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Transportation AI Technology

Stanford Lab Envisions Delivery Drones that Save Energy by Taking the Bus 72

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Researchers from Stanford University have devised a way for hundreds of drones to use the bus or trams in an effort to redesign how packages are distributed in cities. Should such a solution ever scale, it could reduce delivery van congestion and energy usage while extending the distance a drone can travel to deliver a package. From a report: There's a reason most delivery drones we've seen thus far are dropping packages off in the suburbs. Urban centers can be dynamic environments, full of unexpected obstacles, and drones are still not permitted to fly freely through cities. But researchers say using public transportation can increase a drone's range up to 360% beyond travel with flight alone.

"Our approach strives to minimize the maximum time to complete any delivery," the team writes in a paper published this week at the online 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). "By combining the strengths of both, we can achieve significant commercial benefits and social impact." This approach, which involves the drones hitching a ride on the outside of buses and trams, could help overcome the limited travel capacity of drones today. The popular DJI Mavic 2, for example, is able to fly a maximum distance of 18 kilometers, or about 11 miles round trip.
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Stanford Lab Envisions Delivery Drones that Save Energy by Taking the Bus More

Stanford Lab Envisions Delivery Drones that Save Energy by Taking the Bus

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  • How many football fields?

  • So they need to linked to union jobs to ride that.

  • It will only get better (Score:3)

    by Tuidjy ( 321055 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:08PM (#60141312)

    Once Amazon takes over public transportation, buses will get special racks for drones to nest into, and maybe even get recharged in the process.

    Or, if the government wanted to truly shine, in the way governments are known not to, they could have public transportation accommodate Post Office drones.

    The sky is the limit, if you somehow can make everyone play well with each other. We need better humans.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cusco ( 717999 )

      Well, Amazon is working with NASA, the FAA and a French company to design an automated air traffic control system for drones.

      This wouldn't actually scale, though. There isn't enough room on top of a bus to accommodate that many drones.

    • Well, except the volume could be way bigger than the public transportation capacity. Sure they could use some of the unused capacity outside of peak hours, and it may make public transportation more profitable, but the volume needed could be hundred of times the capacity of the public transport system, meaning it will be more interesting to have a dedicated fleet of amazon delivery buses, a.k.a. trucks. Back to square one ?

  • Great idea! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:14PM (#60141324)

    Picture a large bus with a single driver in front (or make it autonomous.) The very bottom of the bus is loaded with batteries. Above that is a long drum filled with packages in a rotary feed system. Above that are landing pylons for drones.

    The bus drives to an area and parks somewhere. Drones take off and make last-mile deliveries. When they return, the next set of packages, divvied up by area, are fed to the drones from the drum, the bus moves somewhere else, parks, and makes more deliveries. En-route, the drones charge. If you were clever enough, you could have stations where the bus can park and charge during the day.

    To make it even more eco-fiendly, make the boxes re-usable, so the drone would drop off a box full of stuff, then pick up the used one form the last delivery and bring it back. The drums would be emptied anyways, might as well use the storage space for something.
    .

    • Picture a delivery drone that on its way stops at AMC Theater to watch another stupid politically biased n1gger movie to save said theater from closing down due to bankruptcy.

    • Re:Great idea! (Score:4, Insightful)

      by enigma32 ( 128601 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:51PM (#60141530)

      Yeah, it's a clever idea.

      But, consider: Do we really want noisy drones flying all around in cities?

      • Boxing (Score:3)

        by JBMcB ( 73720 )

        I'd rather have one or two swarms of drones fly around my neighborhood a couple times a day than have delivery trucks whipping up and down the block. It's also possible to make quieter drones by using more motors and propellers.

        • How often are delivery trucks "whipping up and down your block ?"

          • Post office at 9:30 AM, UPS at 1 PM, Fedex at 3PM. No one else delivers the six whole miles out of town.

