Watch Out, Amazon: DHL Tests Drug-Delivery Drone 134
Nerval's Lobster writes "Amazon is apparently not alone in its desire to use miniature drones to deliver packages. On the morning of Monday, Dec. 9, employees at the Bonn, Germany headquarters of package-delivery giant DHL challenged Amazon's plan for dominance of the skies by having medicine delivered from a local pharmacy via a mustard-yellow package-carrying helicopter the Germans dubbed 'Paketkopter.' The quad-rotored mini-drone flew a box of medicines from a launching point near the pharmacy, above traffic and across the Rhine River to DHL's headquarters just over a kilometer away. It made the flight in about two minutes, was unloaded quickly and returned to the launch team near the pharmacy. Amazon has owned total mindshare of the still-imaginary drone-based package delivery market since CEO Jeff Bezos gushed about his plans for Amazon PrimeAir during a TV interview last week. The plan generated immediate controversy due to the negative image of drones following heavy use for surveillance and targeted anti-personnel strikes by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq. Within the United States, the FAA, FTC and a host of consumer-protection groups objected to the possibility that thousands of autonomous drones would be hovering over U.S. cities, potentially invading the privacy and endangering the lives of those who might run afoul of either cameras or rotors."
Laugh =) (Score:5, Funny)
I have a drone that I am marketing, it specializes in robbing delivery drones.
Re:Laugh =) (Score:5, Informative)
You may be joking, but Samy [samy.pl] isn't:
Today Amazon announced they're planning to use unmanned drones to deliver some packages to customers within five years. Cool! How fun would it be to take over drones, carrying Amazon packagesor take over any other drones, and make them my little zombie drones. Awesome.
Using a Parrot AR.Drone 2, a Raspberry Pi, a USB battery, an Alfa AWUS036H wireless transmitter, aircrack-ng, node-ar-drone, node.js, and my SkyJack software, I developed a drone that flies around, seeks the wireless signal of any other drone in the area, forcefully disconnects the wireless connection of the true owner of the target drone, then authenticates with the target drone pretending to be its owner, then feeds commands to it and all other possessed zombie drones at my will.
SkyJack also works when grounded as well, no drone is necessary on your end for it to work. You can simply run it from your own Linux machine/Raspberry Pi/laptop/etc and jack drones straight out of the sky.
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The drones doing the work.... *duh*
Have the legal questions been tested? (Score:2)
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If a cargo plane crashes on your property, does its cargo become your property? No? Then why would you think a drone's payload might?
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If a ship sinks on my property, then what?
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If a ship sinks on my property, then what?
The cargo belongs to Spain.
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It was piloted by an Italian captain on cocaine.
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He only crashed because he was distracted by a hooker.
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if a package fails and damages my property, (Score:2)
I can sell it / keep it to pay for the costs of fixing the damage.
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That's it then. Time to market an upward-facing flak cannon, with radar, that disables drones when they fly over my property. Launches a thin filament and yanks the thing down.
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"War fishing".
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As the drone is an aircraft engaged in commerce then this applies:
18 USC 32 - Destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities
a) Whoever willfully—
(1) sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce;
(8) attempts or conspires to do anything prohibited under paragraphs (1) through (7) of this subsection;
shall be fined under this tit
Re: Why would that matter? (Score:2)
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That's a good idea (Score:1)
I can't wait until junkies start shooting them down to get at the sweet, sweet Oxycontin inside
Amazon was a hoax (Score:1)
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No competition from Amazon. Have we already forgotten it was a hoax?
Your link doesn't even prove that it was a publicity stunt, and here's why: its conclusions are based on false premises and it's full of fud. It's also clear why you didn't bother to link to the full article [theguardian.com]; it doesn't say what you want it to say either.
First FUD: "The practical issues are manifold". Yes, welcome to the real world. FUD, not a specific objection. The specific objections are then made, and they are stupid. "[...]how does it [the drone] then find the package's intended recipient?" Probably it
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According to the Guardian article you linked, and that I have up there, it was a publicity stunt. You went to an awful lot of trouble to form such a long impassioned rebuttal over such a simple thing that I find it almost disturbing. Amazon is speeding up their service by building micro-warehouses all over the nation in an attempt to facilitate overnight service to all. This we know is a fact. But if you really belie
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According to the Guardian article you linked, and that I have up there, it was a publicity stunt.
