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Watch Out, Amazon: DHL Tests Drug-Delivery Drone
Nerval's Lobster writes "Amazon is apparently not alone in its desire to use miniature drones to deliver packages. On the morning of Monday, Dec. 9, employees at the Bonn, Germany headquarters of package-delivery giant DHL challenged Amazon's plan for dominance of the skies by having medicine delivered from a local pharmacy via a mustard-yellow package-carrying helicopter the Germans dubbed 'Paketkopter.' The quad-rotored mini-drone flew a box of medicines from a launching point near the pharmacy, above traffic and across the Rhine River to DHL's headquarters just over a kilometer away. It made the flight in about two minutes, was unloaded quickly and returned to the launch team near the pharmacy. Amazon has owned total mindshare of the still-imaginary drone-based package delivery market since CEO Jeff Bezos gushed about his plans for Amazon PrimeAir during a TV interview last week. The plan generated immediate controversy due to the negative image of drones following heavy use for surveillance and targeted anti-personnel strikes by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq. Within the United States, the FAA, FTC and a host of consumer-protection groups objected to the possibility that thousands of autonomous drones would be hovering over U.S. cities, potentially invading the privacy and endangering the lives of those who might run afoul of either cameras or rotors."
I have a drone that I am marketing, it specializes in robbing delivery drones.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
I can't wait until junkies start shooting them down to get at the sweet, sweet Oxycontin inside
I can see this having very niche applications for very, very, fast-expiring medical goods (like live organs or components of the Technetium99 supply chain), where vehicles with a vulnerability to traffic might not be fast enough; but aren't the vast majority of drugs either taken predictably (multi-month supplies of this or that, trivial to just mail) or pulled from on-site inventory at hospitals and pharmacies?
Though Amazon may benefit from its own fleet, the first users of this method ought to be postal carriers — such as, indeed, the DHL.
While the unionized UPS and USPS may have to contend with the "replacing people with robots" nonsense first, freer companies like FedEx may complement (if not outright replace) their local delivery trucks with drones some day (hopefully — soon). Instead of "On truck for delivery" the parcel-tracking page would say "In flight to destination, ETA 3 minutes" or some such.
I'll be happy to install a homing mat in my backyard... It will reduce traffic and pollution, quicken the delivery, and reduce theft of the items left on the easily-accessed porches (rather than the harder to access backyards).
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Forget drone-fights. The weather will keep these guys grounded. Fifteen mph winds with gusts.
Here they come. Order in Colorado, delivery in Florida.
people are stupid and will do stupid things to these copters. just wait and some idiot will tape a nice return present from their dog onto one.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I'm working on a package delivery system using a massive trebuchet on a rotating base, controlled by computers. Load the package, aim, and launch. As they approach the ground, their parachute deploys, allowing for a comfortable descent to the ground.
Just sayin...
No competition from Amazon. Have we already forgotten it was a hoax?
Your link doesn't even prove that it was a publicity stunt, and here's why: its conclusions are based on false premises and it's full of fud. It's also clear why you didn't bother to link to the full article; it doesn't say what you want it to say either.
First FUD: "The practical issues are manifold". Yes, welcome to the real world. FUD, not a specific objection. The specific objections are then made, and they are stupid. "[...]how does it [the drone] then find the package's intended recipient?" Probably it homes in on the mobile device used to make the order, and you'll probably have to use one. How is the transfer of the package enacted? Depicted in the video. It knows where it's being delivered. What stops someone else stealing the package along the way? You mean, by shooting it down? Ah yes, this line item was expanded into two, for filler purposes. And what happens when next door's kid decides to shoot the drone with his BB rifle? The same thing as when next door's kid (the house has a child?) shoots anything else that doesn't belong to them. Except in this case, it's recorded by high-resolution camera.
Then we have an outright lie: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates this area, intends to make commercial drones legally viable and workable by 2015, but this deadline is all-but impossible No, no it isn't. It probably won't happen anyway due to lobbying from entrenched interests. But there's no reason why existing regulations can't be applied to commercial drones. The area below 500 feet is already available due to existing restrictions on civilian air traffic.
Meanwhile, Wired claims that Amazon's delivery model makes the drones unworkable, but that is just fucking stupid. It's stupid because Amazon has already changed their model partially to add more services, and there's no particular reason they can't do it again. Sort of like how Wired changed their magazine from having purple text on black backgrounds to having black text on neon green backgrounds to having black text on white backgrounds. Two changes, see? The drones won't be able to deliver everything in Amazon's catalog. It'll be small, high-value items often ordered by themselves by people willing to pay extra for rapid delivery.
