Beer Drone Delivery Service For South African Music Festival 61
garymortimer writes "OppiKoppi music festival in South Africa plans to deliver beer to campers via flying robot."
All I want to know is, when is beer via flying robot distribution coming to a grocery store near me.
Ah, of course... (Score:4, Funny)
Drones were the only vehicles they could find that wouldn't be carjacked by the time they reached their destination, no?
Re: (Score:2)
It's a joke, and possibly in poor taste, but it shouldn't be marked flamebait. Carjacking really is an everyday occurrence in South Africa. My friend's daughter always carries a .44 when driving to work in Cape Town, as she needs something big enough to pull when people point a gun at her. Note that it's "when", not "if" - it happens every few months. Between that and the taxi wars (drivers shooting at other taxis for working their turf), Cape Town can be a pretty scary place to drive. But people will
Re: (Score:3)
You've got the wrong city. The majority of Cape Town is safe. Johannesburg is dangerous.
Re: (Score:2)
It's all relative. Compared to my "home" in Australia, all of South Africa is dangerous, but compared to Afghanistan it's pretty safe. Joburg and Cape Town are pretty similar in the scale of things.
Re: (Score:3)
Something is dangerous compared to the land of Australia? Where every creature carries enough venom to kill at least 423 adult humans?
Man, that's dangerous.
Re: (Score:2)
And that is why Australia made such a good penal colony. :)
Re: (Score:2)
Both wrong. I live in Joburg, and don't carry a gun. There hasn't been a taxi war in years, and while violent crime does happen it isn't as common as people make out. Depending where you are of course, but a lot of Joburg is quite safe - and I do go to unsafe areas on occasion, but so far the worst I've witnessed is a smash and grab.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
A taxi here can also be a small minibus. The lack of proper public transport and the fact that the "taxis" were all privately owned and run led to an escalation of violence in competing for passengers to the point where gunfights occurred... Hasn't happened in a long time tough.
Redefining buzzed by a drone. (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
A brilliant idea like this comes along, our Repubmocrats want to enact drone bans here at home, and you want punchlines.
I'm sold. (Score:1)
I now no longer have any reservations about drones in the US. Privacy issues be damned!
Would you like your beer shaken or stirred? (Score:3)
Also, dropping a beer from that distance onto someone's head because the `shoot didn't deploy has got to be concern.
I think they would've been better to have the in a promotional beer cooler (stubby holder) on a string which they lowered to ground level (or reaching level for the recipient) then detached.
Re: (Score:1)
While I am a fan of the concept, it does look like that can will be undrinkable for some time on account of it being seriously shaken up.
Also, dropping a beer from that distance onto someone's head because the `shoot didn't deploy has got to be concern.
I think they would've been better to have the in a promotional beer cooler (stubby holder) on a string which they lowered to ground level (or reaching level for the recipient) then detached.
Wow...I bet you were a lot of fun as a kid weren't you? Or perhaps you're the guy that ruins movies for everyone else by saying "Now that impossible, he fired that gun way to many times before he had to reload it. And that guy that fell off the roof before? He wouldn't have broken his legs he would have to be dead from that height. Don't the people who make these pay attention to anything?"
"Hello. Im captain obvious and I am here to ruin your interesting ideas and destroy all of your fun with my powers of p
Re: (Score:1)
Watch how fast all those hippies that were "Peace and Love" one minute, lawyer-up and sue you for a million dollars the second one of them gets a scratch from a falling beer can.
Re: (Score:3)
I think they would've been better to have the in a promotional beer cooler (stubby holder) on a string which they lowered to ground level (or reaching level for the recipient) then detached.
Have you ever watched a drunk person try to detach something from a string?
Whilst insanely hilarious, it is not very efficient.
Having glanced at the article, my concern is what is the cost of delivering one can per drone trip? Also, how accurate is the drop, will your beer get caught in a crosswind and end up in the hands of the douchebag in tent #4?
Re: (Score:1)
While I am a fan of the concept, it does look like that can will be undrinkable for some time on account of it being seriously shaken up.
Where "some time" is 30-45 seconds. Try it some time -- shake the fuck out of a can of beer or soda. Let it set for a minute and then open it.
Re: (Score:2)
20 Seconds is usually plenty of time for soda. I used to enjoy freaking people out by shaking a soda can, doing some patter for 20 seconds and then opening it.
