6 ms·

Engineering a Hook That Could Make Drone Deliveries Real

80 points by wallflower 8y ago

PanMan 8y ago
So a whole article on the perfect hook, with nice photos, but they didn’t include one of he perfect hook they designed? Anybody found one?
- Illniyar 8y ago
  I'm guessing that's because of patent or copycat issues. They don't want to reveal it until it's out.
  - at-fates-hands 8y ago
    I would assume this is the case. I have several friends who demoed prototypes of stuff they were in the process of building, only to have it copied, marketed and sold before they could finish their design.
- josefresco 8y ago
  Author said it looks like a fingerling potato https://www.google.com/search?q=fingerling+potato https://www.google.com/search?q=fingerling+potato
- darthswwils 8y ago
  Images of the hook and the package attachment have been released at other points. Its an egg-shaped attachment; so there is natural force to push off a matching egg shaped hook (but the overall hook is too large to pass through the hole again) Clear to see in these youtube videos; the CAD shot of the interface in the body of the craft gives you a clear idea of the shape so it only fits one way. https://youtu.be/BYMLZ2_6d4o?t=1m59s https://youtu.be/BYMLZ2_6d4o?t=1m59s https://youtu.be/XqLkMdwEWRc?t=1m25s https://youtu.be/XqLkMdwEWRc?t=1m25s
TaylorAlexander 8y ago
I’m friends with André! We work in the same building. He’s been working on that damn hook for some time now. My desk is near a multi story atrium in the building and sometimes he tests the spooling system near me. I can’t recall when he started this part of it but for at least a year now I’ve been hearing of the ups and downs. They have so many little issues to work out and they always want to keep weight down. It’s too bad the article didn’t have any pictures of the prototypes he has, but I guess they’re not ready to reveal that. André is also responsible for building a pretty awesome jet turbine powered chainsaw. :-D https://youtu.be/cr02tS39op8 https://youtu.be/cr02tS39op8
- anotheryou 8y ago
  Tell him we need a pic of that mechanism!
- fhood 8y ago
  Did he get paid to build that? How do I get paid to put turbines in power tools?
baybal2 8y ago
This does not seem to be sound engineering to me. Just the sole fact that they have no payload faring tells me that they don't have a single man with aeronautic engineering background.
- Etheryte 8y ago
  Maybe I simply misunderstood what you meant, but doesn't the box with all the bubblewrap and whatnot cover that purpose? They're already lowering it to the ground, I don't think it would need much extra protection.
  - jfoucher 8y ago
    I think what the parent is alluding to is that a box shape does not cut through the air very well, and that they should add a more aerodynamic shape to make it easier on the drone.
    - mattlondon 8y ago
      From what I have seen, the "box" here is not a cube, but more of an aerodynamically-sound shape (at least to a layman's understanding of pointy-things-are-more-aerodynamic). Not sure how recent this photo is, but it gives a feel for what the box looks/looked like at some stage: https://www.simplebotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/alphabet_project_wing_hybrid_2.jpg https://www.simplebotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/alph... https://9to5google.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/project-wing-traffic-e1496853046991.jpeg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1600&h=800 https://9to5google.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/project-wing-... http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg
      - baybal2 8y ago
        >http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg Well, this does look more or less reassuring. Still, even an aeronatics amateur will judge whatever they have there as an abomination. I just checked. That man is... an industrial designer, not an aeronautic engineer.
wozmirek 8y ago
All's cool, I already see the air full of drones (if I can't have my flying cars in 2020, drones would suffice), I'm truly worried about the noise though. While hoping that electric cars will make cities less noisy (I can feel it in Berlin with more and more electric cars and scooters), the buzzing sounds of drones is already too loud for me - and I've seen only several so far. That's going to be terrible, having dozens of them buzzing around, like your typical high-pitched scooter, but next to your 3rd floor window. Any quiet drones in development? ;)
- syntaxing 8y ago
  Unfortunately, noise is an inherent property of the propellers since it is moving air. There are methods that are used to make them quieter but usually this is for military applications and too costly. However, this is a hybrid plane so it acts like a quadcopter when it hovers vertically at a set point. It acts like a plane when its traveling long distances. Admittedly, RC planes can get pretty loud but it should be substantially quieter when it is coasting at constant altitude compared to a hovering drone.
- Harvey-Specter 8y ago
  DJI's Macic Pro Platinum uses a different rotor design and rotor frequency to make it much quieter than previous models. Apparently it sounds more like a desk fan than a hive of angry bees.[0] [0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16573820/dji-mavic-pro-platinum-drone-sound-noise https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16573820/dji-mavic-pro-pl...
  - wozmirek 8y ago
    Sounds great! :)
syntaxing 8y ago
I recommend looking at the prototypes throughout the years from them [1]. It's pretty cool to see what they changed. I am super curious about some of their decisions. I am sure there are good reasons but I am not too clear why (like having smaller props. Did the wake of the large props decreased the efficiency for gliding more than using smaller props for hovering?!) [1] https://x.company/projects/wing/ https://x.company/projects/wing/ (scroll about half way down and there should be a slideshow you can click into)
darthswwils 8y ago
Arcade claw machines already feature battle-tested mechanics for raising and lowering something on a string. They do not simply deploy a wound bobbin, but instead have the bobbin after 2 idler wheels. One wheel is housed on a lever - The weight of the claw (or in this case package) keeps the idler on a lever pushed down during most of the operation - when it contacts a prize (or in this case the floor) the idler receives less load and thus the lever moves up ensuring it does not jam or unwind further. Its a pretty ingenious design from an age where load sensing would be very expensive - and achieves robust bi-directional winding with end detection with just 1 microswitch. This zero-moving parts hook sounds great, but I don't see how much different it can be from a gravity hook, or a ships buoy-hook; unless it simply captures the package interface in a specific orientation (anyone who has ever played "fishing" with 2L pop bottles and a curtain ring knows the satisfaction of such mechanisms) - my guess would be that the attachment point is a specific shape rather than a circle; to promote the tension-less force to movement up and off.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
teddyh 8y ago
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_hook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_hook from the 19th century.
Mefis 8y ago
Drone deliveries are real. They are happening in China right now. https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce-with-drone-delivery-is-taking-flight-in-china https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce... Rwanda too, with Zipline.
- eberkund 8y ago
  And starting up in Canada too: http://www.dronedeliverycanada.com/ http://www.dronedeliverycanada.com/
js2 8y ago
Meanwhile in rural China: > Just a few feet above the ground, the drone drops the box then zips back up into the sky and disappears. The spectacle is over in 20 seconds. https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce-with-drone-delivery-is-taking-flight-in-china https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce...

