Incredible Invention- This Drone Could Change Everything

[MAvic_South_Oz]

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Much like flares being deployed on a military aircraft when in danger, this one will launch doggie treats in the yard to deter the enemy.

Funny as that sounds, it would probably work with all but the pinnacle of well trained of guard dogs.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Been following Zipline in Rwanda and some other nations for a few years now.
It's a remarkably well thought out and refined system.
When I read about Zipline getting involved with Walmart, I knew they'd have something a little different.

That 'chicken wishbone' prop design is so incredible, looks like it'd be so unbalanced.

 

[ericole]

This is all pointless until the FAA or Congress relax that BVLOS regulations. Same with Walmart and DroneUp.

Once the way is clear, this will become more popular.

I'll be in D.C. on Wednesday next week talking with Congress folks about this very thing. We also have our BVLOS Task Group report due to be presented to the FAA at the AAAC meeting next month.

I'll post a link to that meeting once it's announced.

Will delivery drones every darken the sky (as both extreme opponents and proponents claim)? No. But once it's commonplace, we'll see more of them being used for many aspects of delivery. Mostly last mile, but some local deliveries as well.

But nothing can happen until the FAA gets out of our way. And quickly! There are some drone delivery companies burning through capital too fast, and they'll run out before they can start making money. It's the FAA's fault.

You are right - regulations generally follow way behind the technology. I find it interesting how these are REALLY drones - flying completely autonomously. Of course they did show that they were already operating here in the US on that map he showed, and later this year some salad company would start using them. I took that to be here in the US.

 

[mereflyer]

Unbelievable use of drone tech - where will it end? amazing video!

 

[bmwbob]

I want the quite props!

 

[anotherlab]

I found the second part of the video more interesting. The gliding drones that are being used to send medical supplies to remote locations was amazing.

Drone deliveries are a cool concept, but not really cost-effective in most cases. Roper used examples of how it would reduce the number of drivers on the road, but that is somewhat misleading. A drone delivery using Zipline would have one package per trip. Parcel delivery trucks carry many packages. There is a great use case for delivering emergency medical supplies, not so much for getting razor blades being delivered.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

A drone delivery using Zipline would have one package per trip. Parcel delivery trucks carry many packages. There is a great use case for delivering emergency medical supplies,

emergency medical supplies

It's easy to see how this is totally the way of the future for realistic, viable drone delivery in the short to mid term.
There are probably a handful of other ways drones could be used for deliveries, anything urgent, across a city, from a central distribution centre etc.

If it is ever viable for general grocery store type items, it will be a long way off when tech has really been advanced to a point it can be made more efficient.
Of course some will make a novelty of the idea, but it will not be able to make any real money, which is (should be) at the heart of such commercial use.

Saving lives however is viable and practical.

edit typo

 

[mavictk]

Still waiting to see how the local attack dog is being addressed.

Drops a dog treat on the other side of the yard first?

 

[NG Wildman]

THIS IS A GREAT VIDEO,

 

[Zbip57]

That 'chicken wishbone' prop design is so incredible, looks like it'd be so unbalanced.

The counterweight on the opposite end would balance it as it spins, but the lift is certainly unbalanced. That's going to generate quite some unbalanced bending in the prop shaft and stress the bearings.

 

[BoomerMark]

Amazing! Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ODroneWorks]

Using long-range glider UAV’s to deliver much needed medicine (and blood) to far flung and inaccessible hospitals has to be the single best use of this technology I’ve ever seen. That company is amazing for that fact alone, and I applaud their efforts!

 

[dudz]

Maybe somewhere in the US, cant see it ever happening much anywhere else.

 

[Vic Moss]

Maybe somewhere in the US, cant see it ever happening much anywhere else.

Sure about that?

SkyDrop, Domino's gear up to launch commercial drone delivery trial in New Zealand

/PRNewswire/ -- SkyDrop announced that production of the drone fleet for the commercial drone delivery trial with Domino's is now complete. SkyDrop (formerly...

www.prnewswire.com

 

[jephoto]

This is way cool. I’m very impressed. I’m going to read up more on them. And yes, it will be a lot more complex issue in the United States because our skies are quite a bit more crowded than Rwanda.
But I can still see lots of applications for this. And there are many rural areas where this would work really well.
Now, here, in Chicago, I can see how it could be pretty sticky… And would make my life as a drone pilot not working for a big corporation more difficult.
Not impossible, but more difficult

 

[anotherlab]

Maybe somewhere in the US, cant see it ever happening much anywhere else.

I posted in one of the other threads for this topic:

There is a really good Reddit AMA with some of the engineers from Zipline. They answered questions about the problems that they addressed and their future plans.

 

[a2tomm]

Everyone should check out the possibilities these drones could do to the enthusiast that likes drones

 

[lookout]

Xjet doesn't like the idea.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I’ve thought commercial viability was a long way off at the first indication of drone deliveries for consumer items was being pursued.
Payload and number of deliveries is just too limited in the current formats.
Even Zipline.

One van, one driver, many hundreds of deliveries daily.

That’s not to say one day there won’t be van sized drones with perhaps similar capacity for number of packages for a delivery run, and automated systems to do multiple deliveries etc, even if weight limitations are required for airborne payload capacity.

But right now just the urgent medical side of these formats, be they Ziplines larger drones in more remote airspace, or these smaller drones like this new Zipline concept in urban areas, make them viable.
Would commercial viability even need to be considered for urgent blood, medication, drugs etc to be quickly deployed across a city ?
Obviously someone has to pay for it, but financing this would probably be less than traditional means used now.
Vehicles, drivers, and associated costs.
Zipline type drones would / should be at least no more cost than current methods but be far more efficient in delivery and saving lives.

Ok, other urgent deliveries could have the premium added for this sort of drone delivery too.
Perhaps legal papers, and no doubt other such things that have an urgency greater than viability factors.

Zipline had a great history of success and viability, not sure how long a Walmart association will go on, but they can, and will most likely, be using this new format in medical supply delivery.

 

[anotherlab]

This isn't going to be a Walmazon delivery replacement. There is a market for medical deliveries to hard-to-reach locations. If you were stranded by snow and the roads had not been cleared, this is a way to get life-saving medications delivered. Medicine is the right size for transport and that use case makes sense.

I don't see this making any sense for legal papers. This is a one-way delivery system, the recipient would not be able to sign and return legal documents with this service. If they don't need to sign and return, then a digitally-signed PDF file can be securely sent to them.