Re: (Score:2)
With all the video game aficionados available. I don't think it would be a problem for an appropriate drone copter to set a draught down on my table, or even in my back yard. Where is your imagination, man? Imagination is more important than knowledge - A. Einstein
Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. - B. Franklin
I never drink water, fish fuck in it. -W.C.Fields
BEEEER! -H. Simpson
drone or R/C? (Score:4, Insightful)
So are we calling everything that used to be called R/C aircraft, "Drones" now?
Re: (Score:2)
It's the same discussion between Robots and modern mechatronical Vehicles/Machines.
Grocery delivery (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps when impenetrable mobs are blocking all the roads between the store and your front porch. Until then, ... no. Even then, ... no.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps one day I will purchase goods from grocery over internet and have them delivered by a drone directly in my kitchen?
So far the luddites are winning this argument.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps one day I will purchase goods from grocery over internet and have them delivered by a drone directly in my kitchen?
A small battery powered quadrotor may be the solution for curb-to-house delivery. The last few meters between the self-driving delivery truck and the house or apartment are currently an obstacle for fully automated delivery. Autonomous robots capable of dealing with steps, gates, and junk on the lawn are still experimental and expensive. Quadrotors can glide over all that stuff. Modest quadrotors are now able to lift a load of about 2Kg, If that can be raised to 15Kg or so, that's enough for most grocery
under age drinking? (Score:2)
under age drinking? how will they be able to do a age check?
Re: (Score:3)
How stringent is underage drinking checking anyway in South Africa at big outdoor concerts? Perhaps the delivery zone is already restricted admittance for above drinking age only. The payment method (when you make orders by phone) may also allow some level of age verification.
Re:under age drinking? (Score:4, Interesting)
The adults are taller so they should be able to reach the beer first.
Great idea, but its likely to only stimulate the development of interceptor drones out to get one keg up on the other drones.
Re: (Score:1)
Great idea, but its likely to only stimulate the development of interceptor drones out to get one keg up on the other drones.
Why isn't this an annual robotics contest yet?
Re: (Score:2)
Great idea, but its likely to only stimulate the development of interceptor drones out to get one keg up on the other drones.
Why isn't this an annual robotics contest yet?
from TFA, it is. [hobbyking.com]
Re: (Score:2)
It's South Africa, they don't give a fuck.
But if they did decide to, I'm sure a trade school would come up with a better solution than a university.
Just call it (Score:2)
A buzz bomb.
Conspiracy? (Score:1)
That's just a government plot that will make us more tolerant to the idea of drones. First, drones serving beer. Then, drones serving bombs!
package interception? (Score:2)
Back In The Old Days, we'd have to wait outside for our pizza delivery. Otherwise one of our many fellow student neighbors would claim it as theirs just to get one *now* instead of calling themselves...
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly. Now they can just attach a brick to the can and it will go right through the roof into your living room. With precise enough GPS, there will be no need to even get up out of the sofa.
Stupid malfunctions (Score:2)
Mine brought me a light saber! *grumble* Where's my beer?!
Forget the flying car (Score:2)
Imagine what this tech will do for (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The whole process could be automated. Ordering, billing, pay through whatever and delivery.
The guy who order should send their GPS location. When the UAV delivery vehicle arrives,
the guy who ordered should flash some light to guide the arriving flight. Then the UAV would
home in and hover. The guy on the ground hold up his cell phone to display a QR code
to confirm his identity. The UAV will land and release the food after the QR code is validated.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The whole process could be automated. Ordering, billing, pay through whatever and delivery.
The guy who order should send their GPS location. When the UAV delivery vehicle arrives,
the guy who ordered should flash some light to guide the arriving flight. Then the UAV would
home in and hover. The guy on the ground hold up his cell phone to display a QR code
to confirm his identity. The UAV will land and release the food after the QR code is validated.
Yeah but it works a lot faster and more reliably if it's delivered by a punk on a gyro-stabilized skateboard.
Just have an Alien Prawn deliver it! (Score:2)
From the article "More updates to follow, but you will be able to order beers from your phone to the District 9 campsite in 2013."
Wait? The District 9 camp in Africa? Heck just have one of the alien prawns deliver it for you! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/ [imdb.com]
Medical stores?! (Score:1)
Once perfected , imagine being able to deliver emergency medicine to places not easily reachable by road.
beer vs xkcd (Score:3)
Which begs the question.... (Score:2)
If I'm at a South African music festival (Score:1)
Why not beer as a cloud service? (Score:1)