4 ms·

If this type of delivery works and takes off can you imagine the noise pollution from all the drones flying around?

by txsoftwaredev 4y ago

plandis 4y ago
As opposed to the roaring diesel engines of current delivery trucks?
- willcipriano 4y ago
  They will still have those. I don't imagine the drones are delivering furniture.
- pkulak 4y ago
  But a truck isn't an entire round trip for every item.
  - outworlder 4y ago
    No, but it is a round trip - for your item. Unless your neighbors have ordered stuff that's arriving at the same time.
    - pkulak 4y ago
      The additional distance for my item is only the distance between the last stop and my house. Usually one or two blocks, in my experience.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  The sound of trucks is annoying, but far less annoying than the sound of drones.
  - bumby 4y ago
    Is there a legitimate reason why, like the annoyance is related to the frequency response? Or is it just because we've become accustomed to internal combustion engine noise?
fzitb 4y ago
Imagine how many trucks/vans/cars stay of the road. Imagine the reduced Pollution and noise because of that.
- postalrat 4y ago
  How many drone flights would it take to replace one days work from a single truck?
  - onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
    I can't imagine how it's physically possible for drones to use less energy. But it doesn't matter how many of them there are - they could be able to fly at an altitude where they don't cause meaningful noise pollution.
    - anonporridge 4y ago
      Saving energy is less important than cutting out human labor (drivers). For context, the global average cost for electricity is about $0.13 USD per kWH. From wikipedia, "Over an 8-hour work shift, an average, healthy, well-fed and motivated manual laborer may sustain an output of around 75 watts of power." [0] So, from a purely mechanical perspective, a human can only output about 0.6 kWH of work per day, which is only worth about $0.08 of electricity per day. And yet, in states like California, where this test is being done, human labor costs a minimum of $15/hour, or $120/day. Energy is not the limiting factor. We could use drastically more energy and still save gobs of money if we can cut the cost of employing a human out of the loop. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_power
      - bumby 4y ago
        I think this analogy is flawed. It's more apropos to the "John Henry" comparison, but most of human labor is not of that type since the industrial revolution. Humans are not walking packages the entire distance; we've already implemented mechanical and energy advantages in the form of road vehicles. Say someone drives a 200 horsepower car. That's roughly 1200 kWh/day of available mechanical power.
function_seven 4y ago
Hopefully quieter than the vans driving around. Especially when they reverse. Depends on altitude before delivery? I’m willing to let this play out.
- redox99 4y ago
  Drones are much higher pitched than cars/trucks, so a lot more annoying at least to me. The reverse beep sound is comparably annoying but not so common in a quiet neighbor.
- anonporridge 4y ago
  https://qz.com/1033675/a-nasa-study-found-drones-sound-more-annoying-to-people-than-cars-or-trucks-and-flying-them-higher-wont-help/ https://qz.com/1033675/a-nasa-study-found-drones-sound-more-...
the_only_law 4y ago
Probably won't even hear it over lawnmowers, sirens, and people with obnoxiously loud cars/motorcycles.
outworlder 4y ago
Unless you live in the countryside, there's plenty more noise coming from other sources - including delivery vans, cars, lawnmowers, etc. Drone noise is only audible when they are close. If they get authorization to fly sufficiently high(and it doesn't need to be that high) the only noise you'll ever hear is when there's a delivery next to you. Some would think that's an advantage. At 100m high, noise varies between 50dB to 55dB, depending on drone size. That's for current drones. That is below daytime noise levels in many places. That's not even accounting for specific measures to decrease their sound levels. Those are going to be delivery drones, after all, not racers. They can use larger, slower and specifically designed propellers.
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  > including delivery vans I can not understand why Amazon vans make that horrible sound when reversing. Surely the croaking hurts them more than saving a few accidents helps.
  - snoopy_telex 4y ago
  - snypher 4y ago
    Whats more likely to lose a customer? a) the delivery van made a strange noise b) the delivery van reversed over a child
    - colinmhayes 4y ago
      I order less from amazon because of the noise. Probably wouldn't if a kid got run over once, but if it happened multiple times that would be a problem. Nobody else uses the noise amazon does, and I don't hear about people being run over by delivery vans ever, so it doesn't really seem like an issue.
      - rodface 4y ago
        The "croaking" reversing alarm is the white-noise or broadband type, and are considered to be an improvement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-up_beeper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-up_beeper https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018517/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018517/ "Still another alternative is the broadband beeper, a device that has the same cadence as the conventional beeper but broadcasts a “white-noise, whooshing sound,” says Thalheimer, who has no financial interest in or affiliation with Brigade Electronics, the manufacturer. He explains the sound is still readily audible behind the vehicle and is more easily localizable than a single-tone beeper, but the white noise is masked by community noise, so it is much less annoying to the public." https://www.forconstructionpros.com/construction-technology/construction-safety-technology/news/21138262/world-of-concrete-white-noise-backup-alarms-improve-safety https://www.forconstructionpros.com/construction-technology/... https://brigade-electronics.com/en-us/products/backup-and-warning-alarms/ https://brigade-electronics.com/en-us/products/backup-and-wa...

