21–30 of 32 posts
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I blame them for wanting to achieve a working product rather than a really cool concept.
That would be a truck with a docked cargo bike.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12830298/delivery-bot-van-m...
What a weird combination. I understood Matternet's strategy while using drones for the good of humanity delivering HIV testing in faraway places. Partnering with Mercedes Benz to deliver "things to places" seems like it is competing with Amazon. Does Mercedes have or want a large African footprint? Do non-Amazon stores have enough of a desire to have speedy drone delivery of packages that this makes sense from a busi…
Mercedes and Matternet both have an interest in the efficient, cost-effective delivery of things. Matternet, for now, is concerned with the "last mile," (https://mttr.net/company), the aerial logistics part, and Mercedes is concerned with every other mile.
Amazon is a prospective client, they have the things people want.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't that turn the delivery problem into an exactly mirrored pickup problem? Getting the drones back would be about as much work as getting the package to you.
Couldn't you make drones that unpack the package? So there is nothing to return?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is this company called Netflix...
They're spinning down the side of their business that requires using the postal service because it's less popular, and less efficient than the side that doesn't.
It is a good prediction that we will someday be receiving our newly ordered toothbrush digitally, and have it physically printed in your home, but for now we still need physical goods to move from factory-warehouse-home
I believe oneway drones are next so that the van doesn't have to stop moving. Then upgrade to a truck on a highway - just keep launching as the truck is maintaining 55-65 mph. Unit lands in your yard. When you get home, Remove your item, fold up the power unit, recycle the cardboard/plastic components and stick the reusable portion of the unit in your mailbox. Unit is self addressed and postage included to go back to…
I don't see a good reason to make reusable systems 'disposable'. Especially as doing it that way means you need to carry one drone per package in the van! I can see this being useful in various places if the landing question is sorted out, and I think the main one of those is the 'disaster' scenario. Plenty of rural situations would benefit too: you don't have to send a van up a narrow unpaved road, or on a circuitou…
what if one semi-truck could deliver the contents of 10x vans?
what if one semi-truck could deliver the contents of 10x vans in significantly less time than any one of the 10 vans by never getting off the highway?
what if one semi-truck could deliver the contents of 10x vans in significantly less time than any one of the 10 vans by never getting off the highway and be back to the warehouse ready for another round of deliveries within a 2 hours?
Removes - Reloading in the van (people?). Recharging/swapping in the van. Return trip to van. Truck waiting nearby 10 drones go out, what if one gets stuck somewhere? when do you abandon? 9 drones are just idling here and they are critical for the next stop's deliveries.
Adds - Warehouse preparation of drones for flight. more frequency of deliveries, as single truck can cover more ground in shorter time, making hourly delivery (pick your hour: 8.9.10.11 & 12 etc) an option for a much larger audience outside of cities. More Drone Losses - Getting the cost of these oneway units down would be key to offset this.
I think of it like a drone bomber from the sky, but on the ground and simpler to operate (direct operating costs for an airplane anyone.. its prohibitive).
A hexacopter, or better still an octo with split flight controllers and power sources has some chance of recovering from a powertrain failure - an essential criteria for a multi-rotor designed to fly in or over populated areas, or indeed anywhere where the cost of the loss of the vehicle or payload is prohibitive.
(None of which of course solves the problem of how you safely land and secure the delivery at the target site, but it's table stakes.)
This is a hobby-drone cleverly positioned to senior execs looking for the new hotness without understanding the fundamental requirements for a practical solution.
I believe oneway drones are next so that the van doesn't have to stop moving. Then upgrade to a truck on a highway - just keep launching as the truck is maintaining 55-65 mph. Unit lands in your yard. When you get home, Remove your item, fold up the power unit, recycle the cardboard/plastic components and stick the reusable portion of the unit in your mailbox. Unit is self addressed and postage included to go back to…
I believe oneway drones are next so that the van doesn't have to stop moving. Then upgrade to a truck on a highway - just keep launching as the truck is maintaining 55-65 mph. Unit lands in your yard. When you get home, Remove your item, fold up the power unit, recycle the cardboard/plastic components and stick the reusable portion of the unit in your mailbox. Unit is self addressed and postage included to go back to…
In most states you cannot legally drop anything other than water from a moving vehicle on public roads. Launching drones from a moving truck would be hazardous to other drivers and should never be allowed.
It may not be safe now, and it may not be legal now. But sometime in the future, all the concerns that would have been reason-enough to have it illegal/unsafe would be resolved to most people's satisfaction.