Wing drone delivery

[MAvic_South_Oz]

A trial region for Wing delivery, my brother had some sort of takeaway delivered to his house.
This was shot fairly poorly by someone.
Excuse the out of frame unsteadiness, and the clothesline, as the video taker obviously couldn’t move 6’ left to avoid that.
I did my best to reduce volume of the shrieking child or woman.

Info on Wing . . . A division of Alphabet (parent company Google).

Wing

Wing drone delivery is a convenient service that allows you to shop in your city and support local business. Learn more about getting food, snacks, meals, and more delivered via drone today.

wing.com

 

[eEridani]

That was so noisy that if a drone like that came to my neighbors I'd have a net ready.

Or, I'd have 50 deliveries a day made to my house until everyone else started complaining.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

That was so noisy that if a drone like that came to my neighbors I'd have a net ready.

Or, I'd have 50 deliveries a day made to my house until everyone else started complaining.

Drone deliveries (if they take off, pun intended) will hopefully take the heat of rather minor hobbyists flights !

Look at the number of motors . . . 12 for lift, 4 for forward thrust.
(Have seen some google images where they have 2 forward motors, but this one in the video had 4.)



Will probably talk to my brother today sometime, I'll have to ask him what (if any) cost was involved for this service.

 

[old man mavic]

is that what they call operating on a wing and a prayer ,just in case it doesnt make it back

 

[tlswift58]

Now that is "butt" ugly! Unless they are delivering a 2 liter Coke; is that not overkill. If med delivery, think my Air2 could carry a couple of pill bottles quite well.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Yep, our drones are much more, I dunno, ‘normal looking’ but I suppose this is built for a purpose and function.
So maybe balance and stability led to the design, along with production cost.
(Anyone know where they’re made ? Guessing China. )

Yes, I thought about 12 lift motors being there for ability to carry more weighty items, but this was carrying one very light item (more below) and was quite noisy.
I’m picturing it carrying a decent load and how it will be screaming 10x worse !

Ok found out it was carrying a packet of biscuits !
Tim Tams in fact, Aussies will know them instantly, not sure if made for overseas markets, here’s some info amd a link to cost.

Tim Tam - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

https://www.finder.com.au/findings-domestic-tim-tams%3famp

But basically you can find them readily in special for between $2 and $3 a packet.

Which brings me to what the heck !!

I know this is a trial and Wing / Alphabet / Google will be testing and refining their reliability, safety, systems, but how the heck will they make money from this side of their delivery arm (other suppliers deliveries) ?

There was no extra cost for the delivery at all.
Brother didn’t make the order, so not sure if product price was inflated.

 

[tlswift58]

Yep, our drones are much more, I dunno, ‘normal looking’ but I suppose this is built for a purpose and function.
So maybe balance and stability led to the design, along with production cost.
(Anyone know where they’re made ? Guessing China. )

Yes, I thought about 12 lift motors being there for ability to carry more weighty items, but this was carrying one very light item (more below) and was quite noisy.
I’m picturing it carrying a decent load and how it will be screaming 10x worse !

Ok found out it was carrying a packet of biscuits !
Tim Tams in fact, Aussies will know them instantly, not sure if made for overseas markets, here’s some info amd a link to cost.

Tim Tam - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

https://www.finder.com.au/findings-domestic-tim-tams%3famp

But basically you can find them readily in special for between $2 and $3 a packet.

Which brings me to what the heck !!

I know this is a trial and Wing / Alphabet / Google will be testing and refining their reliability, safety, systems, but how the heck will they make money from this side of their delivery arm (other suppliers deliveries) ?

There was no extra cost for the delivery at all.
Brother didn’t make the order, so not sure if product price was inflated.

No veggiemite or marmite in that delivery? I'm sorry; but those 2 are nasty. Has to be an acquired tast.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

No veggiemite or marmite in that delivery? I'm sorry; but those 2 are nasty. Has to be an acquired tast.

Vegemite rules, let me tell ya
Winter Vegemite soup (a good dose of cracked pepper in there too), anytime of year cheese and vegemite on toast, great stock for soups / meals.

Marmite, I think is the UK equivalent, and yeah I find it so different, although same principal recipe . . . definitely an acquired taste if you are used to Vegemite.