In short, while it might well have been a hoax, nothing you have presented (nor any other evidence) proves it to be so.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Are already serviced this way.
So we will have junkies taking down drones for the drugs, thieves shooting down drones for new amazon kindles, and pot heads shooting down drones for pizzas. There will be hackers trying to take down the drones just because they can and it's fun. And finally you will have Libertarians shooting down the drones because they are crazy about their privacy.
This will never work.
How many people are killed, and how much property destroyed, every year by delivery trucks? I will happily trade a few dozen dead Fifi's to take several thousand delivery trucks off the road. Luddites never learn.
There are completely valid reasons to fear and distrust the mass use of drones by governments, and their power to suppress speech and curtail freedom. But this particular use of technology is exactly the kind of progress that saves time, money, lives, and the environment. Last-mile delivery by drone faces many hurdles, both legislative and technical, but it's a very smart goal to work towards that benefits everyone.
I tried to find some statistics, and the best I could come up with were these two links on an 'Truck Accident Attorney' website; I don't know how accurate they are. But delivery vehicles for FedEx and UPS killed 50 people in about two years, with another ~2000 non-fatal accidents. I will guarantee that the drones will have better statistics than that.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
Pffft, this will never take off..
Never happened. True story.
I live in a flatlands. Can I have my goods delivered by PacketMole?
If a drone crashes on my property due to malfunction/jammer/shotgun blast, does the package become my property? Its a fedral crime to tamper with found or misdelivered USPS mail, but Amazon, FedEx, DHL have no similar protections AFAIK. If through no (provable) actions of my own materials arrive on my property, can I salvage them?
I thought that "drug delivery" had a very specific meaning. Does this mean that the drone is an oversized, high-tech wasp that will stick a giant needle into your ass?
Ezekiel 23:20
According to the Guardian article you linked, and that I have up there, it was a publicity stunt. You went to an awful lot of trouble to form such a long impassioned rebuttal over such a simple thing that I find it almost disturbing. Amazon is speeding up their service by building micro-warehouses all over the nation in an attempt to facilitate overnight service to all. This we know is a fact. But if you really believe their is a chance that drones are going to be dropping packages off at you doorstep in under 10 - 15 years, you neither understand the logistics and you are both delusional and naive. Set down the Adderal and the Code Red. Maybe light some incense and listen to some Tibetan singing bowls or something.
from the article
This most likely had more to do with the announcement. I can't believe you got modded up...
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Pull!
(drone falls to ground)
Hmm, another package of free drugs flying over my airspace.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
me too
I think the single biggest technical hurdle will be range.. most smaller quad-copters have a range measured in minutes. There's also gusts of wind which affect some cities more than others, and even areas of cities more or less than others. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, or even be useful in some situations.. a quadcopter drone say half to a quarter the size of a typical rescue helicopter could be very useful for search/rescue operations... there are lots of uses of varying sized drones that could be helpful, and even practical... I just don't feel as a general delivery mechanism for distances over a mile or two is it practical.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
I think someone watched Hunger Games one too many times.
Shhhhh.... You making too much sense around here.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
Is this the next advancement of IPoAC?
Replace the pigeons with quad copters?
"A Method and Process for Using Things to Deliver Stuff Through the Air in the Skies."
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
According to the Guardian article you linked, and that I have up there, it was a publicity stunt.
False. According to that article, it is probably a publicity stunt, and some people have said that they think so, but there is no actual proof. They in fact do not unequivocally state that it is such in the article (though quoted sources say that they are sure that it is such) which I presume is why you didn't copy and paste anything where that actually happens, instead choosing to employ prevarication by calling attention to Amazon's odious business practices. I agree that they are odious, but that does not reflect upon the validity of the drone delivery model, nor Amazon's intent (or lack thereof) to employ it.
I think you're likely correct, but the linked article does not prove that you are, and it is therefore bullshit to continue pounding on it as if it contained the facts you're looking for. It doesn't. It contains speculation.
But if you really believe their is a chance that drones are going to be dropping packages off at you doorstep in under 10 - 15 years, you neither understand the logistics and you are both delusional and naive.
I'm pretty sure I do understand the logistics. Quadcopters are already capable of doing this job right now, the infrastructure needed is simply not there. The infrastructure required is broad in extent, but a straightforward and simple extension of existing systems already in place at Amazon, such as robots now performing picking jobs in some of their distribution centers.
Set down the Adderal and the Code Red.
Congratulations, you're an asshole! Your prize is getting to live with yourself!
