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Saw some articles in the news lately that always make me laugh, regarding drone delivery. I remember the last one I saw I think last year was the announcement of Dominos in India delivering a pizza to someone. These kind of things always get a lot of propellor heads all excited. Just has me shaking my head.
I definitely think there ARE some specific application for drone delivery that will continue to grow. Of these, I'd say emergency organ delivery and other emergency-type deliveries, especially in road traffic congested cities, or disaster areas. But all this coverage about retail sales order delivery is the pure definition to me of 'hype.' You don't have to spend hours of research or participate in focus groups to figure it out. I'll just throw out some no brainers off the top of my head, all assuming the airspace traffic management system challenges will have of course been solved.
1) What if you have no suitable landing area at your residence? Maybe like Tesla is putting charging stations all over the place, all homes and buildings will have drone landing pads as common as having a mailbox. How long you think THAT'S gonna take?
2) How are you going to get your delivery if you live outside the control transmission range or fuel capacity? Currently, that's typically just a few miles, realistically today, unless you're talking military drones. World is a big place, lots of people not all living in cities. Yes there is air traffic flying above us all the time that is powered by highly combustible fuel and satellite communication, but it's also being controlled by a human in constant control and as far as being over a heavily populated area, it's quite a brief/small exposure compared to a fleet of drones flying around at much lower altitudes.
3) "Hello, this is an email notification from Walmart/Amazon customer service letting you know your order delivery has been delayed due to the current wind/rain storms."
4) "Hey Johnny, I bet you can't shoot that Walmart drone that is about to land at the neighbor's house with your BB Gun."
5) "I am sick and tired of all that noise of drones landing at my neighbor's houses. Can't have a peaceful moment in my backyard."
6) "Florida man is killed by falling Amazon delivery drone." I admit this last one is not very probable but think what happens when a new model aircraft crashes and kills someone. All operations halted while the FAA investigation ensues.
The hype continues...
I definitely think there ARE some specific application for drone delivery that will continue to grow. Of these, I'd say emergency organ delivery and other emergency-type deliveries, especially in road traffic congested cities, or disaster areas. But all this coverage about retail sales order delivery is the pure definition to me of 'hype.' You don't have to spend hours of research or participate in focus groups to figure it out. I'll just throw out some no brainers off the top of my head, all assuming the airspace traffic management system challenges will have of course been solved.
1) What if you have no suitable landing area at your residence? Maybe like Tesla is putting charging stations all over the place, all homes and buildings will have drone landing pads as common as having a mailbox. How long you think THAT'S gonna take?
2) How are you going to get your delivery if you live outside the control transmission range or fuel capacity? Currently, that's typically just a few miles, realistically today, unless you're talking military drones. World is a big place, lots of people not all living in cities. Yes there is air traffic flying above us all the time that is powered by highly combustible fuel and satellite communication, but it's also being controlled by a human in constant control and as far as being over a heavily populated area, it's quite a brief/small exposure compared to a fleet of drones flying around at much lower altitudes.
3) "Hello, this is an email notification from Walmart/Amazon customer service letting you know your order delivery has been delayed due to the current wind/rain storms."
4) "Hey Johnny, I bet you can't shoot that Walmart drone that is about to land at the neighbor's house with your BB Gun."
5) "I am sick and tired of all that noise of drones landing at my neighbor's houses. Can't have a peaceful moment in my backyard."
6) "Florida man is killed by falling Amazon delivery drone." I admit this last one is not very probable but think what happens when a new model aircraft crashes and kills someone. All operations halted while the FAA investigation ensues.
The hype continues...
The Race for Dominance in Commercial Drone Delivery has Begun – and North Carolina is the Starting Line
North Carolina has been a leader in drone adoption, from disaster response to the numerous projects the state hosts as part of the UAS Integration Pilot Program. The announcement of Walmart’s
dronelife.com
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