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No, they're not entirely unsuitable for urban areas. Instead, their (relatively) short range means that they're unsuitable for anything except urban areas. If
by chad_oliver 13y ago
No, they're not entirely unsuitable for urban areas. Instead, their (relatively) short range means that they're unsuitable for anything except urban areas.
If designed poorly, they would be very unsafe, but there are plenty of ways to increase the safety. For example, notice that the drones have more than 4 rotors. This gives a bit of redundancy so that a motor can fail without causing the drone to crash.
- amalag 13y agoUrban areas but don't you have to exclude apartments too.
- chad_oliver 13y agoGood point. I come from a low-rise city (Christchurch, New Zealand) so I'd forgotten about that. I suppose you could designate a safe spot, perhaps on the roof of the apartment?
- PKop 13y agoI'm not sure why this keeps being mentioned. Seems easy enough to build a common landing zone for pickups. Roof, open grass area, etc. If you were an apartment owner, is there no way you could think of solving that issue?
- ams6110 13y agoCan't wait until the first time one shreds a customer's dog, (or face, child, etc.) as it tries to deposit a package on her front porch.
- pekk 13y agoso install a drone landing pad on the roof..
- toyg 13y agoAs the regulatory and commercial frameworks evolve, I can see how buildings would have dedicated landing zones (likely on roofs)… the XXI century equivalent of mailboxes.
- dpcan 13y agoWhy does this thing even have to land? Can't it drop each package with a mini parachute from about roof-top level with good accuracy? Or even 10ft, just above the height of most kids, dogs, cars and adults.
- cheapsteak 13y agoIf we're talking about urban areas, and since most people in urban areas live in highrises, where would it even land on? I'm sure there's a solution, it's incredibly fun to think about. edit: Maybe install a landing pad by the window? People are allowed to install satelite receivers there right? Why not a small landing pad
- RandallBrown 13y agoMy apartment building has a large rooftop deck. It would be easy to set up a package drop zone or something for the drones to use. If the drones are really good, I have a balcony they could easily land on to deliver packages right to my place in a pretty secure way. Also, given the timeframe (30 minutes), the drone could just text me to go outside and I could pick it up on the sidewalk outside my apartment.
- XorNot 13y agoSkycrane landing. I've been reading and reading and can't believe it hasn't been mentioned - the drone simply unreels the payload on a cable while hovering until it gets to the ground. Then you either detach the clips, or, use a disposable cable and just clip the wires at the drone-end (saves on possibly tangles).
- rsheridan6 13y agoThe whole thing shouldn't weigh very much, assuming it's limited to delivering lightweight objects, and the rotors could be covered with a screen. I don't see much potential for danger. The worst thing that could happen would be a total system failure causing it to drop out of the sky, and even that could probably be mitigated with something like a failsafe that deploys a parachute if the speed is too high. It should be safer than multi-ton delivery trucks, which can and have killed people. I was a mailman at one time - we were required to get out and look behind the truck before backing up because a mailman once killed a toddler who wandered behind his truck (though I doubt very many carriers actually follow that rule).