          • Often (Score:2)

            by JBMcB ( 73720 )

            A lot more than you would think. UPS and FedEx at least two or three times a day, each. Amazon - probably four times a day. USPS at least twice a day. I only notice because I can see the street from my home office, and we don't get a lot of traffic otherwise.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by clive27 ( 889511 )
        I think some of the tech companies are developing winged drones. With some cheap parachutes, it may not be quite noisy. Buses could also employ a launching system if a winged drone lacks a vertical take-off feature.

      • But, consider: Do we really want noisy drones flying all around in cities?

        I dunno. Would we prefer trucks? Which is what we have now.

        Or maybe we can just require people to drive their cars to a central point to get packages - we can call it a "mall"....

      • I've thought about this too, and my highdea was to to make tall elevator-towers. You load up a drone with a package in the elevator, the elevator takes it to the top, the drone takes off high above ground level where you can't hear it. It can lower at the recipient's house so that only the recipient's area gets the noise, or it can land on another elevator-tower where it is quietly transported the last mile via quiet ground somehow.

    • Even more eco-friendly than flying drones would be autonomous bicycles, because an electric bicycle is a few orders of magnitude more energy-efficient per kilogram than a helicopter.

    • The bus drives to an area and parks somewhere. Drones take off and make last-mile deliveries. When they return ... the bus moves somewhere else, parks, and makes more deliveries

      Why park? The drones can take off and land while it's moving.

      • Liability (Score:4, Insightful)

        by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @04:28PM (#60142006)

        Imagine the bus hitting a pothole the second a drone is trying to land, sending it cartwheeling into the convertible driving along next to it. Besides the technical hurdles, for liability reasons alone, I don't think you want this thing driving on a crowded street while the drones whip in and out of it. I don't think an insurance company would touch that with a ten foot pole, at least until the system is *very* well proven.

        You can have the launch locations in open spaces, free of power lines, trees, street lights, traffic lights, etc...

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Add nests to bus stops for the drones to perch until a bus stops. In the bus add a notification that the driver needs to wait at this stop while drones move from the bus stop perch to the one on top of the bus and notify when ready.

        • well if the local govment runs that bus then some liability issues go away.

    • Or just build a warehouse/drone base near a bus depot or transfer station. With clever routing software you could load a pallet of boxes on top of the bus and have a few drones picking them off and delivering them as they went along the route.

  • Having just watched any episode of Black Mirror with an overzealous robotic guard dog, I am just getting weirded out by this.

    The really scary thing is that people will complain about foreigners taking the jobs, while letting the drones take over.

    • and then when the robo judge dredd cop comes out and kills someone we will see more riots

      • and then when the robo judge dredd cop comes out and kills someone we will see more riots

        "Robo Judge"? Shh! The GOP-lead Senate is trying to confirm (marginally qualified) judges hand-over-fist right now -- probably fearing they'll lose their majority in November -- so don't give Mitch McConnell any ideas. :-)

    • The really scary thing is that people will complain about foreigners taking the jobs, while letting the drones take over.

      Have you not been around when everyone complained about AI taking our jobs?

  • Apartments, stairs, doors, etc (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Way Smarter Than You ( 6157664 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:33PM (#60141414)
    What is a drone going to do when it has to go up the steps to my apartment, ring the bell, wait for someone to answer who then keys the elevator for visitors so it can drop off at my door? There's no front desk staff to hold packages.

    There are numerous city living situations that drones can't handle. Writing it off as "we just need to restructure packages, city busses, and people's homes everywhere and this will be great!" is a lot of "step 3.., profit!" completely ignoring step 2.....

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      I presume this works for you, but it surprises me. Given the general impatience I've observed of delivery companies that seems like huge amount of trouble to endure.

      Also, I just need to dress up like a UPS guy and ring the bell and get let in? It doesn't seem like there's much value from requiring a human to buzz in from a security standpoint...

