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Drones move in 3d space. Maybe a lot more investment would have yielded some cool ways to navigate in 3d space around cities. I know there are regulations aroun

Drones move in 3d space. Maybe a lot more investment would have yielded some cool ways to navigate in 3d space around cities. I know there are regulations around where and how drones can be used but in a city like SF it’s probably fine. Besides when have regulations stopped startups from defining something new and better? Cars and trucks just take up way too much space. They also pollute. I like scooters but they don’t have a lot of range:time advantage. At least with drones you could deploy relay style movement so the drones could move items between multiple drones, of various types and capabilities, to get the item to the final destination. Or work in tandem with the scooter people.

Twisell 4y ago
> Drones move in 3d space. Maybe a lot more investment would have yielded some cool ways to navigate in 3d space around cities. Well it turns out that human tend to enjoy the ability to open a windows and look at the sky while enjoying birds. This is hardly compatible with a cool way for delivery service to navigate in 3D space 24/7. I once hiked on a remote part of a beautiful island where helicopters is the only viable delivery system because there is literally no road. Even with very limited and restricted helicopters delivery rotations for the small hamlets there the nuisance was noticeable. Drone delivery only to sustain a megalopolis would likely fill the air with background sound not unlike an army of barking dogs.
- midoridensha 4y ago
  >Drone delivery only to sustain a megalopolis would likely fill the air with background sound not unlike an army of barking dogs. No, barking dogs would be far worse. Drones are just a constant buzz or whir, so they're basically white noise, though the noise gradually changes in pitch and volume as the drones move around due to distance and doppler effect. Dog barking is sharp and irregular. Sane humans find that far, far more annoying. Having smaller deliveries by drone could be quiet and nice if they invent anti-gravity systems (or "suspensors"). But that probably won't come until after we have ornithopters...
brenns10 4y ago
> Drones move in 3d space. Maybe a lot more investment would have yielded some cool ways to navigate in 3d space around cities. I know there are regulations around where and how drones can be used but in a city like SF it’s probably fine. In many iconic areas of SF it's illegal to use those video camera drones because of the disruption they cause, in terms of noise, and also disrupting beautiful scenery. And those are drones with nowhere near the capacity to carry a few hundred pounds of cargo. Do you want some quadcopter with a few cases of beer blaring their rotors past your bedroom window all night because there's "cool ways to navigate 3d space"? Personally, I don't. > Besides when have regulations stopped startups from defining something new and better? Maybe different strokes for different folks, but this is the exact attitude I actively dislike when it comes to city planning. "Just let the venture capitalists throw their shitty tech project into the city and let the city workers clean up the mess". It's not a good strategy for transportation planning. In fact, I'd far rather that elected officials make a weird and crazy decision with little community input (we can always reverse it and vote them out) rather than a VC funded startup trying to "disrupt" local transit in my area. > Cars and trucks just take up way too much space. They also pollute. I like scooters but they don’t have a lot of range:time advantage. Fully agree right up to the range/time thing. Electric mobility devices on the street, with even the shitty infrastructure SF has, are like a cheat code to transit. Traffic can't go that fast in a dense city, so scooters and the like don't need to go that fast to outdo, or at least rival them. And as for range: SF is 7x7 miles, it's a very limited problem in a city. Plus, Lyft is introducing 20+ mile range heavy ebikes for trips which may be a bit beyond the city. > At least with drones you could deploy relay style movement so the drones could move items between multiple drones, of various types and capabilities, to get the item to the final destination. Or work in tandem with the scooter people. And none of this solves the root cause of traffic: personal mobility. Unless we're having drones ferrying people Jetsons style, i.e. helicopter noise all over the city, then this is just a pipe dream that doesn't alleviate traffic, but ruins the cityscape and dramatically increases noise pollution.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Drones have a lot of useful roles in important deliveries (e.g. medicines) to remote areas, possibly farming, commercial photography with permits, etc. One of those useful roles is not delivering hamburgers in an urban environment to someone who doesn't want to get off their couch.

Twisell 4y ago

> Drones move in 3d space. Maybe a lot more investment would have yielded some cool ways to navigate in 3d space around cities. Well it turns out that human tend to enjoy the ability to open a windows and look at the sky while enjoying birds. This is hardly compatible with a cool way for delivery service to navigate in 3D space 24/7. I once hiked on a remote part of a beautiful island where helicopters is the only viable delivery system because there is literally no road. Even with very limited and restricted helicopters delivery rotations for the small hamlets there the nuisance was noticeable. Drone delivery only to sustain a megalopolis would likely fill the air with background sound not unlike an army of barking dogs.

midoridensha 4y ago
>Drone delivery only to sustain a megalopolis would likely fill the air with background sound not unlike an army of barking dogs. No, barking dogs would be far worse. Drones are just a constant buzz or whir, so they're basically white noise, though the noise gradually changes in pitch and volume as the drones move around due to distance and doppler effect. Dog barking is sharp and irregular. Sane humans find that far, far more annoying. Having smaller deliveries by drone could be quiet and nice if they invent anti-gravity systems (or "suspensors"). But that probably won't come until after we have ornithopters...

brenns10 4y ago

> Drones move in 3d space. Maybe a lot more investment would have yielded some cool ways to navigate in 3d space around cities. I know there are regulations around where and how drones can be used but in a city like SF it’s probably fine. In many iconic areas of SF it's illegal to use those video camera drones because of the disruption they cause, in terms of noise, and also disrupting beautiful scenery. And those are drones with nowhere near the capacity to carry a few hundred pounds of cargo. Do you want some quadcopter with a few cases of beer blaring their rotors past your bedroom window all night because there's "cool ways to navigate 3d space"? Personally, I don't. > Besides when have regulations stopped startups from defining something new and better? Maybe different strokes for different folks, but this is the exact attitude I actively dislike when it comes to city planning. "Just let the venture capitalists throw their shitty tech project into the city and let the city workers clean up the mess". It's not a good strategy for transportation planning. In fact, I'd far rather that elected officials make a weird and crazy decision with little community input (we can always reverse it and vote them out) rather than a VC funded startup trying to "disrupt" local transit in my area. > Cars and trucks just take up way too much space. They also pollute. I like scooters but they don’t have a lot of range:time advantage. Fully agree right up to the range/time thing. Electric mobility devices on the street, with even the shitty infrastructure SF has, are like a cheat code to transit. Traffic can't go that fast in a dense city, so scooters and the like don't need to go that fast to outdo, or at least rival them. And as for range: SF is 7x7 miles, it's a very limited problem in a city. Plus, Lyft is introducing 20+ mile range heavy ebikes for trips which may be a bit beyond the city. > At least with drones you could deploy relay style movement so the drones could move items between multiple drones, of various types and capabilities, to get the item to the final destination. Or work in tandem with the scooter people. And none of this solves the root cause of traffic: personal mobility. Unless we're having drones ferrying people Jetsons style, i.e. helicopter noise all over the city, then this is just a pipe dream that doesn't alleviate traffic, but ruins the cityscape and dramatically increases noise pollution.

ghaff 4y ago
Drones have a lot of useful roles in important deliveries (e.g. medicines) to remote areas, possibly farming, commercial photography with permits, etc. One of those useful roles is not delivering hamburgers in an urban environment to someone who doesn't want to get off their couch.