Why Bhutan Might Get Drone Delivery Copters Before Seattle Does 102
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.
Great for dealing drugs (Score:0, Interesting)
Re:all this to attract investors with no experienc (Score:3, Interesting)
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
Re:The weather is brutal (Score:3, Interesting)
Multirotors are computer controlled, they work very well in bad weather. I have flown my quad in multiple hurricanes without issue. OK, maybe not hurricane force winds, only about 50 MPH but with upgraded motors hurricane force winds would be no problem. The computer does all the work, it's easy to fly.
Interesting experiment (Score:3, Interesting)
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.