If this type of delivery works and takes off can you imagine the noise pollution from all the drones flying around?

plandis 4y ago

As opposed to the roaring diesel engines of current delivery trucks?

willcipriano 4y ago
They will still have those. I don't imagine the drones are delivering furniture.
pkulak 4y ago
But a truck isn't an entire round trip for every item.
- outworlder 4y ago
  No, but it is a round trip - for your item. Unless your neighbors have ordered stuff that's arriving at the same time.
  - pkulak 4y ago
    The additional distance for my item is only the distance between the last stop and my house. Usually one or two blocks, in my experience.
JohnFen 4y ago
The sound of trucks is annoying, but far less annoying than the sound of drones.
- bumby 4y ago
  Is there a legitimate reason why, like the annoyance is related to the frequency response? Or is it just because we've become accustomed to internal combustion engine noise?

fzitb 4y ago

Imagine how many trucks/vans/cars stay of the road. Imagine the reduced Pollution and noise because of that.

postalrat 4y ago
How many drone flights would it take to replace one days work from a single truck?
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  I can't imagine how it's physically possible for drones to use less energy. But it doesn't matter how many of them there are - they could be able to fly at an altitude where they don't cause meaningful noise pollution.
  - anonporridge 4y ago
    Saving energy is less important than cutting out human labor (drivers). For context, the global average cost for electricity is about $0.13 USD per kWH. From wikipedia, "Over an 8-hour work shift, an average, healthy, well-fed and motivated manual laborer may sustain an output of around 75 watts of power." [0] So, from a purely mechanical perspective, a human can only output about 0.6 kWH of work per day, which is only worth about $0.08 of electricity per day. And yet, in states like California, where this test is being done, human labor costs a minimum of $15/hour, or $120/day. Energy is not the limiting factor. We could use drastically more energy and still save gobs of money if we can cut the cost of employing a human out of the loop. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_power
    - bumby 4y ago
      I think this analogy is flawed. It's more apropos to the "John Henry" comparison, but most of human labor is not of that type since the industrial revolution. Humans are not walking packages the entire distance; we've already implemented mechanical and energy advantages in the form of road vehicles. Say someone drives a 200 horsepower car. That's roughly 1200 kWh/day of available mechanical power.

function_seven 4y ago

Hopefully quieter than the vans driving around. Especially when they reverse. Depends on altitude before delivery? I’m willing to let this play out.

redox99 4y ago
Drones are much higher pitched than cars/trucks, so a lot more annoying at least to me. The reverse beep sound is comparably annoying but not so common in a quiet neighbor.
anonporridge 4y ago
https://qz.com/1033675/a-nasa-study-found-drones-sound-more-annoying-to-people-than-cars-or-trucks-and-flying-them-higher-wont-help/ https://qz.com/1033675/a-nasa-study-found-drones-sound-more-...

the_only_law 4y ago

Probably won't even hear it over lawnmowers, sirens, and people with obnoxiously loud cars/motorcycles.

outworlder 4y ago

Unless you live in the countryside, there's plenty more noise coming from other sources - including delivery vans, cars, lawnmowers, etc. Drone noise is only audible when they are close. If they get authorization to fly sufficiently high(and it doesn't need to be that high) the only noise you'll ever hear is when there's a delivery next to you. Some would think that's an advantage. At 100m high, noise varies between 50dB to 55dB, depending on drone size. That's for current drones. That is below daytime noise levels in many places. That's not even accounting for specific measures to decrease their sound levels. Those are going to be delivery drones, after all, not racers. They can use larger, slower and specifically designed propellers.

colinmhayes 4y ago
> including delivery vans I can not understand why Amazon vans make that horrible sound when reversing. Surely the croaking hurts them more than saving a few accidents helps.
- snoopy_telex 4y ago
- snypher 4y ago
  Whats more likely to lose a customer? a) the delivery van made a strange noise b) the delivery van reversed over a child
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    I order less from amazon because of the noise. Probably wouldn't if a kid got run over once, but if it happened multiple times that would be a problem. Nobody else uses the noise amazon does, and I don't hear about people being run over by delivery vans ever, so it doesn't really seem like an issue.
    - rodface 4y ago
      The "croaking" reversing alarm is the white-noise or broadband type, and are considered to be an improvement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-up_beeper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-up_beeper https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018517/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018517/ "Still another alternative is the broadband beeper, a device that has the same cadence as the conventional beeper but broadcasts a “white-noise, whooshing sound,” says Thalheimer, who has no financial interest in or affiliation with Brigade Electronics, the manufacturer. He explains the sound is still readily audible behind the vehicle and is more easily localizable than a single-tone beeper, but the white noise is masked by community noise, so it is much less annoying to the public." https://www.forconstructionpros.com/construction-technology/construction-safety-technology/news/21138262/world-of-concrete-white-noise-backup-alarms-improve-safety https://www.forconstructionpros.com/construction-technology/... https://brigade-electronics.com/en-us/products/backup-and-warning-alarms/ https://brigade-electronics.com/en-us/products/backup-and-wa...