UPS Is Starting To Test Drone Deliveries In the US (qz.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: UPS announced Sept. 23 that it has begun testing drone deliveries in the U.S. with drone manufacturer CyPhy Works. The two companies yesterday completed a test of delivering medicine from the coastal town of Beverly, Massachusetts, to Children's Island, a small island about three miles into the Atlantic Ocean. CyPhy's drone has night-vision capabilities, according to a release shared with Quartz. The test yesterday involved a trial situation where an asthmatic child urgently needed an inhaler, which was dispatched from the mainland to the island, arriving far more quickly than it would've taken a boat to get there. CyPhy's drone autonomously flew supplies over the ocean to a group waiting to receive them on the other end, although there was no actual child with asthma in danger. In May, UPS had announced that it was partnering with the drone company Zipline to deliver medical supplies to rural Rwanda, having invested nearly $1 million into the company. UPS has also invested an undisclosed amount in CyPhy. UPS told Quartz that the FAA was aware of its test, and Houston Mills, a commercial pilot with UPS for over a decade and the company's director of airline safety, was recently announced as a member of the FAA's Drone Advisory Committee. The committee is working with industry experts and companies to figure out how to safely integrate a network of commercial drones into U.S. airspace. You can watch the heroic footage of the trial run here.

Comments

For very specific hard to reach areas

[ArtemaOne]

I was very skeptical about how this sounded until I actually read their experiment. This sounds like an awesome service and I hope they continue with it.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[ThosLives]

It does have its advantages in some situations, but it's also going to seriously pollute low-level airspace with drone traffic. I call it pollution, because it's like light pollution - definitely beneficial, but something is lost in the exchange.

Re: For very specific hard to reach areas

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep. And I for one don't want to see flying drones and packages all the fucking time.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[ArtemaOne]

The thing about remote rural areas is that the population density is low, thus the pollution as you say would be fairly rare.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[Lord Apathy]

This will defiantly change the way aircraft are handled. Maybe there should be a "drone space" about 100 above the ground to 200 feet depending on the terrain. It could probably be more. I believe aircraft have to stay above 400 feet unless landing or taking off.

I wonder how long before we start seeing drones take the place of police in cars.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[ShanghaiBill]

I wonder how long before we start seeing drones take the place of police in cars.

You mean like this, this, and this?

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[Ol Olsoc]

This will defiantly change the way aircraft are handled. Maybe there should be a "drone space" about 100 above the ground to 200 feet depending on the terrain. It could probably be more. I believe aircraft have to stay above 400 feet unless landing or taking off.

I wonder how long before we start seeing drones take the place of police in cars.

I wonder as well. I live in a wooded development, and it would be a real trick to have a drone fly anywhere but where the roads are. In a Farmer's field type development, it wouldn't be a huge deal, but you can't even see my place form the air. So there would have to be some 15 foot altitude flying.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[JoeSilva]

Indeed this is being seriously looked into. For instance NASA (my latest gig!) and the FAA.

Check out the Google an Amazon whitepapers here.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[ThosLives]

There's a reason I likened drone pollution to light pollution - around population centers, there's now going to be this cloud of moderate density drone traffic. Doesn't affect "remote rural areas" where population density is low, you won't notice it in highly urban areas because they are already light and noise polluted beyond notice.

It's the type of thing that you probably won't notice unless you want to enjoy the scenery in some particular way that isn't really accounted for by the commercial drone users - just like light pollution makes it just a bit hard to stargaze.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[ArtemaOne]

I guess I get the analogy, but it seems more of a complaint about general drone use, rather than one about the UPS conceptual implementation discussed.

Re: For very specific hard to reach areas

[Joce640k]

What happens if it's a windy day?

Re: For very specific hard to reach areas

[gtall]

Or start delivering at night..."Honey, what's that buzzing sound...hey, there's a drone outside our window!!" "Relax sweetheart, let me give you some instructions on how to fire this here shotgun."