    • That sounds problematic even without robots. Isn't there nobody home about 80% of the time somebody takes the time to go up the steps, ring the bell, and wait around to be buzzed in?

    • Not everything is for you. Other people exist.

      One possible solution, though, is to put top-loading lock boxes on the roof of your building.

    • Apartment buildings already are relatively efficient for delivery (high density of people means short distances between deliveries). Drones would be great for the inefficient routes, i.e. between widely spaced suburban homes. Such suburban neighborhoods often have widely spaced, infrequent, slow bus routes (used almost exclusively by poor service workers), which however would great fo staging drones.

  • an AWESOME proposal (Score:5, Funny)

    by Thud457 ( 234763 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:34PM (#60141424) Homepage Journal
    I know this sounds CRAZY, but hear me out.

    What about a network of autonomous TREBUCHETS that FLINGS packages from site to site, landing the packages in a net at the next site where the TREBUCHET picks up the package from and FLINGS it to the next step in it's journey?
    We can call it the TREBUCHET Package Flinging Protocol, or TPFP. The version with package tracking can be TPFPS.

    I think if you overcome your initial incredulity and really give this serious consideration, you would come to the conclusion that this would be AWESOME.

    • Re:an AWESOME proposal (Score:4, Funny)

      by bobstreo ( 1320787 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:41PM (#60141464)

      I know this sounds CRAZY, but hear me out.

      What about a network of autonomous TREBUCHETS that FLINGS packages from site to site, landing the packages in a net at the next site where the TREBUCHET picks up the package from and FLINGS it to the next step in it's journey?

      We can call it the TREBUCHET Package Flinging Protocol, or TPFP. The version with package tracking can be TPFPS.

      I think if you overcome your initial incredulity and really give this serious consideration, you would come to the conclusion that this would be AWESOME.

      I've already seen videos of delivery people utilizing this technique.

    • Sounds like the basis for an April 1 RFC!

    • Given how UPS treats my packages, I think this system is already in use. I think they call it Repeated Drop Test Delivery or RDTD.

    • It would obviously need some good routing in place since it's far more time consuming if you discover you need to re-route after packet^H^Hage loss, which is also a bit more serious, particularly for the people who happen to be below whenever one drops.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      That is old school. You really need to be using railgun.

    • Add parachutes to it for the last mile, rent out the surface on them as advertisement space, and you just might get the delivery cost in!

    • What about a network of autonomous TREBUCHETS that FLINGS packages from site to site

      A good idea, however it is vulnerable to an MITM attack...

      Mallard In The Middle.

    • It does sound crazy.

      What doesn't sound as crazy today is building a network of delivery tubes to every house and apartment in every city. Standardize packaging in the same way paper is in Europe and efficient, no-delay transport could be achieved.

      • What doesn't sound as crazy today is building a network of delivery tubes to every house and apartment in every city. Standardize packaging in the same way paper is in Europe and efficient, no-delay transport could be achieved.

        I hear they tried that in Manhattan, with pneumatic tubes in the steam tunnels. The post office shut them down as illegal skimming of urban mail delivery.

        • I hear [a private company] tried that in Manhattan, with pneumatic tubes in the steam tunnels. The post office shut them down as illegal skimming of urban mail delivery.

          Looking for references on that I found a Wikipedia article on the post office using one in NYC from 1857 to 1953 [wikipedia.org].

          It was eventually shut down due to it being more expensive to run than using vehicles. Costs apparently included right-of-way rent.

          • By its nature, pneumatic mail can only deliver very lightweight loads.

            • By its nature, pneumatic mail can only deliver very lightweight loads.

              Not really.

              From wikipedia on Pneumatic Tube:

              Very powerful systems can transport items with a weight of up to 50 kg (110 lb) and a diameter of up to 500 mm (20 in).[31] More than 100 lines and 1000 stations can be connected.