I have seen the videos of non Aussies (notably it's usually US citizens) trying Vegemite for the first time, and the reactions are quite entertaining.

 

[4006448]

This was on our night news last week. I could see great benefits for those in lockdown (not allowed out of the home), but we haven’t been in lockdown or the shut-in people (mobility or health issues) - otherwise don’t understand there being a viable business case.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Novelty for most users I feel, but if no cost you'll get people using it if they're feeling a bit lazy and think "why not".
The $ side of it is perplexing, how can they make a decent ROI / profit on such things, the stores in the trial can't sell for much more (if at all), or people won't bother . . . most are more fiscal than lazy in Oz, ha ha.

This is the Logan trial page on the Wing site . . .

Logan – Australia – Wing

Beenleigh, Berrinba, Bethania, Browns Plains, Crestmead, Edens Landing, Heritage Park, Holmview, Kingston, Logan Central, Loganlea, Marsden, Park Ridge, Regents Park, Slacks Creek, Underwood, Waterford, Waterford West, and Woodridge . . . that's a HUGE area, and a HUGE consumer base.

I'm guessing they have one drone hub somewhere central.

The Wing link above lists those businesses participating too, notice they are small independent stores ?
Well, apart form the Terry White Chemist chain.

How do they do it ?
Hard to say, but I'd be fairly sure they would need to fly to the supplier, as a central hub would not have access to all the specialty fresh goods seen above.
The supplier load the goods in the little cart (have them on site to pre load most likely), the drone winches down and either is hooked up or it hooks itself up, then they go drop off the goods and return to the hub (or onto the next pick up delivery).

Lot of mucking about.

A wiki link about Wing explains some more about the programme . . .

Wing (company) - Wikipedia

Includes a noticeable paragraph on noise complaints, as well as confirming the 12 lift props are there for safety / redundancy in case of motor malfunction.
You'd think it could rev a lot lower though in that case, as all seem to be working.

 

[4006448]

Novelty for most users I feel, but if no cost you'll get people using it if they're feeling a bit lazy and think "why not".
The $ side of it is perplexing, how can they make a decent ROI / profit on such things, the stores in the trial can't sell for much more (if at all), or people won't bother . . . most are more fiscal than lazy in Oz, ha ha.

This is the Logan trial page on the Wing site . . .

Logan – Australia – Wing

Beenleigh, Berrinba, Bethania, Browns Plains, Crestmead, Edens Landing, Heritage Park, Holmview, Kingston, Logan Central, Loganlea, Marsden, Park Ridge, Regents Park, Slacks Creek, Underwood, Waterford, Waterford West, and Woodridge . . . that's a HUGE area, and a HUGE consumer base.

I'm guessing they have one drone hub somewhere central.

The Wing link above lists those businesses participating too, notice they are small independent stores ?
Well, apart form the Terry White Chemist chain.

How do they do it ?
Hard to say, but I'd be fairly sure they would need to fly to the supplier, as a central hub would not have access to all the specialty fresh goods seen above.
The supplier load the goods in the little cart (have them on site to pre load most likely), the drone winches down and either is hooked up or it hooks itself up, then they go drop off the goods and return to the hub (or onto the next pick up delivery).

Lot of mucking about.

A wiki link about Wing explains some more about the programme . . .

Wing (company) - Wikipedia

Includes a noticeable paragraph on noise complaints, as well as confirming the 12 lift props are there for safety / redundancy in case of motor malfunction.
You'd think it could rev a lot lower though in that case, as all seem to be working.

From the news story, launch and return from rooftop of a local shopping centre.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

From the news story, launch and return from rooftop of a local shopping centre.

Ah, those biz might be all in the same complex then, makes more sense form that perspective.
How realistic otherwise ? Not so sure.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Thought I might just tack this onto this thread . . .

It’s Not a Bird, or a Plane, It’s the Colonel With a Drone

They say the Logan region is the drone delivery capital of the World, based on the trials held there for the past couple of years . . .

Wing Blog: Logan, Australia: The Drone Delivery Capital of the World

Now, if the Ravens and such would only leave them alone !!

Aussie Ravens Have Had Enough of Alphabet’s Delivery Drones

Alphabet's drone delivery company Wing has been forced to halt aerial deliveries in Canberra due to attacks from local ravens.

www.gizmodo.com.au