80 points by wallflower 8y ago

So a whole article on the perfect hook, with nice photos, but they didn’t include one of he perfect hook they designed? Anybody found one?

Illniyar 8y ago
I'm guessing that's because of patent or copycat issues. They don't want to reveal it until it's out.
- at-fates-hands 8y ago
  I would assume this is the case. I have several friends who demoed prototypes of stuff they were in the process of building, only to have it copied, marketed and sold before they could finish their design.
josefresco 8y ago
Author said it looks like a fingerling potato https://www.google.com/search?q=fingerling+potato https://www.google.com/search?q=fingerling+potato
darthswwils 8y ago
Images of the hook and the package attachment have been released at other points. Its an egg-shaped attachment; so there is natural force to push off a matching egg shaped hook (but the overall hook is too large to pass through the hole again) Clear to see in these youtube videos; the CAD shot of the interface in the body of the craft gives you a clear idea of the shape so it only fits one way. https://youtu.be/BYMLZ2_6d4o?t=1m59s https://youtu.be/BYMLZ2_6d4o?t=1m59s https://youtu.be/XqLkMdwEWRc?t=1m25s https://youtu.be/XqLkMdwEWRc?t=1m25s

TaylorAlexander 8y ago

I’m friends with André! We work in the same building. He’s been working on that damn hook for some time now. My desk is near a multi story atrium in the building and sometimes he tests the spooling system near me. I can’t recall when he started this part of it but for at least a year now I’ve been hearing of the ups and downs. They have so many little issues to work out and they always want to keep weight down. It’s too bad the article didn’t have any pictures of the prototypes he has, but I guess they’re not ready to reveal that. André is also responsible for building a pretty awesome jet turbine powered chainsaw. :-D https://youtu.be/cr02tS39op8 https://youtu.be/cr02tS39op8

anotheryou 8y ago
Tell him we need a pic of that mechanism!
fhood 8y ago
Did he get paid to build that? How do I get paid to put turbines in power tools?

baybal2 8y ago

This does not seem to be sound engineering to me. Just the sole fact that they have no payload faring tells me that they don't have a single man with aeronautic engineering background.

