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>>Having 10-30kg high-speed flying machines Much better than 2,000-4,000kg driving machines being operated at street level by the people willing to do the work

>>Having 10-30kg high-speed flying machines Much better than 2,000-4,000kg driving machines being operated at street level by the people willing to do the work for the lowest pay. These machines kill thousands of people every year. This method of delivery is also very costly relative to autonomous drones, making a huge number of goods inaccessible to millions of people.

TeMPOraL 5y ago
> Much better than 2,000-4,000kg driving machines being operated at street level by the people willing to do the work for the lowest pay. No, it's not much better. Cars may be heavier, but they're constrained in their movements. They (mostly) follow the road network. It's easier to keep track of them, as you only have to scan the 360° plane around you. A drone could hit you anywhere, from any angle, so you have to pay attention to the whole half-sphere around you. Additionally, cars are already here, and delivery services are only a small fraction of car traffic. Drone delivery will not displace any significant amount of cars from the streets, so drones will have to operate alongside car traffic. And I can't think of a better way for a civilian drone to cause large amounts of damage than crashing into traffic. And, of course, car transportation is already in a regulatory straitjacket - one that was built gradually over the past century, rule by rule, one fatality at a time. It would be wise to not go through the same process with drones.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  A car travels at grade, crossing numerous pedestrian paths. You need to cross streets that cars use. You do not need to cross flight paths that drones use. A drone can fail and land at grade, yes, but that's a major failure, whereas it only takes one misstep to walk into oncoming traffic.
- arminiusreturns 5y ago
  Many years ago I proposed to my friend we should start the work on anti-drone technology, and went through the various technical means of doing so, but never followed through. I think the best work these days on topic is probably focused emp bursts. Regardless, we should all consider how we would track drones in real time if we wanted.
  - TeMPOraL 5y ago
    > I think the best work these days on topic is probably focused emp bursts. I think a magnetron from a microwave oven attached to a directional antenna should just do the trick :).

TeMPOraL 5y ago

> Much better than 2,000-4,000kg driving machines being operated at street level by the people willing to do the work for the lowest pay. No, it's not much better. Cars may be heavier, but they're constrained in their movements. They (mostly) follow the road network. It's easier to keep track of them, as you only have to scan the 360° plane around you. A drone could hit you anywhere, from any angle, so you have to pay attention to the whole half-sphere around you. Additionally, cars are already here, and delivery services are only a small fraction of car traffic. Drone delivery will not displace any significant amount of cars from the streets, so drones will have to operate alongside car traffic. And I can't think of a better way for a civilian drone to cause large amounts of damage than crashing into traffic. And, of course, car transportation is already in a regulatory straitjacket - one that was built gradually over the past century, rule by rule, one fatality at a time. It would be wise to not go through the same process with drones.

CryptoPunk 5y ago
A car travels at grade, crossing numerous pedestrian paths. You need to cross streets that cars use. You do not need to cross flight paths that drones use. A drone can fail and land at grade, yes, but that's a major failure, whereas it only takes one misstep to walk into oncoming traffic.
arminiusreturns 5y ago
Many years ago I proposed to my friend we should start the work on anti-drone technology, and went through the various technical means of doing so, but never followed through. I think the best work these days on topic is probably focused emp bursts. Regardless, we should all consider how we would track drones in real time if we wanted.
- TeMPOraL 5y ago
  > I think the best work these days on topic is probably focused emp bursts. I think a magnetron from a microwave oven attached to a directional antenna should just do the trick :).