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Why Bhutan Might Get Drone Delivery Copters Before Seattle Does
From Quartz comes the story of a Silicon Valley start-up trying to kickstart a delivery system using package-laden drones to overfly gridlocked traffic — in Bhutan. Bhutanese roads are slow, the weather can be brutal, and there are very few physicians to go around.
That’s why, earlier this year, the Bhutanese government and the World Health Organization reached out to Matternet, a Palo Alto company backed by some big name American investors that develops transportation networks using unmanned aerial vehicles to reach hard-to-access places. ... The project in Bhutan, however, is the first big test for the startup. Matternet is aiming to build a network of low-cost quadcopters to connect the country’s main hospitals with rural communities. Matternet uses small quadcopters that can carry loads of about four pounds across 20 km at a time, to and from pre-designated landing stations. The company is able to track these flights in real-time, and aims to eventually deploy fully-automated landing stations that replace drone batteries, giving them extended range and flight time. The drones it uses typically cost between $2,000-5,000.
without thinking of Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura.
Seems like this method of delivery would be great for dealing drugs, or smuggling drugs across international borders. This is exactly why we need to keep very strict regulation on these things - way too much potential for abuse and illegal activity.
If there's one thing that works flawlessly in brutal weather, it's aircraft.
People who are living in a nation with annual average wages of $6000 not stealing from these "fully automated landing stations" seems really improbable. I mean, Bhutan apparently has an uniquely low violent crime rate for southern Asia, but that just seems like a lot of money for people so poor.
If the weather is severe enough to delay ground traffic, what are the odds that a drone will be capable of flight/navigation? A full-sized, manned aircraft has fairly specific limitations (crosswind, turbulence, etc.) within which safe operation is possible. While there's at least one less life at risk (the pilot's), I can only imagine that current drones are even more tightly limited - not so much by legislation as by simple physics. If your aircraft has a maximum airspeed of 20kts, any wind exceeding that automatically grounds your drone fleet (unless you're into one-way missions). I've always nursed a pet suspicion that this is what caused John Denver's death - he was flying an ultralight; if the offshore winds ("Santa Anna", I think?) exceeded the maximum airspeed of his ultralight, he probably spent the last few moments of his life watching the shore get further and further away - with no way to rescue himself or radio for help (I don't believe ultralights carry an aviation comms stack).
To " Why Bhutan Might Get Drone Delivery Copters Before Seattle Does" is that Seattle has basic infrastructure like roads that aren't impassible after every storm.
Point to point drone corridors can be marked off on maps and given to pilots.
The kind of delivery that people would want in Seattle involves a burrito delivered to their front door.
These are not the same types of delivery patterns or reasons.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
does anyone rah-rahing this have ANY flight experience with quadcopters? It doesn't take much wind or turbulence to severely deplete batteries and reduce range. It also doesn't take much to screw up an automated flight system.
a 3D capable single rotor helicopter with a good autopilot is a much better possibility but no one wants to talk about those-it's all quadcopter this, quadcopter that to bring in investors and eyeballs.
If you don't need the stability for a camera platform, a quad/hex is NOT the vehicle of choice. Deliverables don't care about a little vibration and a nice big TREX 800E will be faster, more agile, and more efficient for a small delivery vehicle. If that's not big enough, a quad isn't gonna help as you need a REAL drone/RPV and oughta consider homebrewing the sensors and gyros into something like the Eagle Helicycle.
But it's a lot easier to buy some off the shelf RC toys to show small scale demos I suppose, and let scalability and real world weather be an issue for a later investment phase.
Our State Constitution has strong privacy protections, and the act of flying a drone that can see in your upstairs window, without a court ordered warrant issued for a specific person at a specific place at a specific time, violates many parts of that.
So Bhutan can live in their 1984 paradise.
We'll be strong and free.
And, yes, we make stuff here.
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I'll have you know Afghanistan been getting drone delivery for the longest time now and way before any of those Seattle hipsters.
Problem, those single rotor systems tend to have more delicate parts than quad-copters.
Some quads have four props directly connected to the motors, others a simple gear box on each motor.
Single rotor systems need to tilt the blades at high speeds, I have a friend who has a couple and the amount of work to maintain them is far more than the simpler quad-rotor designs.
ECP
I just checked the weather for Thimphu and they forecast some pretty adverse conditions. I'm not entirely familar with how well drones can manage microbursts and lightening showers but I imagine this program will see a lot of money spent in an area that isn't suited for drone flight.
http://motherboard.vice.com/re...
New Economic Perspectives
Couldn't this be served better with small airships? They would have greater autonomy and I don't think there would be big differences in speed.
