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Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

bloomberg.com

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Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#171

Post by [deleted] »

ekzy wrote: post #128
brenschluss wrote: post #25

I feel like this is a stunt. Drone delivery only works with customers that have private backyards - so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off. In a suburban/rural context, density is lower, meaning that with the limited range of drones, distribution centers won't be able to take advantage of density. Thus the range of products available at each distribution center will be mu…

> won't work in a city You could have a kind of platform coming out of your front window (not necessarily for it to land, but to receive the package). Now imagine it would be fully automated, as the drone approach, the platform comes out or open, receives the items, comes back in. The mailbox of the future. We call it the iPost, and we think you're gonna love it

[deleted]

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#172

Post by FroshKiller »

FrancoDiaz wrote: post #168
FroshKiller wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in an urban area in the US. UPS, FedEx, and the USPS all drop my packages off unsecured at my front door as it is. What difference does it make whether it's a person in a truck or a drone doing it? As an Amazon Prime member, I sometimes use Prime Now to get deliveries made in two hours from a limited selection of products, and that requires a minimum order and a delivery surcharge. It's still a great option th…

From a physical standpoint, can a drone get to your front door? I think targets are going to be inevitable. There's no way that a drone is going to be able to deliver to my front porch. It would be much easier to delivery to my deck in back. The "not driving" part is the key for me personally. I don't really like risking life and limb to buy potato chips. By chance, do you have vertigo?

No, I don't have vertigo, just a healthy aversion to the deadliest routine task most of us engage in. The longer I go without an accident, the more aware I am that for all I do to minimize my risk factors while driving, I have no control over my fellow motorists.

But yeah, a drone could get to my front door. I agree with you, though, that having some way to designate the delivery area might be necessary.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#173

Post by ant6n »

manmal wrote: post #130
brenschluss wrote: post #25

I feel like this is a stunt. Drone delivery only works with customers that have private backyards - so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off. In a suburban/rural context, density is lower, meaning that with the limited range of drones, distribution centers won't be able to take advantage of density. Thus the range of products available at each distribution center will be mu…

In the future, I can imagine having drop off zones (one for every block, e.g. upgraded food/newspaper kiosks in very high density areas), where you can gather your packages if you provide the correct code/QR image. Or even pay only if and when you pick it up? I can already order groceries online and pick them up myself for a small fee, here in Austria. Using drones would just take it farther and quicker, and I would…

You mean I have to leave my building?!

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#174

Post by FroshKiller »

odaymansour wrote: post #151
FroshKiller wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny you should say that. I've posted about traffic calming in my neighborhood before! It's calmed in one direction but not the other. Still, even going 20 or 35 mph is enough to kill someone, and 20 feet is not a lot of room, especially with no barrier between the sidewalk and the car. Last weekend, a driver swerved to hit a car that was stopped in the street and struck the tree on the corner of my lot. Luckil…

The point of reduced speed is not to avoid killing people when striking them, but to reduce the odds of a driver losing control of a car and ending up on the sidewalk.

Sure, a car going 5 mph is still going to kill you but is easier for the driver to control so it doesn't. But again, "reduce the odds." I don't care how slow you're forced to go around that curve, there's still nothing between you and me on the sidewalk but your hands and feet on the controls.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#175

Post by jtolmar »

sqeaky wrote: post #164
jtolmar wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Seattle, at least, it's very common for apartments to have tiny private balconies. If a drone can deliver to one of those, it will be more convenient than trying to deal with the average apartment complex's mailroom.

This sounds interesting but there are at least some problems to overcome to make it practical. How does the drone identify apartment 5b from 4c? Most balconies like that in my area (Omaha) have another balcony on the next floor up in roughly the same size and shape. How reliable are the flight algorithms when dealing with cielings? How does that affect airflow? What happens when a drone gets the wrong balcony? What h…

My preferred solution for a variety of these is that you buy a transmitter from Amazon, and the drone tries to home in on it once it gets to your address. The ideal transmitter would be wide and flat, so the drone can just drop packages on it, and so any place you could fit it also has a reasonable chance of having enough clearance. You could incentivize buying them using the same mechanics as Amazon's dash buttons.