I can't believe you got modded up...
I still just can't believe it's not butter.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
But if you really believe their is a chance that drones are going to be dropping packages off at you doorstep in under 10 - 15 years, you neither understand the logistics and you are both delusional and naive.
Interestingly, I think the DHL demo illustrates how it would actually work: picking up packages and taking them to the local collection and distribution points. You'd have to register as a verified pick-up point first, and then just schedule your pick-ups, and the nearest unladen drone in your priority queue swings by to pick up the merchandise for shipping.
Of course, one neat thing that COULD be done (but doesn't really fit the current model) is doing pick up AND delivery -- and patch the shipper through to the receiver, so that the shipper can verify the package is being delivered to the right person, and the recipient can verify who the package came from. There are, of course, a few privacy implications here as well.
The range issue can be solved by using drones only for the last mile. Take a truck full of packages and some drones, park it in the middle of a delivery area and let the drones drop off all packages in that area.
Sure, that's what I was talking about when the story came up the first time. At least, I think it was the first time, you never really know around here. However, that's not really necessary, at least not in the first generation. Amazon can cover a significant percentage of the customers who would use a service like this simply by placing centers intelligently. Safeway still offers grocery delivery in counties where they only cover a tiny postage stamp of the total area if it will be profitable given the location of the store, and by the same token, Amazon may reasonably offer drone delivery only in subsets of certain regions.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I wouldn't imagine they're intending to deploy this kind of service in suburbs and rural areas for a long time, if at all. They'd likely be looking at areas with a higher population density that don't have the wind issues of a city like New York. Something like the Fort Lee area in New Jersey would be an ideal location for initial deployment - very small numbers of skyscrapers (no wind issues), high population density, relatively affluent area.
V22 Tiltrotor drones with shrouded rotors would have better range, payload, and safety. You could still have several rotors mounted on multiple tilting wings. Wings provide lift much more efficiently than rotors do. Shrouded rotors could perhaps be made practically silent to those on the ground.
If a few motors failed, a tiltrotor could very likely fly back home to a runway on as few as one or two rotors. If it can't fly back home, the wings would often allow it to glide to a gentle landing instead of just falling out of control. The glide ratio would allow selection of emergency landing sites over a larger area under the point of failure.
The wings combined with a horizontal takeoff would allow a heavier payload if you can live without the ability to hover or ascend near landing. After dropping off the payload it would be lighter for a vertical takeoff, or it could get a rolling start on a driveway. A tilt rotor would be much faster and have much longer range. It could also pick up a fresh battery at an automated batery change runway half way to the destination. That would allow more range or greater payload. Though a regular quad rotor could do that as well.
This is a reasonable idea. The items to be delivered are small and light, and pharmacies tend to have a customer base within a few miles. Many pharmacies already deliver. This would be cheaper and faster than sending out people in cars and trucks to carry tiny packages.
Out of all the stupidity that has come along with this whole "delivery by drone" concept, why hasn't anyone thought of the pizza??!! One could open a business "The Drone Calzone" and rake in the dough (pun intended).
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
You can already get tacos from an octorotor, so what makes you think this model won't be scalable to delivering other goods in a decade and a half?
I can sell it / keep it to pay for the costs of fixing the damage.
You would think but you would be wrong: man dies from rc helicopter
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Amazon is not into building micro-warehouses, it is shifting into the consumable market, groceries. Amazon is not an on-line sales company, Amazon is a logistics company. On-line sales is the foot into the door for it's logistics services.
Amazon next big steps will be in the area of the farm to the kitchen. There is some real scope in there, especially if you start looking at areas of the market like no specialised dairy products, frozen vegetables and frozen meats. There is a real opportunity to Amazon to cut the commodities dicks right out of the market and the keep a portion of those profits for itself.
Amazon can become the groceries logistics company, huge warehouse with long term storage (seasonal frozen products), limited food processing turning farm produce into storable, deliverable product as well as of course handling storage, picking and delivery for specialised food processors.
There is far more money in this area of the market then there is in Amazons current product area and in the area of next day delivery of groceries (around $200 per week per household average ie $10,000 per annum), pharmaceuticals are really neither here nor there, just an added bonus (there are a ton of profit margins added on in the various layers between the farmer and the kitchen, all of which Amazon could pick up and they are big enough to kick out the commodity brokers and keep that money as well).
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Sounds neat, will they handle Silk Road deliveries next?
A drone internet?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I expect remote controlled drones are already in use for illegal drugs.