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[laurencetux]

I could see as part of a drone service you getting a set of Navigation Beacons that instruct the drone to
1 In normal mode fly to marker GTW2576B
2 Follow sub beacons 0A - 12
3 locate Arrival Beacon AB5674FG3
4 Land and sound arrival tones
5 eject package UNDERHAND

Hot tip if you need a semifragile package delivered have it marked [Please Throw Underhand] because if you think the drivers are bad you should see the apes that work in the depots.

Re:For very specific hard to reach areas

[Anonymous Coward]

defiantly

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means...

Very wise decision making

[Kohath]

We have an asthmatic child and live on an island. Should we keep extra athsma inhalers around? Nah. We'll just rely on other people using almost-futuristic technology to deliver medicine at the last possible second. That's the best approach.

Re: Very wise decision making

[Anonymous Coward]

The island is a YMCA day camp for children...

Re: Very wise decision making

[ArtemaOne]

AC that RTFA and a 5 digit that didn't. That's totally calling them out. Nice.

Re: Very wise decision making

[Kohath]

Yeah, having asthma medication around when you need it is for losers.

Re: Very wise decision making

[ArtemaOne]

True, letting them die is the clear path if you were running things.

Re:Very wise decision making

[bheerssen]

In this day of anti-vax, anti-science nonsense, it warms my heart to see parents taking appropriate precautions for the health and safety of their children. Kudos to you, sir or madame.

Re: Very wise decision making

[bheerssen]

They won't suffer from asthma anymore, so at least they'll have that going for them.

Re:Very wise decision making

[diamondmagic]

There's a lot more medical conditions and personal needs than just asthma. Are you suggesting every island automatically should be a fully stocked pharmacy?

Re:Very wise decision making

[Kohath]

No. It's more like "my kid sometimes needs a specific medicine, maybe I should be sure to bring some along".

Re:Very wise decision making

[diamondmagic]

Usually childhood is when you find out you have asthma, though. If you've got an island of 100 kids on summer vacation or in school, one of them is bound to develop it sooner or later. Sometimes this requires helicopter assistance!

The case described is infrequent, sure. But it and things like it happen often enough it's totally worth the effort to develop a cheaper solution.

Re: Very wise decision making

[Anonymous Coward]

UPS marketing had a challenge: how do we portray drone delivery in a positive light, so that people don't focus on its job-destroying, nerve wrecking properties?

So this case is what they came up with. The one situation where drones make sense.

Re:Very wise decision making

[Anonymous Coward]

First, it was a simulation. Not a real child in desperate need.

Second, it can absolutely happen, especially if it is a family vacationing. You flippantly comment on keeping extra inhalers around, but inhalers aren't free. Not only that, they're not even cheap.
Not only THAT, but insurance will damn-sure limit the number of inhalers you can get per month/year. If your child's doctor prescribes 1 inhaler per month, you get one inhaler per month. Oh, bullies threw it out the window of the bus? Better call your doctor and ask them to call the insurance company to HOPEFULLY authorize an early refill. Oh, has allergy season overlapped with cold season and your kid's asthma has been acting worse than usual, and you've used up your inhaler after only 2 weeks? Whelp, better call your doctor and ask them to call the insurance company to HOPEFULLY authorize an early refill (seeing a pattern?) That, and get your kid IN to the doctor to try and get the asthma under control with additional therapies, but that's a different discussion.

Oh, your kind doctor wrote for 2 inhalers? Well, better hope your insurance company doesn't refuse to fill one, since they likely have guidelines they use for how often a medication can be prescribed. Oh they refused to fill more than one? Well, ask your doctor to get a prior authorization approved. Oh, they refused it? Well, maybe your doctor can call to discuss this with the insurance company's pharmacist and get permission. Oh, the insurance's pharmacist said that it's against policy? Well, maybe your doctor can schedule a peer-to-peer discussion with the insurance company's staff physician? He can, that's great, oh, it'll be 2 days before you can get a peer-to-peer scheduled? Well, OK... Your doctor's been able to talk to the insurance staff physician? Great! Hopefully he's actually familiar with treating child asthma...

SO, yeah. Lots of reasons why a child on an island may not have "extra inhalers around."

