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One problem with Zippy would be it contending with a myriad of laws stemming from whether Zippy is a vehicle, especially a motorized vehicle on a sidewalk. Let'
by afrancis 10y ago
One problem with Zippy would be it contending with a myriad of laws stemming from whether Zippy is a vehicle, especially a motorized vehicle on a sidewalk. Let's ignore the unmanned part for now.
"Having small items delivered to homes by robots gives us near zero cost per delivery, "
You would still have variable costs like fuel, which would be incurred on a delivery by delivery basis. Then how high is Zippy's fixed costs?
I suspect that Zippy could only work in certain very densely populated areas, where users are willing to make concessions. In a suburb, Zippy because it using a sidewalk, would be too slow, but could do front door delivery. For an apartment building, Zippy could only go to the lobby's front door, hence requiring a concession from the customer that they may not want to make. Also how far can Zippy operate from the restaurant in question (it has to travel back)? What is its payload?
When I come to think about it, Zippy would be analogous to a person in a wheelchair making deliveries.
I suspect one could use computer simulations and some what-ifs on a spreadsheet to figure out Zippy's feasibility. I would wager that a person in car is simply more flexible, cost-effective and provides a more satisfying experience to the customer.
- tomjacobs 10y agoYes, they're electric, so a depot with a solar array brings the cost down here. Zippy hasn't worked out apartment buildings and the city, so is best suited at first to the suburbs. A few miles is that distance that seems silly to drive but too far to walk. That's right, we already have manned wheelchairs roaming the streets, so it's not too different. We bet there are cases where not having to wait on a human to be available will be a very good experience for the customer.
- afrancis 10y ago"That's right, we already have manned wheelchairs roaming the streets, so it's not too different." However you probably don't want a person in a wheelchair delivering one's pizzas .... Tom, again I would recommend you do some computer simulations and simple break-even cost analysis. Is the problem of pizza delivery really the human not being available, or being idle (is this really a capacity and demand management problem)? What stops a Zippy unit from not being available as it slowly heads back to base? From what I see, Zippy being a motorized land vehicle, suffers all the problems of a car, without any of its benefits. What makes drones appealing to say an Amazon, is the combination of flying that probably easier and safer than driving, and the value of the payload. In general, last mile problems are tough. Also you have to ask yourself how does Zippy enhance the customer experience? Cheers, Andrew
- tomjacobs 10y agoRight, it starts off somewhere with a clear closed path, and a daily need for small item transport.