Amazon testing delivery by drone, CEO tells 60 Minutes

tmonster

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So in decades the US Sky will be full of drones ? It will be far much easier to have surveillance drones this way and people will complain but they'll reply "you already have delivery drones, is it bad ?"
I'm not really feeling the future.
interesting and perplexing thought
 

mbewane

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So in decades the US Sky will be full of drones ? It will be far much easier to have surveillance drones this way and people will complain but they'll reply "you already have delivery drones, is it bad ?"
I'm not really feeling the future.

Land of the free :troll:
 

tmonster

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I read the article. I don't see them getting clearance this decade.
Besos seemed confident about it on 60minutes
that was the only deadline he was willing to commit to
 

newworldafro

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remember a few months back they was talking drones about delivering pizzas ..... ... think somebody made a joke what if you don't tip the drone ...
images
:whoa:


http://qz.com/142656/the-five-reaso...ns-a-drone-will-not-be-delivering-your-pizza/
dominocopterjpeg1.jpg

Bonus: the Domicopter doesn’t need to be tipped.Domino's UK via YouTube

The five reasons a drone will not be delivering your pizza
By Philip A. Stephenson@phantomathNovember 2, 2013

Based on news like this, the drone economy of the future can seem like it’s just around the corner, but don’t get carried away: Bloomberg reports that venture capitalist Tim Draper, backer of startups like Skype and Baidu, recently backed software startup DroneDeploy, a land mapping software technology firm for unmanned commercial drones. In just the first nine months of 2013, investors poured $40.9 million into startups working on commercial drone applications.

Draper told reporters in an email that, “Everything from pizza delivery to personal shopping can be handled by drones.”

The idea isn’t inconceivable. Last year, Domino’s Pizza UK and marketing firm T+biscuits attracted attention with their Domicopter video, which features an eight-rotored remote-control helicopter, taking a 10-minute flight over picturesque Guildford, UK to deliver two pizzas.

While the stunt showed that it’s possible to deliver pizza by drones, here are five reasons why mainstreaming the practice still isn’t feasible:

Cost
A remote controlled “octocopter” similar to the Domicopter (the Cinestar 8) costs between $8,000 and $11,000. Add another $500-$1,200 for a remote control. And that’s not counting the salary of the remote control pilot and her training. Drones like the Domicopter, although technically “unmanned,” aren’t autonomous. Autonomy would require the additional expense of GPS and autopilot technologies. What’s more, the cost of insuring/replacing a drone damaged by, say, weather, vandalizing Luddites or teenage delinquents could be considerable.

Operating range
Various configurations of the helicopters, from Quadrocopter and Aerobot, have maximum operating ranges from the operator of 250 to 500 meters (800-1,600 feet). Boosting that range to 1,000 meters costs another $2,200. Current battery technologies only support reported flight times of 8 to 15 minutes. And don’t forget about the return trip!

Payload
Most of these machines were designed to carry cameras, not pizzas. Mid-range payload capacities hover around four pounds—not nearly enough for two pizzas—even in perfectly calm skies. Two large pizzas weigh closer to six pounds.

Liability
One of the enormous business advantages of running a pizza franchise in the US is hiring cheap contract labor to do deliveries. Domino’s Pizza is not liable for the health insurance or incidental murder of a delivery person on the job. In practice, although franchise owners can be found liable for automotive damages caused by their drivers, insurance costs are most often punted to the drivers. If pizza companies used drones, they could be liable for damages caused by malfunctioning drones should they fall from the sky.

Airspace and security restrictions
While commercial drones are currently legal in Europe in specialized cases (for instance, for use in film production), a rationale will have to be developed to regulate their use if they proliferate. In the US, concerns about airspace security and privacy will keep the technology illegal until 2015, the deadline set by the US Federal Aviation Administration to outline legal parameters for their use.



Restaurant delivery from chains is one way to start this wave, but a site like this website doing this and bypassing the traditional wheels to concrete delivery service would be crazy .... that Biggie line about "UPS is hiring" would be passe ..... :wow:

 
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Coherent

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shyt, I'd love this right now. Amazon is sending all their packages through Fedex Ground where I work. Having them send the little packages this way would help a lot during peak season.
 

newworldafro

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them lawsuits though when one of these jokers crashes into somebody or something ... :ohlawd: ....... not wishing this to happen, but you know technology .. ..... :beli:
 

Vandelay

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So in decades the US Sky will be full of drones ? It will be far much easier to have surveillance drones this way and people will complain but they'll reply "you already have delivery drones, is it bad ?"
I'm not really feeling the future.


I feel you 100, but 3d printers and replicators will probably come down in price coupled with everything being digitized there might not be as much traffic as we imagine.
 
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