MyPC8MyBrain 273 Posted July 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 that is very true Martin, you never know where these efforts will take them Link to post Share on other sites
J G 927 Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 @JA I too am an avid Amazon Prime subscriber - It's a great service with many things deliverable next day. The type of things that it isn't easy to get with Prime are the small low value items. You sometimes you can get these as "addons" but they have to go with another purchase from the same source (usually Amazon themselves and not a third party retailer) This is because it uneconomical to pay for the delivery costs. Why should it be cheaper to deliver low-cost low-weight items by drone, given that the drone is limited to weight? And related to the above: Why should it be cheaper to employ say 100 drone operators to deliver one package locally each in an hour, than to pay one man to do the same in the same time in a van? - The answer that one man can operate more than one drone wont wash. - even if it were possible, it would only be to "mind" say four or five at one time. That would still be a massive wage cost over the man in a van. - Dont kid yourself that a drone is cheaper to buy than a van. You must factor in the cost of building the complex systems needed to load up, program and fly each drone to deliver it £2.50 value load and the equally huge costs of integrate existing warehouse systems with these new systems.These costs would run into many millions of pounds. I design such systems, and even the smallest change to one of our large system costs in excess of £50,000. Currently all you have to do is to print the warehouse order details and give it to the nice UPS man. As I said. It will never fly Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 As someone who had a franhise with an international parcel company for over 20 years my experiance tells me that how it is done currently with road based vehicles in the majority of places and air landing at very rural areas to then be delivered by road/water etc will continus for a long time yet. TNT/DHL etc in the UK are testing electric vehicles, however they are stuck with their range, most lorries are around 60 miles. We used to fly stuff around the world/europe and had a road service from the UK to most Euro destinations in 2-5 days depending on location. I would daily do 100 + deliveries in just 2 postcodes in my town, our handhelds would send the customer a message with a 1 hour delivery slot and in my experiance that is what most customers want, not a company doing something that I believe is just a PR thing, I do use Amazon and usually they are really good at getting stuff out. How does the drone ring my bell or buzz my neighbours intercom? Just my thoughts, I am sure not everyone will agree...... Wayne Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 I still believe the deal-breaker is the requirement for distributed warehousing in order to meet the 30 minute delivery time over a broad area. Amazon might need dozens of drone-enabled warehouses in a big city. That's a big cost. John Link to post Share on other sites
MartinW 0 Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 Up to now, Amazon's "secret" models have been tested in an undisclosed location in Canada. However, the FAA, a couple of months ago, gave them permission for the first tests with the latest prototypes outdoors in the US. The challenge Amazon face is convincing the FAA that the drones can safely be flown beyond line of sight. So it will be some time [unless they abandon the concept] before we find out if this is feasible or not. As for warehouses, back in 2013, the company ramped up considerably it's $13.9 billion warehouse building spree. I agree regarding Prime Air warehouses, one would think you would need a ridiculous number. It's not like a mere intermediate delivery location, they would have to be major fully stocked facilities. Link to post Share on other sites
MartinW 0 Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 I still believe the deal-breaker is the requirement for distributed warehousing in order to meet the 30 minute delivery time over a broad area. Amazon might need dozens of drone-enabled warehouses in a big city. That's a big cost. John It may be that when the service is first introduced, it's far from nationwide. Could just be a few locations where the service is available. Therefore not as many warehouses as you think required. I don't think Amazon have ever said that upon introduction, we will see a huge worldwide network of fulfilment centres, 10 miles from every customer. I think we have to remember, that Bezos made it clear back in 2013, that it would be quite a few years before the service was fully up and running. By that time we can expect better energy density form our batteries. I envisage, upon the services introduction, just a few select locations where drone delivery is available. Probably the locations Amazon deem potentially the most profitable. Further down the line, as battery technology improves, new areas served, and more flexibility in terms of range, payload etc. Link to post Share on other sites
MyPC8MyBrain 273 Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 and here we go, it was only a matter of time wasn’t it Incident: Lufthansa E195 at Warsaw on Jul 20th 2015, near collision with drone Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 I've seen about a half-dozen or more similar news items over the last six months, Chris. This isn't the first one by any means. Somebody is going to screw the pooch on this big-time sooner or later, though I suspect most transport size aircraft would easily survive a collision with one of them. Worst case, it might take out an engine. Helicopters might be more vulnerable, but not really sure of that either. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites
MyPC8MyBrain 273 Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 they should regulate parenting; maybe we'll have a world with less idiots in the future 1 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 This is certainly a touchy subject but I am starting to wonder if they want to limit personnel drone use to pave way for commercial use. This is not a hard fact but just a little niggle in the back of my head based on the "powers that be" use of the media in the past. And yes, any smart person would or should I say should be careful when flying in certain controlled areas. Now for a story about protecting your personal property against unwanted drone flying and the possible legal ramifications. I am not condoning this mans actions, though I can understand his reasons, but the fact is it's just plain dangerous to fire a firearm in a community setting. One thought I had was that aircraft have registration numbers on them for apparent reasons but should personally owned drones have visible reg numbers so that possible nefarious sightings can be reported to the authorities. Anyway, here's a link to the shooting story http://www.cnet.com/news/man-shoots-down-drone-hovering-over-house/ Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Anyway, here's a link to the shooting story http://www.cnet.com/news/man-shoots-down-drone-hovering-over-house/ Last bit of the article: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drones aren't supposed to fly over buildings. Surely Amazon's flying machines won't be able to avoid such an event. Please imagine your neighborhood airspace suddenly full of undergarments, toys, books and other coveted items floating through the air after the drone carrying them was shot down. Every day will feel like Christmas. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grampa shot down one of Santa's helpers. It happened over our house Christmas Eve Some people say they don't believe in Santa Shoot down Santa's drones and you'll believe. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted August 5, 2015 Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Ah, here's another genius business plan using drone delivery. They'll need three gunship drones to protect each of the cargo drones..."This pot delivery startup wants to deliver weed with drones"http://mashable.com/2015/08/04/drone-delivery-marijuana-weed/ Link to post Share on other sites
MyPC8MyBrain 273 Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 seriously, someone going to sponsor this? Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted August 6, 2015 Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 These drone ideas just keep getting funnier. But this one in a way it's a good idea, the pot smokers have been complaining about getting off the couch to get their next prescription. Link to post Share on other sites
MyPC8MyBrain 273 Posted August 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2015 so there is a logic behind this wont they still have to get up to open the door? Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Leave it to the government and they will find a way. If they find a pesky drone they will just send it back to the owner and you can be sure they will be close behind no matter Congress. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/20/us-usa-drones-security-idUSKCN0QP0BB20150820 So to all those recreational drone hobbists, careful where you fly them so you don't end up it the system just for having fun. Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Interesting...someone hooked up a gun to a drone...bound to happen. Mercenary/homemade assassination drones. Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 I remember seeing a show about Louisiana gun shop that made one and an unknown gov't agency was interested in it for their own uses. Link to post Share on other sites
MyPC8MyBrain 273 Posted August 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 i said it first some posts back, it’s a scary era were getting into, same revolution that happened with the personal computers and internet years ago; with scarier boundaries and future implementations Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 It's a gray world out there. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 One more new development, a patent by Amazon on distributed perches for drones. Not a bad idea IF the basic concept of delivery by drone were to be made profitable in the first place. That's going to be a tough nut to crack. I know this is dredging up an old thread but it was kind of a fun one. John http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/19/amazon-wants-to-use-lampposts-churches-as-drone-perches.html Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 LOL. Wish I could get my hands on a bag of whatever the Amazon elves are smoking Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 24, 2016 Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 Headline: 7-Eleven Just Used a Drone to Deliver a Chicken Sandwich and Slurpees http://fortune.com/2016/07/22/7-eleven-drone-flirtey-slurpee/ "A 7-Eleven customer’s order for Slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee, and candy will forever go down in history." Sounds like a breakthrough, right? But wait... "But the drone delivery wasn’t a casual affair. 'This delivery required special flight planning, risk analysis, and detailed flight procedures ensuring residential safety and privacy were equally integrated,' Chris Walach, the director of operations for the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), said in a statement. The NIAS is a Nevada government-backed non-profit autonomous vehicle advocacy group that helped oversee the delivery." Note the part about, "...government-backed non-profit autonomous vehicle advocacy group..." Read it again! "...government-backed..." "It took two drone flights to deliver all of the items ordered, the companies said. The drone flew autonomously for one mile from the 7-Eleven store in Reno on July 11 to the family’s house using GPS. After the drone reached the house, it hovered above while lowering the container to the family’s backyard using a rope." What could go wrong with that? "Although the FAA recently released new commercial drone rules that take effect in August, the rules still don’t allow for flying drones at night or outside the line of sight of their operators. Both restrictions could have a huge impact on whether drone deliveries are practical." Isn't it funny how the simple application of taxpayer money can make crackpot schemes worth playing around with? Next someone is going to defend this as "research". I wonder how the taxpayers of Nevada feel about the fact that they are supporting "research" in aid of delivering chicken sandwiches and Slurpees? John 3 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted July 24, 2016 Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 Read it again! "...government-backed..." I read military and police applications in that statement as usual. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 24, 2016 Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 Probably just State of Nevada government employees doling out public funds to those who are perceived as supporting their agenda. I wonder if Harry Reid's fingerprints are anywhere on this. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now