False. According to that article, it is probably a publicity stunt, and some people have said that they think so, but there is no actual proof. They in fact do not unequivocally state that it is such in the article (though quoted sources say that they are sure that it is such) which I presume is why you didn't copy and paste anything where that actually happens, instead choosing to employ prevarication by calling attention to Amazon's odious business practices. I agree that they are odious, but that does no
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But if you really believe their is a chance that drones are going to be dropping packages off at you doorstep in under 10 - 15 years, you neither understand the logistics and you are both delusional and naive.
Interestingly, I think the DHL demo illustrates how it would actually work: picking up packages and taking them to the local collection and distribution points. You'd have to register as a verified pick-up point first, and then just schedule your pick-ups, and the nearest unladen drone in your priority queue swings by to pick up the merchandise for shipping.
Of course, one neat thing that COULD be done (but doesn't really fit the current model) is doing pick up AND delivery -- and patch the shipper through
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You can already get tacos from an octorotor [tacocopter.com], so what makes you think this model won't be scalable to delivering other goods in a decade and a half?
Sigh. You're attempting to disprove one hoax with another? Why You Can't Have A Tacocopter Drone Deliver You A Taco For Lunch Today [techdirt.com].
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Amazon is not into building micro-warehouses, it is shifting into the consumable market, groceries. Amazon is not an on-line sales company, Amazon is a logistics company. On-line sales is the foot into the door for it's logistics services.
Amazon next big steps will be in the area of the farm to the kitchen. There is some real scope in there, especially if you start looking at areas of the market like no specialised dairy products, frozen vegetables and frozen meats. There is a real opportunity to Amazon
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But if you really believe their is a chance that drones are going to be dropping packages off at you doorstep in under 10 - 15 years, you neither understand the logistics and you are both delusional and naive. Set down the Adderal and the Code Red. Maybe light some incense and listen to some Tibetan singing bowls or something.
Speaking of Tibetan singing bowls and doorsteps if your doorstep is in the USA maybe not. But if Tibet is near your doorstep maybe...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57601531-76/drones-in-china-deliver-packages-even-a-birthday-cake/ [cnet.com]
http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/02/amazon-is-joining-not-starting-the-drone-delivery-revolution/ [techcrunch.com]
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/tech/2013-09/03/content_16941199.htm [chinadaily.com.cn]
Not saying it's a good idea. Just pointing out that drones may be dropping packages off sooner than you think,
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V22 Tiltrotor drones with shrouded rotors would have better range, payload, and safety. You could still have several rotors mounted on multiple tilting wings. Wings provide lift much more efficiently than rotors do. Shrouded rotors could perhaps be made practically silent to those on the ground.
If a few motors failed, a tiltrotor could very likely fly back home to a runway on as few as one or two rotors. If it can't fly back home, the wings would often allow it to glide to a gentle landing instead of just f
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The range issue can be solved by using drones only for the last mile. Take a truck full of packages and some drones, park it in the middle of a delivery area and let the drones drop off all packages in that area.
Sure, that's what I was talking about when the story came up the first time. At least, I think it was the first time, you never really know around here. However, that's not really necessary, at least not in the first generation. Amazon can cover a significant percentage of the customers who would use a service like this simply by placing centers intelligently. Safeway still offers grocery delivery in counties where they only cover a tiny postage stamp of the total area if it will be profitable given the loc
Probably mostly uneconomic... (Score:3)
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"like live organs or components of the Technetium99 supply chain"
Oh heavens, just think of all the conspiracy theories about that one.
"It was bad enough when it was just chem trails from jets. Now they're doing close air support with HIV infected livers and radioactives!"
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Radioactive drones --- brilliant sales pitch
Oh, I wouldn't even try to sell the public on that one. On the plus side, Technetium is a pain in the ass to distribute precisely because it decays so fast, so you could choose far worse payloads.
Natural thing for postal carriers (Score:3)
Though Amazon may benefit from its own fleet, the first users of this method ought to be postal carriers — such as, indeed, the DHL.
While the unionized UPS and USPS may have to contend with the "replacing people with robots" nonsense first, freer companies like FedEx may complement (if not outright replace) their local delivery trucks with drones some day (hopefully — soon). Instead of "On truck for delivery" the parcel-tracking page would say "In flight to destination, ETA 3 minutes" or some such.
