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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

#91

Post by brianwawok »

rubicon33 wrote: post #80
genericone wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Not saying this idea is worth the complexity (sounds over-engineered), but I am pretty sure you could make like a 1"x2" can of compressed helium attached to a 3' balloon with a simple valve to pop open and inflate the balloon. Think of those little air cans that you use for refilling bike tires on the go. Only weigh a few grams, holds a lot of air.

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

#93

Post by elsonrodriguez »

montenegrohugo wrote: post #31
mrtksn wrote: post #8

I personally expect that the first successful drone delivery service will be implemented by some sophisticated drug dealers because unlike with all these drone delivery services, they would need to be quiet and reliably deliver products instead of publicity.

Chose one: - quiet - drone

The Black Hornet Nano would like a word with you.

I know it's a small drone, but I own lots of small drones and none of them are that quiet, and the tech will likely be applied to larger drones over time.

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

#94

Post by Mtinie »

"They will not be allowed to fly over crowds or main roads."

I know this is specific to the current set of guidelines, but if I imagine this service launching in my part of the world I'm unsure how it would even work with this requirement. To go from one side of my city to the other you have to traverse a number of main roads. If you're setting up base stations all over the place to launch from to keep from breaking across main roads I can't see how this solves the distribution problem (though it may solve the "we have to pay humans to deliver packages and takeout food" problem...)

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

#95

Post by learc83 »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #89
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.

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.

Hydrogen is lighter than helium, easy to produce, and if you're talking smallish blimp with no people on board, it's not particularly dangerous.

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

#96

Post by bsimpson »

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…

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.

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

#97

Post by 1024core »

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…

> We continue to wage war on silence.

What is more important: a minute of drone noise, or the fumes from a diesel truck sent over to do the delivery?

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

#98

Post by nickparker »

ansible wrote: post #84

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...

I suspect they're still headed that way long term, and just went with this design to get testing ASAP because the pusher configuration has more challenges.

The flip maneuver is difficult to integrate with their sky crane style system. You absolutely don't want to tilt your payload because that ruins lots of foods (coffee, pizza) so you either need some sort of pivot mechanism for your payload attachment smack dab in the middle of the craft, or you have to do some daring aerobatics to finish retracting the crane as you begin low speed level flight.

Their noise problem is almost entirely because of those tiny propellers - A pusher wing with a pair of much larger (10+"), slower props could be pretty quiet.

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

#99

Post by neaden »

learc83 wrote: post #95
dreamcompiler wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Hydrogen is lighter than helium, easy to produce, and if you're talking smallish blimp with no people on board, it's not particularly dangerous.

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.

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

#100

Post by dreamcompiler »

learc83 wrote: post #95
dreamcompiler wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Hydrogen is lighter than helium, easy to produce, and if you're talking smallish blimp with no people on board, it's not particularly dangerous.

Agreed. But there's a perception issue that arises from flammability that requires political skills I don't have. So hydrogen feels like a difficult solution to me. Example headline: "Flying Bombs, Oh My!"
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