Amazon Prime Air Could Deliver In 30 Minutes- Via Drone

[Sum Dum Gai]

Not worth it to sell directly to end consumers.  I could see the middle men in black markets being into drones though.  Think of the way law enforcement goes after drug trafficking.  They bust junkies and street level dealers all the time.  They all get the same pitch, turn over your supplier and we let you walk, give you a reduced sentence, or whatever.  So, if you're the guy that supplies the street level dealers you're always worried about those dealers turning you in, because they're bound to get busted now and then.  However, if they can pay you in untraceable currency that you don't have to launder (bitcoin), and you can deliver anonymously by drone, you can supply illicit materials without the end consumer or retailer having any idea who you are.  Higher risk of theft, less risk of being identified.  To somebody doing something illegal that might be a worthwhile trade.

Drug smugglers are probably already flying things over the border with drones.  If they aren't, they will be soon.

I wonder if any bike messenger companies are looking into the technology.  Business are willing to pay a person to peddle from downtown building to downtown building in order to carry time sensitive documents.  That's an easy application for a drone.  Potentially.  Problem is the drone can't deliver to a specific person, get a signature, or whatever.  Just drop off and leave.

[Virgil Showlion]

Dec 5, 2013 20:29:40 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

I wonder if any bike messenger companies are looking into the technology.  Business are willing to pay a person to peddle from downtown building to downtown building in order to carry time sensitive documents.  That's an easy application for a drone.  Potentially.  Problem is the drone can't deliver to a specific person, get a signature, or whatever.  Just drop off and leave.

It could, depending on what's meant by "signature". Flying around indoors certainly wouldn't be possible, but it would be a simple enough matter to have the drone tagged to a recipient cellphone. It would wait in a "safe deposit" location, hovering above street level, until it detected the phone within some range of it. Then it would descend and release the package when the recipient pushed a button on his phone. Or it could also work with a swipe system.

Theft, security and vandalism would be huge problems, though. The only way you could deal with them is by keeping the copters at high altitudes at all times except pick-up and drop-off, but I don't think even that would stop people from stealing them, throwing things at them, etc. Even as cheap as you could make them, a copter large enough to handle a 10 lb payload over an 8 km round trip would cost at least $200.00-$300.00 a unit, plus the cost of the valuables inside, which would have to be valuable to justify the shipping cost. Criminals and ne'er-do-wells could make a mint virtually risk-free by intercepting them.

[Virgil Showlion]

I'm also wondering if we wouldn't see things like bird attacks, drones having to fly and land blind when GPS line of sight failed (they'd have to do something since their fuel is highly limited and they don't know where they are), pets mangling them, random failures sending them crashing into homes, traffic, people, and who knows what else, ...

[Sum Dum Gai]

They have GPS and cameras built in. The drones themselves should be easy to track so they'd be tricky to steal.

[Virgil Showlion]

Dec 6, 2013 11:54:56 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

They have GPS and cameras built in. The drones themselves should be easy to track so they'd be tricky to steal.

GPS needs a line of sight. Cameras can only transmit data with a line of sight, and could be foiled by tossing a blanket over the quadrotor, which incidentally would also be one of the most effective ways of bringing one down.

Hence, chuck a blanket, wait for the unit to crash, gather it up, bring it inside the nearest concrete building. Capture achieved.

Will people take the risk? I don't know.

Also, if you've got omnidirectional cameras on the unit with a live video feed, the per unit cost has just gone up to $500 minimum.

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 8:45:35 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

It is weird to me that most of the chatter I have heard about the Amazon/drone issue is negative.

Since when did the US become so scared about innovation? That to me is a bad sign.

 Viable innovation that is practical, cost-efficient and low-risk doesn't get opposed like "innovations" that drive up costs and endanger the public.
 

[billisonboard]

and the thread drones on

[Deleted]

Dec 6, 2013 16:37:14 GMT -5 @patiencetried said:

Dec 4, 2013 8:45:35 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

It is weird to me that most of the chatter I have heard about the Amazon/drone issue is negative.

Since when did the US become so scared about innovation? That to me is a bad sign.

 Viable innovation that is practical, cost-efficient and low-risk doesn't get opposed like "innovations" that drive up costs and endanger the public.
 

Scary sentiment.

[billisonboard]

Proposed  innovation is typically met with skepticism until the skeptics are proven wrong (or right).

[Deleted]

Dec 6, 2013 19:11:05 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Proposed  innovation is typically met with skepticism until the skeptics are proven wrong (or right).

Maybe that is true. 

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Dec 4, 2013 12:30:46 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Innovation is only worthwhile if it actually fills a need. Do you need your new iPhone delivered to your front yard by mini helicopter in 30 minutes? If your dog or child are hurt by the drone, or screw with it and Amazon comes after you for the cost, will it have been worth it?

Will the drone know the difference between my front and back yard? If it drops it out front we're good, as long as my package doesn't get jacked. If it tries to land in my backyard my dog might go after it, and I'm not paying for any damages to the quadrotor, but would expect Amazon to pay for any injury to my dog. I imagine the parents of little kids that get hurt because they get too close to the cool helicopter thing trying to land in their yard are going to be pretty pissed at Amazon too.

How good is the drone at avoiding collisions while carrying a payload and trying to land?

Arch makes a great point about the GPS units.

I remember a time when the question was asked, "why would anyone need a computer?"

We're always going to have crime, and behind the planter or not-- that giant ass delivery truck on the street in front of your house is far more visible than a drone dropping out of the sky and dropping a box-- a box and/or contents that can easily contain tracking devices. Or, you could just buy what we have- an outdoor video system that records. Better yet, why would you order something for delivery in 30 minutes if you weren't going to be there. If you're not home, then presumably you can wait longer than 30 minutes?

[Deleted]

And i remember when segways came out and how they were supposed to reduce the population of cars in big cities like nyc and stuff. Didnt happen. Sure segways have a niche. But thats it.

I think drones will be the next segway. Nothing more