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It's already happening. Imagine delivery of high-value, light goods to remote locations, e.g. medicines in the Australian Outback, or island off the German coas

It's already happening. Imagine delivery of high-value, light goods to remote locations, e.g. medicines in the Australian Outback, or island off the German coast. These are examples of what has already been done.

scott_karana 12y ago
Aren't those places already being served by higher latency deliveries at a much cheaper rate?
- IanCal 12y ago
  High latencies might be a significant issue for medical supplies. Edit - a good talk on some of the issues that might be faced with traditional delivery systems: https://www.ted.com/talks/andreas_raptopoulos_no_roads_there_s_a_drone_for_that?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/andreas_raptopoulos_no_roads_there...
sly010 12y ago
Or imagine delivery of low-value goods to close locations. At the moment it takes 30-60 minutes for a restaurant from 3 block away to deliver my lunch and it includes a bicycle, a delivery guy, an elevator guy and a couple of doors and/or doorbells. It costs a few dollars in tip. A drone can bypass all of that inefficiency and show up in my window 60 seconds after the meal is cooked. In New York it could deliver to the fire escape or to a special landing pads, or just hover in front of the 3rd window on the left on the 5th floor for 30 seconds. What happens to the illegal delivery guy living on the tip is an entirely different question.
- mnem 12y ago
  Why would the delivery guy be illegal? Would humans have to be banned for drones to get used?
  - phaemon 12y ago
    Americans refer to people who live in the USA without government permission as "illegals". These people often take low paid work, such as pizza delivery.
  - Igglyboo 12y ago
    He means illegal alien.
- RodericDay 12y ago
  Yeah can't wait to be walking around the city with drones flying around delivering pizza and Family Guy box-sets This future seems positively utopian
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  That's the one case I can't imagine working any time soon - drones in the cities. To-door delivery is a fine dream when you live in a suburb and have your own garden, but in a city? What they're going to do with that pizza? Throw it through the window (if they even knew the right one)? Land on a roof and risk someone else snatching the cargo? Not saying it's impossible, but I see tons of additional concerns, both practical and related to safety.
  - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
    Cities have plenty of safe places to fly (over streets for instance; or over roofs) but the final contact issue is real. How about: don't come down until signaled by a smartphone, then home in on the gps location.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - TeMPOraL 12y ago
      Over streets is one of the least safe place to fly - imagine a 10km brick falling at 40km/h into incoming traffic or a group of pedestrians. As for the final contact, your average quadcopter will have like 10-20 minutes of flight time tops; it can't just wait for you to signal it - being even a minute late could mean the drone won't make it back to a charging station.
      - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
        Very true today. Batteries will get better, or maybe metal-air with huge capacity. OR, it could deploy a balloon and wait for the signal :)
    - puranjay 12y ago
      And drones will have cameras. Stealing from a drone would then be like trying to break open an ATM. All these arguments against drones have very easy technological answers.
  - 12y ago
acveilleux 12y ago
The best example right now was special forces in Afghanistan being resupplied by drones. http://defensetech.org/2011/12/21/marines-get-first-ever-resupply-by-drone/ http://defensetech.org/2011/12/21/marines-get-first-ever-res...
trhway 12y ago
>It's already happening. Imagine delivery of high-value, light goods to remote locations no need to imagine as there has already been successful POC of delivering Hellfire missiles into Yemen villages.

scott_karana 12y ago

Aren't those places already being served by higher latency deliveries at a much cheaper rate?

IanCal 12y ago
High latencies might be a significant issue for medical supplies. Edit - a good talk on some of the issues that might be faced with traditional delivery systems: https://www.ted.com/talks/andreas_raptopoulos_no_roads_there_s_a_drone_for_that?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/andreas_raptopoulos_no_roads_there...

sly010 12y ago

Or imagine delivery of low-value goods to close locations. At the moment it takes 30-60 minutes for a restaurant from 3 block away to deliver my lunch and it includes a bicycle, a delivery guy, an elevator guy and a couple of doors and/or doorbells. It costs a few dollars in tip. A drone can bypass all of that inefficiency and show up in my window 60 seconds after the meal is cooked. In New York it could deliver to the fire escape or to a special landing pads, or just hover in front of the 3rd window on the left on the 5th floor for 30 seconds. What happens to the illegal delivery guy living on the tip is an entirely different question.

mnem 12y ago
Why would the delivery guy be illegal? Would humans have to be banned for drones to get used?
- phaemon 12y ago
  Americans refer to people who live in the USA without government permission as "illegals". These people often take low paid work, such as pizza delivery.
- Igglyboo 12y ago
  He means illegal alien.
RodericDay 12y ago
Yeah can't wait to be walking around the city with drones flying around delivering pizza and Family Guy box-sets This future seems positively utopian
TeMPOraL 12y ago
That's the one case I can't imagine working any time soon - drones in the cities. To-door delivery is a fine dream when you live in a suburb and have your own garden, but in a city? What they're going to do with that pizza? Throw it through the window (if they even knew the right one)? Land on a roof and risk someone else snatching the cargo? Not saying it's impossible, but I see tons of additional concerns, both practical and related to safety.
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  Cities have plenty of safe places to fly (over streets for instance; or over roofs) but the final contact issue is real. How about: don't come down until signaled by a smartphone, then home in on the gps location.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - TeMPOraL 12y ago
    Over streets is one of the least safe place to fly - imagine a 10km brick falling at 40km/h into incoming traffic or a group of pedestrians. As for the final contact, your average quadcopter will have like 10-20 minutes of flight time tops; it can't just wait for you to signal it - being even a minute late could mean the drone won't make it back to a charging station.
    - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
      Very true today. Batteries will get better, or maybe metal-air with huge capacity. OR, it could deploy a balloon and wait for the signal :)
  - puranjay 12y ago
    And drones will have cameras. Stealing from a drone would then be like trying to break open an ATM. All these arguments against drones have very easy technological answers.
- 12y ago

acveilleux 12y ago

The best example right now was special forces in Afghanistan being resupplied by drones. http://defensetech.org/2011/12/21/marines-get-first-ever-resupply-by-drone/ http://defensetech.org/2011/12/21/marines-get-first-ever-res...

trhway 12y ago

>It's already happening. Imagine delivery of high-value, light goods to remote locations no need to imagine as there has already been successful POC of delivering Hellfire missiles into Yemen villages.