Doesn't help with complex patio furniture though, and ceilings are a genuinely hard problem. (Most apartments in Seattle are like that too.)

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#176

Post by discreteevent »

sqeaky wrote: post #164
jtolmar wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Seattle, at least, it's very common for apartments to have tiny private balconies. If a drone can deliver to one of those, it will be more convenient than trying to deal with the average apartment complex's mailroom.

This sounds interesting but there are at least some problems to overcome to make it practical. How does the drone identify apartment 5b from 4c? Most balconies like that in my area (Omaha) have another balcony on the next floor up in roughly the same size and shape. How reliable are the flight algorithms when dealing with cielings? How does that affect airflow? What happens when a drone gets the wrong balcony? What h…

> How does the drone identify apartment 5b from 4c?

Go out on the balcony with a phone app that prompts you to take pictures of the view in all directions. It sends these along with GPS coordinates to Amazon.

Drone flies to GPS coordinates and then descends until it's views 'match' those in the pictures you took.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#177

Post by plandis »

pseudometa wrote: post #73

Autonomous trucks and cars will be here long before drone delivery is actually a thing. For now Amazon can get easy free press for delivering popcorn... they might as well start a group focused on carrier pigeon delivery.

I think both have their benefits. Drones probably work better as a last mile kind of solution where time is a factor (roads can be much more congested than the air)

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#178

Post by petra »

davidverhasselt wrote: post #29
brenschluss wrote: post #25

I feel like this is a stunt. Drone delivery only works with customers that have private backyards - so won't work in a city, since the payload is unsecured after the drones drop it off. In a suburban/rural context, density is lower, meaning that with the limited range of drones, distribution centers won't be able to take advantage of density. Thus the range of products available at each distribution center will be mu…

I can see drones being used in cities to dump packages into the top of packet vending machines that already exist, that open up with a PIN code. It'd be much easier too because the route can be hardcoded towards the machine.

In cities, delivery drivers ship 600 packages/day into packet vending machines, vs only 60 regular delivery, and regular deliveries via usps cost less than $2 for amazon.,

So i don't think a drone , in this high density case could offer much savings.

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#179

Post by petra »

anton_tarasenko wrote: post #35

That's a last mile solution. Comparing to human costs of Amazon's preferred shipping method: USPS's subsidized parcel injection. The last mile belongs to USPS. In the urban environment, that's about 15 minute per parcel at $20 per hour (labor plus trucks). I.e., $5 per parcel. For FedEx, the cost of the entire expedition process is roughly $6.6 per parcel ($43bn cost of revenue for 6.5bn deliveries), so the last mile…

Amazon pays usps $2 per package, not $5:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/it-s-amaz...

Re: Amazon has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer

#180

Post by Guest98123 »

pkroll wrote: post #170
Guest98123 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cities seem like the easiest challenge to tackle. Amazon could work with commercial and residential high rises and put a dock on their rooftops. So, the drone approaches the building rooftop, puts the package in the docking area (that keeps out poor weather), and then flies away. One of the receptionists could then get a notification of a new package, pick it up, and either put it in the appropriate mailbox, or hold…

A rooftop of a residential high rise isn't a place filled with machinery, it's patio space. The whole top floor is either one or two apartments, has 14' high ceilings, and the very richest live there. They're not gonna want Amazon to land a drone in the middle of their party, nor have anyone come up to say Hi and pick up a package.

That's simply not true. Take a look at Google maps and you'll realize the vast majority of residential high rises are actually filled with equipment, huge fans, loud air-conditioners and empty space. Most have terraces and pools on lower floors, and most penthouses don't have rooftop access.

For example, look at the below image of high rise condos in Chicago. They're all filled with heavy equipment. They're not filled with the super rich having extravagant cocktail parties.

http://i.imgur.com/QC8rakm.jpg

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