I'll be happy to install a homing mat in my backyard... It will reduce traffic and pollution, quicken the delivery, and reduce theft of the items left on the easily-accessed porches (rather than the harder to access backyards).
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They'll have to find a way to smash up my package and dump it in my driveway without knocking on my door first if they're going to compete with FedEx.
Oh wait...
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Everything is unionized in Germany, so the unions wield nowhere near as much power over there as here.
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It sure seems like you found — on your own — the facts, that contradict your theory. Maybe, "the world" is alright, but your theory is "strange" (or, to put it less politely, incorrect)?
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Why do You think it will speed up delivery? Goods will still be moved between cities with trucks and it will not change in foreseeable future. True, drone may move more quickly than a car but do You think DHL will buy so many drones that they'll deliver all goods in 2-3 hours? Or maybe they'll use as little drones as possible to deliver goods in one day? Do they hire so many people to deliver packages in first 2-3 hours of a day now? No? Then why would they do it with drones?
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My parcels tend to arrive very late in the day — I stare at the "On truck for delivery" status on the tracking page all day perhaps, because we live at the ending portion of the delivery trucks' routes. With drones the item should make it here hours earlier, because each round trip for a flying drone would be well under an hour — and they'd be able to buy a lot of the little drones with the money saved on trucks.
reduce pollution? HAH! (Score:2)
Assuming 3kg/package, and average truck net weight of 20,000kg (I work in shipping), that'd be 6,700 quadcopters per truck.
Its misses the point entirely though. The use of trucks is fuel economy, ease of transportation, and economies of scale. Aerial delivery will always be a niche product because its so inefficient.
Here's what I mean: http://www.nrdc.org/international/cleanbydesign/images/cbdtranspo_fig1.png [nrdc.org]
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I'm pretty sure, that chart refers to traditional fuel-powered aircraft — one with provisions for a human crew (and its safety with all the redundancies), etc. The drones discussed will be very light and, possibly, electrical (their fuel cells recharged off of cleaner and more efficient power plants). They would still pollute more per mile, but, traveling by straight line, they'll travel many fewer miles. T
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I just had a crazy idea. Imagine a delivery truck driving down a major highway (or side road as they would probably have to be going slowly) while drones flock back and forth from the truck, picking up packages and delivering them to nearby houses. You could cover several parallel streets at once.
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The first thing I imagined was a Beowulf cluster... But, yeah, a drone-carrier of sorts does seem interesting. A separate person may need to work in the truck to load the drones returning for more.
I doubt, it will catch-on though — to fully develop such a hybrid concept will take about as long as to develop drones capable of covering the same area from the existing distribution centers.
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I just can't imagine a lightweight electrical drone having a delivery radius of more than 2-3 miles. A moving base station would make these drones much more more efficient.
Stunt. Pure and simple. (Score:2)
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Multirotors fly excellent in very high winds. I regularly fly in 25 MPH with gusts over 35 MPH and have no problem with even higher winds. The most I have flown in was right before a hurricane hit and winds were sustained 40+. No issues really. The computer compensates for the wind, it's not hard to fly.
The Amazon idea was a hoax and stupid (with current technology) but this system DHL was testing is actually not a bad idea. Most of the flight is not over people/cars/etc and they use it to make the trip acr
Pot delivery drone (Score:2)
what could possibly go wrong (Score:2)
people are stupid and will do stupid things to these copters. just wait and some idiot will tape a nice return present from their dog onto one.
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It turns out shooting at someone's drone with a shotgun is about as illegal, and for the same reasons, as whacking her car with a baseball bat.
People will do it, and other people will catch them and throw them in jail, and life will go on.
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It's all fine until a needle falling from the sky pokes Jimmy's eye out or injects him with psychotropic medications.
"Mommy! I found a box full of candy that fell from the sky!"
Amateurs (Score:1)
I'm working on a package delivery system using a massive trebuchet on a rotating base, controlled by computers. Load the package, aim, and launch. As they approach the ground, their parachute deploys, allowing for a comfortable descent to the ground.
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And drones might fly out of my butt! (Score:2)
Most prisons (Score:2)
Drones will be hijacked. (Score:1)
This will never work.
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Delivery Trucks (Score:3)
How many people are killed, and how much property destroyed, every year by delivery trucks? I will happily trade a few dozen dead Fifi's to take several thousand delivery trucks off the road. Luddites never learn.
