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>> drones ladden with deliveries could dispatch from the top of a central tall structure Wouldn't the cost of elevating the loaded drones to the rooftop of tha
by kreeben 6y ago
>> drones ladden with deliveries could dispatch from the top of a central tall structure
Wouldn't the cost of elevating the loaded drones to the rooftop of that tall structure negate any monetary gains? Wouldn't the cost be exactly that of simply using grounded vehicles that elevate themselves?
(edited for clarity)
- hatsunearu 6y agolifting those payloads up the tower would just use the commerical power grid and not batteries that you also have to carry up. cables and motors are much more efficient than propellers.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- selectodude 6y agoAn elevator?
- kreeben 6y agoAn elevator indeed. But there's a cost involved in elevating goods to the top of a tall building. My question was, is that cost smaller than the cost of having drones with elevation capabilities take of from the ground?
- datameta 6y agoPresumably the predominant portion of the energy used to raise an elevator is for the mass of the elevator itself
- saagarjha 6y agoUsually elevators are counterweighted fairly significantly.
- datameta 6y agoAs you say it is actually using very little energy in overcoming the inertia of the system to go up as the counterweight outweighs an empty elevator, and the weight of a drone is insignificant in this regard. However when coming back down the system must raise the heavy counterweight which is only partially balanced by the empty elevator.
- randycupertino 6y agoReminds me of the pneumatic tubes used in hospitals to send labs between units. You can tour the pneumatic tube system at Stanford- it's several miles long. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pneumatic-tubes-at-stanford-hospital https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pneumatic-tubes-at-stanf...