this particular project I see that as a good thing. I think delivering coffees by a noisy drone that overflies urban areas is an incredibly stupid enterprise.

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

#120

Post by Dig1t »

tdhoot wrote: post #65
hpkuarg wrote: post #39

133,000 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 thought it was funny, its just a joke? No need to be such a Debbie Downer
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