              With an inside diameter of 20" you're talking a piston area of at least 314 square inches. (More, because the piston is the OUTSIDE diameter.) Less than 3 psi can push that 110 pound load straight up against gravity

              • Why use a pneumatic tube, though? Wouldn't something like a levitating mini train be a better option?

              • Practical experience with municipal-scale pneumatic post to my knowledge goes to several kilograms, as long as the package squeezes into a tube. Perhaps you could have a specialized system with larger capacity, but even the operational costs of the smaller systems had already rendered them uneconomical. So for any system you'd have to very carefully consider the costs and benefits. Well, perhaps computerization and automation might lead to renaissance of such systems in the future.

  • Let the Drones Figure It Out Themselves (Score:3)

    by BeerFartMoron ( 624900 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @02:53PM (#60141540)
    Let the delivery drones figure out how to use buses, taxis, Uber, Lyft, or just plain-old hitchhike themselves. If AI can do that, we're finally on to something real.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by spitzak ( 4019 )

        The drone opeartors may very well have to pay a fee for the right to land on buses. Otherwise they could equally well land on anything, such as private cars and competitor's trucks, etc.

  • So, the process ozarks on buses...Lots of logistical and infrastructure things to overcome.. Will the drones damage the roofs of vehicles? Can they support the weight of multiple drones or drowns with heavy packages? How does it handle bridges with height limitations? How strong is the "attachment", can it handle high speeds? Crosswinds? Lots of unanswsered questions that make this much more complicated..

  • We wouldn't have to use drones (Score:4, Funny)

    by Joe2020 ( 6760092 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @03:02PM (#60141580)

    ... if we had child labour.

  • It's cool that even in times of crisis, science isn't standing still. It's a very convenient addition.

  • Good for something, then (Score:3)

    by magarity ( 164372 ) on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @03:51PM (#60141828)

    Finally, at least something will ride the busses that otherwise trundle around practically empty.

    • Finally, at least something will ride the busses that otherwise trundle around practically empty.

      Given coronavirus and its likely successors, and public awareness of the risks, mass transit looks doomed.

      Probably just as well. By the time you add in the government subsidies (on both sides) mass transit is more expensive per passenger-mile than a two-rider carpool and often doesn't beat single-occupancy autos. And that was with pre-electric-car numbers - no doubt they compare worse now. Add in the cost of

  • The new service HelpADrone app which allows drones to hop-on hop-off your vehicle after having read your destination and paying you a few cents for every occurrence.(sic)

  • I'm going to be the guy that walks around on top of busses and subway cars with a phone app that checks to see if the transport company that owns the drone has paid it's transit fees.

    Drone no ack my ping? Account overdue? I'm going to have a brand new poly composite bat with a contoured ergonomic neoprene grip to bring the offending drones into compliance with transit authority policies.

    TICKETS. NOW.

    I claim the title of chief drone smasher.

    It also needs to be able to shoot a net for the ones that try to fle

  • Thats brilliant, just land your drone on the roof of any car heading in the right direction, if they make a turn, hop onto another car.

  • You could enable delivery drones to cover very long distances. You'd do that by renting out space on the tops of semi truck trailers; the drones land on them, and perhaps attach themselves with magnets, or perhaps as part of the rental agreement, there's some sort of 'shelter' for them to land in that allows them to be secure. The trucks are following known routes, the drones have GPS anyway and know where they are; when they reach optimal distance to their delivery point, they launch, make their delivery,

    • Interesting idea. Air resistance increasing fuel consumption is a real issue here, but a "shelter" could help with that.

      • The 'shelter' for the landed ('resting'?) drones can be made aerodynamic. Rental fees for the landing space would more than make up for any extra money spent due to reduced fuel economy.

  • Cameras on the outside of the buses and trains, then bill the companies doing this.

    Enough of that, and the transit organizations can cut fares for the rest of us.

  • That's interesting stuff. http://essaypapers.reviews/ [essaypapers.reviews]

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