There are completely valid reasons to fear and distrust the mass use of drones by governments, and their power to suppress speech and curtail freedom. But this particular use of technology is exactly the kind of progress that saves time, money, lives, and the environment. Last-mile delivery by drone faces many hurdles, both legislative and technical, but it's a very smart goal to work towards that benefits everyone.
I tried to find some statistics, and the best I could come up with were these two links on an 'Truck Accident Attorney' website; I don't know how accurate they are. But delivery vehicles for FedEx and UPS killed 50 people in about two years, with another ~2000 non-fatal accidents. I will guarantee that the drones will have better statistics than that.
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Reference: http://www.thetruckingattorneys.com/carriers/ups/ [thetruckingattorneys.com] and http://www.thetruckingattorneys.com/carriers/fedex/ [thetruckingattorneys.com]
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A quad/hex/octocopter capable of carrying 3kg is capable of killing someone with its rotors.
You also can't really fly one across the country. So it won't replace trucks.
The only thing these would probably replace are cycle couriers in dense cities.
How many accidents do you think there would be if the sky was full of these things flying over busy cities, trying to avoid buildings, birds, power lines, lamp posts and other drones? I don't want to be under one one falling out of the sky with its spinning blades
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Imagine 2 ton steel vehicles hurtling through cities mere inches from unprotected human beings.
It's far too dangerous to imagine. It could never happen.
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How many accidents do you think there would be if the sky was full of these things flying over busy cities, trying to avoid buildings, birds, power lines, lamp posts and other drones?
Pretty trivial to geofence an already GPS automated device. As for birds, the drones are slow enough for them to deal with appropriately by themselves.
I don't want to be under one one falling out of the sky with its spinning blades going at 20,000rpm.
I don't want to be under an 8 tonne truck when it's brakes fail either.
A quadcopter with a single engine failure/broken prop falls from the sky. You need 5 or more rotors to survive a single failure.
So use a hexacopter. None of the problems you raise are unsolvable.
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Well, the delivery here was medicine. Medicine is usually delivered in small quantities. I don't think anyone consumes 150+ lbs of medicine. Moreover, medicine can be time-critical to deliver. And even if not, you usually need it when you're ill, which is the time when you don't want to leave home if not absolutely necessary. So it's a perfect fit for this delivery method.
Pffft, this will never take off.. (Score:2)
Pffft, this will never take off..
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PrimeDirt (Score:2)
"Drug delivery"? (Score:3)
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I for one welcome our skeet-shooting overlords (Score:1)
Pull!
(drone falls to ground)
Hmm, another package of free drugs flying over my airspace.
me too (Score:2)
Hmm... (Score:1)
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Wouldn't that be dropping medicine attached to tiny parachutes?
Packet Copter? (Score:2)
Is this the next advancement of IPoAC?
Replace the pigeons with quad copters?
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Too late DHL! Amazon already has the patent! (Score:2)
"A Method and Process for Using Things to Deliver Stuff Through the Air in the Skies."
This makes sense (Score:2)
This is a reasonable idea. The items to be delivered are small and light, and pharmacies tend to have a customer base within a few miles. Many pharmacies already deliver. This would be cheaper and faster than sending out people in cars and trucks to carry tiny packages.
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Drugs??? (Score:2)
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This videoclip has been around since a few months.
new market (Score:1)
drugs (Score:2)
I expect remote controlled drones are already in use for illegal drugs.
Qualified operators, legal liability, battery life (Score:1)
This whole drone delivery thing is a publicity stunt.
First off it takes a skilled operator to fly a drone. A friend of mine has learned to fly a 1/20th scale helicopter. He does it well. But he has spent a lot of time learning and he still has mishaps. With drones your delivery driver has to be a reasonably competent pilot. And don't tell me "computer control". It will be a long time before we see self flying drones.
Second, as pointed out, a drone out of control can kill. With a truck out of control
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When people talk about drones they're talking about quadcopters not helicopters. There's a world of difference in piloting those two and quadcopters with auto-leveling are much easier to pilot too.
Please (Score:2)
For crying out loud, add protection rings/spheres/cages around those propellers!
Motivation (Score:2)
...drug deliveries by drone.
Can't imagine that would motivate anyone to start shooting down drones just to see what they're carrying.
What would it take to shoot down one of these things? Would a 1000 fps air rifle be enough?
And no, I'm not suggesting it.
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A drone internet?