(Why yes, I have dealt with similar scenarios multiple times in the past, why do you ask?)

I've never been so happy for peopel to lose jobs

[Anonymous Coward]

I've never been more happy to see a group put out of work by technology. I don't know a single person who hasn't been screwed around by lazy or inept UPS drivers.
packages left on front lawns, packages delivered to wrong addresses, "sorry we missed you cards" placed on doors with such stealth you dont even hear them do it while you're waiting on the other side of the door with baited breath for your package to arrive, "next day priority before end of business" packages showing up at 8pm leaving a card because your closed then expecting you to drive to the one and only UPS depot for your city that's 60km away

FUCK YOU UPS DRIVERS

UPS is union so will they let this get far?

[Joe_Dragon]

UPS is union so will they let this get far?

Re:UPS is union so will they let this get far?

[Anonymous Coward]

Unions can stop outsourcing to humans, not automating processes

Re:UPS is union so will they let this get far?

[ShanghaiBill]

UPS is union so will they let this get far?

If they start obstructing, UPS management will respond by rolling the drones out even faster.

The longshoreman's union couldn't stop containerization, and the Teamsters will not stop the drones.

 

Re:UPS is union so will they let this get far?

[Jzanu]

Safety regulations might though. Having the occasional drone flight is OK in many areas, but routine traffic from delivery will require not just logging flight paths but planning them ahead of time and scheduling traffic. Establishing the infrastructure for that, and for the radar installations required for control and oversight, means this fantasy is just that. It is just the tech-geek version of the idea that dirigibles could replace trains; they can't, and the operational problems exceed imagined gains.

Re:UPS is union so will they let this get far?

[Anonymous Coward]

a logical concern. I like to think that a lot of people will opt out of this method for some time. Hopefully it remains a specialized method of delivery. I imagine for at least the next ten years a drone delivery option would be more expensive than traditional routes.

Sky

[hcs_$reboot]

Do they provide umbrellas as well?

Drones are slow

[JustNiz]

>> which was dispatched from the mainland to the island, arriving far more quickly than it would've taken a boat to get there.

Drones are slow. Just wait until I launch my parcel cannon service. I'm thinking of calling it TNT Express.

Re:Drones are slow

[gtall]

What you want is a rail gun, then you can blow down the front door as part of the package delivery.

Re:Drones are slow

[JustNiz]

I like your thinking sir.
Convenience to the customer is everything.

Drone flies 3 miles - Makes Headlines

[Anonymous Coward]

Words that will make an areticle unconditionally newsworth:

Drone bitcoin arduino IoT

Re:Drone flies 3 miles - Makes Headlines

[Anonymous Coward]

"make an areticle unconditionally newsworth"
Are you having a stroke?

Toughest part

[ThatsNotPudding]

The toughest part has been programming the drone to both run over and then drop-kick the packages in the hedge.

Re:I've never been so happy for peopel to lose job

[ShanghaiBill]

I don't know a single person who hasn't been screwed around by lazy or inept UPS drivers.

My company often had problems with damaged packages, so we installed a security camera by our loading dock. It recorded the UPS driver throwing packages out of the back of the truck, The top of the arc was about 10 feet high, before they came crashing to the ground. The contents were destroyed, and UPS paid several thousand dollars for all the damages ... but the driver kept his job.

He never tossed our packages like that again, but he would often look up at the camera and scowl.

Heroic Footage?

[Anonymous Coward]

What? It was footage, of a drone flying over pretty landscape. Nothing heroic about it. It was a test, that produced a marketing video, no asthmatic child involved.

Re:I've never been so happy for peopel to lose job

[rhodium_mir]

If you think UPS is bad then make sure you steer clear of OnTrac and Amazon Logistics/Flex.

Stupid and Pointless: let's shoot 'em down

[DatbeDank]

I look forward to the day i can shoot these things with a slingshot and a rocks. Wear a ski mask and avoid getting caught!

USPS? Decade?

[Anonymous Coward]

So what does this mean? In about a decade we can see the USPS investigating in drone deliveries? LOL...