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
The last thing anyone needs is a drone crashing on their head!
Using drones to connect hospital and clinics anywhere from rural areas to traffic-locked big cities is fine. I just don't want the skies over me filled with drones delivering electric toothbrushes for Amazon.
Then get on your bike or skateboard.
Geesh, and you wonder why you're so fat ...
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as one of the big problems with transportation in Bhutan? How well do quad copters work in bad weather?
It sounds like a solution looking for a problem.
Geesh, and you wonder why you're so fat ...
I'm sorry you let your personal animosity get in the way of getting the point of what I wrote. You didn't even understand that I was talking about other people, not you and not me.
You asked why people would want to-the-door delivery of burritos when there is a food truck down the block, and I told you. Lashing out at the messenger doesn't change the message and doesn't merit your personal insults.
Bhutan:
One company running few drones. Low probability of collision between drones
Mostly rural. Low probability of drone striking obstacle
Little civil aviation. Low probability of collision.
Sparse population. Low probability of injury if drone goes down
Seattle
Hundreds of companies wanting to use drones; Much higher probability of collision between drones
Mostly urban with power line, tall buildings, radio towers, etc. Much higher probability of drone striking obstacle
Lots of civil aviation. Much higher probability of collision.
Dense population. Much higher probability of injury if drone goes down
Using a drone in the skies over Seattle is orders of magnitude more complex than over Bhutan.
Who was lashing out?
I was just making a conclusion based on your statement.
Never said I was thin.
But again, we were originally talking about "needs".
Seattle doesn't need drones. We make them. We send them to other countries. They perform highly sensitive missions at very cheap costs.
Most of us commute by bike or walk here, anyway. Only lazy suburbanites think they "need" drones.
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Who was lashing out?
You were. "... you wonder why you're so fat ..." is a personal insult based on nothing more than your desire to insult someone else for responding to one of your comments.
I was just making a conclusion based on your statement.
I said nothing about me in my statement. There was no basis for any conclusion. Nor did I say anything about you, so you don't even have the excuse that you felt insulted so you needed to insult in return.
But again, we were originally talking about "needs".
No, you were talking about "wants". Quote: "Why would we want door to door delivery of burritos?" That's the comment I responded to. "We" (plural pronoun referring to people in general) want door to door delivery of burritos because we (plural pronoun referring to people in general) want the convenience. That you could find some way to turn this into a personal insult is, well, fascinating but a complete waste of my time.
the word You is both a singular and a plural pronoun.
Now go order a drone pizza so I can get a free dinner.
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Well all I can say about that is stop making roast beef if you don't feel like eating it!
Yes but using a keyboard to post reactionary "the sky is falling" craziness is orders of magnitude easier than actually getting shit done. Is your knee fucked up badly? I'd imagine it would be pretty sore from banging it on the bottom side of your desk.
They could try something completely different: ballistic delivery. Delivery by slingshot that is :) It's not like they need to send packages a long way away to reach the other end of the country :)
Bhutan is very rugged and I've been driven over roads that were washed out in rainstorms. I don't know how practical quadcopters would be but I would be interested to see how it works out. :-).
When I was there I saw a farm near the top of a small hill with no roads going to it. I asked - how does the farmer get their crop to market? The answer was by animals (donkeys I think). But apparently the farmers in this area had asked for a road and they probably would get one. The main limitation was how to pay for it - they didn't want to take on any foreign debt for infrastructure developments so it might take a few decades. But they wanted their independence and were willing to wait.
It's very true (as earlier commenters mentioned) that the per capita income is low. But when I was there 8 years ago I was struck at how prosperous and healthy people seemed. If I remember correctly Bhutan was largely a barter economy until the 1950s so some of the discrepancy might be that the official statistics don't capture some elements of the economic activity. There certainly were poor areas and the Nepalese road workers seemed far poorer than the Bhutanese - but I suspect that reality is complicated here. Maybe because Bhutan was never colonized we're seeing what a culture looks like that hasn't been plundered by outsiders? I really don't know but I'd recommend anyone who wants to find out more they should just visit there
With the drones - I'd worry about noise pollution and general impracticality with the current state of quadcopters. But it might work well & I hope that their experiment goes well. When we were there my daughter was bitten by an insect and had a bad reaction - we couldn't tell if it was an infection or an allergic response. Thimphu was a day's drive away. Something like this might work & it might be more economical than building roads. I wish them good luck.
Yes but what happens when the Sandpeople of Bhutan start shooting the $5000 aircraft out of the sky with .20 cent bullets?
I've always wanted to go to Bhutan and teach soccer...withg my experience I shouyld be there with Matternet:)