But if you really believe their is a chance that drones are going to be dropping packages off at you doorstep in under 10 - 15 years, you neither understand the logistics and you are both delusional and naive. Set down the Adderal and the Code Red. Maybe light some incense and listen to some Tibetan singing bowls or something.
Speaking of Tibetan singing bowls and doorsteps if your doorstep is in the USA maybe not. But if Tibet is near your doorstep maybe...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57601531-76/drones-in-china-deliver-packages-even-a-birthday-cake/
http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/02/amazon-is-joining-not-starting-the-drone-delivery-revolution/
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/tech/2013-09/03/content_16941199.htm
Not saying it's a good idea. Just pointing out that drones may be dropping packages off sooner than you think, depending on where your doorstep is.
quote from the last link:
Currently several major Chinese couriers like S.F.Express have expanded to counties or even villages. But there are still areas that are more remote or with poor transport infrastructure. It is expected the drones will be useful for delivering online shopping goods to those places.
This whole drone delivery thing is a publicity stunt.
First off it takes a skilled operator to fly a drone. A friend of mine has learned to fly a 1/20th scale helicopter. He does it well. But he has spent a lot of time learning and he still has mishaps. With drones your delivery driver has to be a reasonably competent pilot. And don't tell me "computer control". It will be a long time before we see self flying drones.
Second, as pointed out, a drone out of control can kill. With a truck out of control you slam on the brakes and it generally stops. With a drone out of control if you slam on the breaks, i.e. turn it off, it falls from the sky. To do anything safe with a drone you have to regain control to land it safely.
Just imagine if in your car or truck when you started to loose control you could not just slam on the breaks but had to regain control before you could stop safely.
Third, legal liability. When the drone falls from the sky or crashes into something, who is going pay for damages? If it kills someone who will pay for the law suite?
And the last thing is power. If the drones are battery powered how far will the get on a charge. My guess is that it would be measured in 10ths of miles not 10s of miles. My friend who flies helicopters gets 10 to 15 minutes on a charge with no payload. Drones that can fly farther are gas powered and are really small airplanes which need runways to land and take off.
I love to read about drones and drones delivering packages. They are great. But I also love to read about stunners and phasers, transporters and faster then light interstellar travel. But I read about them in science fiction not in business plans.
Drone delivery in the foreseeable future is just a publicity stunt, AFAIAC.
You can already get tacos from an octorotor, so what makes you think this model won't be scalable to delivering other goods in a decade and a half?
Sigh. You're attempting to disprove one hoax with another? Why You Can't Have A Tacocopter Drone Deliver You A Taco For Lunch Today.
Assuming 3kg/package, and average truck net weight of 20,000kg (I work in shipping), that'd be 6,700 quadcopters per truck.
Its misses the point entirely though. The use of trucks is fuel economy, ease of transportation, and economies of scale. Aerial delivery will always be a niche product because its so inefficient.
Here's what I mean: http://www.nrdc.org/international/cleanbydesign/images/cbdtranspo_fig1.png
For crying out loud, add protection rings/spheres/cages around those propellers!
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When people talk about drones they're talking about quadcopters not helicopters. There's a world of difference in piloting those two and quadcopters with auto-leveling are much easier to pilot too.
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...drug deliveries by drone.
Can't imagine that would motivate anyone to start shooting down drones just to see what they're carrying.
What would it take to shoot down one of these things? Would a 1000 fps air rifle be enough?
And no, I'm not suggesting it.
blindly antisocialist = antisocial
I'm pretty sure, that chart refers to traditional fuel-powered aircraft — one with provisions for a human crew (and its safety with all the redundancies), etc. The drones discussed will be very light and, possibly, electrical (their fuel cells recharged off of cleaner and more efficient power plants). They would still pollute more per mile, but, traveling by straight line, they'll travel many fewer miles. They will also not be idling at each house nor at red-lights, and not slowing down other vehicles (causing them to pollute more).
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
I just had a crazy idea. Imagine a delivery truck driving down a major highway (or side road as they would probably have to be going slowly) while drones flock back and forth from the truck, picking up packages and delivering them to nearby houses. You could cover several parallel streets at once.
The first thing I imagined was a Beowulf cluster... But, yeah, a drone-carrier of sorts does seem interesting. A separate person may need to work in the truck to load the drones returning for more.
I doubt, it will catch-on though — to fully develop such a hybrid concept will take about as long as to develop drones capable of covering the same area from the existing distribution centers.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
I just can't imagine a lightweight electrical drone having a delivery radius of more than 2-3 miles. A moving base station would make these drones much more more efficient.