Etheryte 8y ago
Maybe I simply misunderstood what you meant, but doesn't the box with all the bubblewrap and whatnot cover that purpose? They're already lowering it to the ground, I don't think it would need much extra protection.
- jfoucher 8y ago
  I think what the parent is alluding to is that a box shape does not cut through the air very well, and that they should add a more aerodynamic shape to make it easier on the drone.
  - mattlondon 8y ago
    From what I have seen, the "box" here is not a cube, but more of an aerodynamically-sound shape (at least to a layman's understanding of pointy-things-are-more-aerodynamic). Not sure how recent this photo is, but it gives a feel for what the box looks/looked like at some stage: https://www.simplebotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/alphabet_project_wing_hybrid_2.jpg https://www.simplebotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/alph... https://9to5google.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/project-wing-traffic-e1496853046991.jpeg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1600&h=800 https://9to5google.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/project-wing-... http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg
    - baybal2 8y ago
      >http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg http://supreme2.ru/geek/uploads/2018/07/g2.jpg Well, this does look more or less reassuring. Still, even an aeronatics amateur will judge whatever they have there as an abomination. I just checked. That man is... an industrial designer, not an aeronautic engineer.

wozmirek 8y ago

All's cool, I already see the air full of drones (if I can't have my flying cars in 2020, drones would suffice), I'm truly worried about the noise though. While hoping that electric cars will make cities less noisy (I can feel it in Berlin with more and more electric cars and scooters), the buzzing sounds of drones is already too loud for me - and I've seen only several so far. That's going to be terrible, having dozens of them buzzing around, like your typical high-pitched scooter, but next to your 3rd floor window. Any quiet drones in development? ;)

syntaxing 8y ago
Unfortunately, noise is an inherent property of the propellers since it is moving air. There are methods that are used to make them quieter but usually this is for military applications and too costly. However, this is a hybrid plane so it acts like a quadcopter when it hovers vertically at a set point. It acts like a plane when its traveling long distances. Admittedly, RC planes can get pretty loud but it should be substantially quieter when it is coasting at constant altitude compared to a hovering drone.
Harvey-Specter 8y ago
DJI's Macic Pro Platinum uses a different rotor design and rotor frequency to make it much quieter than previous models. Apparently it sounds more like a desk fan than a hive of angry bees.[0] [0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16573820/dji-mavic-pro-platinum-drone-sound-noise https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16573820/dji-mavic-pro-pl...
- wozmirek 8y ago
  Sounds great! :)

syntaxing 8y ago

I recommend looking at the prototypes throughout the years from them [1]. It's pretty cool to see what they changed. I am super curious about some of their decisions. I am sure there are good reasons but I am not too clear why (like having smaller props. Did the wake of the large props decreased the efficiency for gliding more than using smaller props for hovering?!) [1] https://x.company/projects/wing/ https://x.company/projects/wing/ (scroll about half way down and there should be a slideshow you can click into)

darthswwils 8y ago

Arcade claw machines already feature battle-tested mechanics for raising and lowering something on a string. They do not simply deploy a wound bobbin, but instead have the bobbin after 2 idler wheels. One wheel is housed on a lever - The weight of the claw (or in this case package) keeps the idler on a lever pushed down during most of the operation - when it contacts a prize (or in this case the floor) the idler receives less load and thus the lever moves up ensuring it does not jam or unwind further. Its a pretty ingenious design from an age where load sensing would be very expensive - and achieves robust bi-directional winding with end detection with just 1 microswitch. This zero-moving parts hook sounds great, but I don't see how much different it can be from a gravity hook, or a ships buoy-hook; unless it simply captures the package interface in a specific orientation (anyone who has ever played "fishing" with 2L pop bottles and a curtain ring knows the satisfaction of such mechanisms) - my guess would be that the attachment point is a specific shape rather than a circle; to promote the tension-less force to movement up and off.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

teddyh 8y ago

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_hook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_hook from the 19th century.

Mefis 8y ago

Drone deliveries are real. They are happening in China right now. https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce-with-drone-delivery-is-taking-flight-in-china https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce... Rwanda too, with Zipline.

eberkund 8y ago
And starting up in Canada too: http://www.dronedeliverycanada.com/ http://www.dronedeliverycanada.com/

js2 8y ago

Meanwhile in rural China: > Just a few feet above the ground, the drone drops the box then zips back up into the sky and disappears. The spectacle is over in 20 seconds. https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce-with-drone-delivery-is-taking-flight-in-china https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/09/how-e-commerce...