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Whatever Happened to Amazon's Drone Delivery Service? (yahoo.com) 71

Posted by EditorDavid from the droning-on dept.
The New York Times shows an enormous Amazon drone hovering over a driveway in the Texas suburbs. (Alternate URL here.) The drone lets go of a large brown package, which plummets to the ground.

But 10 years after Amazon revealed its drone program, drone delivery is only "kind of" a reality, the Times argues — in one city in Texas. "The venture as it currently exists is so underwhelming that Amazon can keep the drones in the air only by giving stuff away." Years of toil by top scientists and aviation specialists have yielded a program that flies Listerine Cool Mint Breath Strips or a can of Campbell's Chunky Minestrone With Italian Sausage — but not both at once — to customers as gifts....

Only one item can be delivered at a time. It can't weigh over five pounds. It can't be too big. It can't be something breakable, since the drone drops it from 12 feet. The drones can't fly when it is too hot or too windy or too rainy. You need to be home to put out the landing target and to make sure that a porch pirate doesn't make off with your item or that it doesn't roll into the street... But your car can't be in the driveway. Letting the drone land in the backyard would avoid some of these problems, but not if there are trees. Amazon has also warned customers that drone delivery is unavailable during periods of high demand for drone delivery...

A more complicated issue was getting the technology to the point where it was safe not just most of the time but all of the time. The first drone that lands on someone's head, or takes off clutching a cat, sets the program back another decade, particularly if it is filmed.
The drones also struggled with real-world issues like Texas heat waves. During one heat wave the drones were suspended. And when they flew again, "a 54-year-old professor of civil engineering at Texas A&M ordered a medication through the mail. By the time he retrieved the package, the drug had melted." One of Amazon's customers tells the Times that Amazon's drones "feel more like a toy than anything — a toy that wastes a huge amount of paper and cardboard."

Amazon claims that in the last 10 months their drones have delivered "hundreds" of items in Texas. Beyond that, Amazon recently announced that its drone deliveries would be expanding within the next 14 months, the Times points out — to Britain, Italy, and a new U.S. location. "Yet even on the threshold of growth, a question lingers. Now that the drones finally exist in at least limited form, why did we think we needed them in the first place?"
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Whatever Happened to Amazon's Drone Delivery Service? More

Whatever Happened to Amazon's Drone Delivery Service?

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  • Smartly.

  • What happened? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ls671 ( 1122017 ) on Saturday November 04, 2023 @04:58PM (#63980274) Homepage

    What happened? It doesn't take a big brain to figure out drone delivery for things like Amazon and pizzas is a silly idea. Maybe it could be used for a niche market like carrying organs for transplants from one hospital to another and even then.

    • Re:What happened? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Saturday November 04, 2023 @05:31PM (#63980344)

      >Maybe it could be used for a niche market like carrying organs for transplants from one hospital to another and even then.

      Such a program - for blood and medicine, not organs so far as I know - has been very successful in Rwanda. A company called 'Zipline' has a central base that launches a loaded fixed-wing drone less than two minutes after an order is received, and the drones are able to autonomously navigate to their destination and drop off a package. It's saving a lot of lives.

      It's a good idea for places where you're looking to deliver small packages moderate to long distances to a fairly large designated drop zone on short order. I'm not sure it's such a great idea within urban settings for things that aren't critically time-sensitive, especially when the delivery zone is typically very small and surrounded by buildings.

      Why would you pay for a drone to make a dedicated delivery run to you within an hour, when you can almost always wait until the next day and your package is one of a hundred or more sharing a truck for a lower per-package price?

      • Paying someone to deliver it on a bike, along the lines of Doordash / Deliveroo / Über Eats, probably takes about the same amount of time and is a lot cheaper.

      • Zipline has a suburban drone model.

        It's cheaper than delivery trucks and is faster, more energy efficient, reduces traffic, and prevents pollution.

        Mark Roper's video is excellent viewing.

  • Non-paywalled link (Score:5, Informative)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Saturday November 04, 2023 @05:01PM (#63980284)

    https://archive.ph/Ax5Qc [archive.ph]

    I must point out that, having watched the lede video, it looks exactly as if the drone is taking a dump on the driveway.

  • Only one item can be delivered at a time. It can't weigh over five pounds. It can't be too big. It can't be something breakable, since the drone drops it from 12 feet. The drones can't fly when it is too hot or too windy or too rainy. You need to be home to put out the landing target and to make sure that a porch pirate doesn't make off with your item or that it doesn't roll into the street... But your car can't be in the driveway. Letting the drone land in the backyard would avoid some of these problems, b

    • The big remaining issue is the drop.

      The problem it solves, which the reporter clearly missed, is called the last mile problem [wikipedia.org].

      Instead of a delivery driver stopping at every home or business on the route, the delivery driver follows a route with some slow moving areas. At each stop or slow moving area, the truck serves as a platform for drones to launch or land. Instead of a truck driver making 30 deliveries to a subdivision in an hour, they spend 5 minutes, and hit 10x the number of neighborhoods. Differe

      • Delusional. It would take longer to load up a drone and send it to down 4 houses than just to walk it to the porch. This is a classic situation of a solution in search of a problem.

      • That would require the mobile platform to be able to hangar ~10-15 drones, have an automatic loading system (as well as unloading for failed deliveries). The most optimistic scenario is likely more along the lines of a drone being able to complete a delivery for every delivery the driver does themselves; optimize the stops for things that are not droneable.

        Even that is likely to be insignificant on most routes. The driver is unlikely to save 10 stops on a 100-stop route. The driver will still be volume c

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ghoul ( 157158 )
          Fat people with heart conditions cant be Amazon delivery drivers as getting out of the truck into the heat every 5 minutes will literally kill them. However they can drive a drone truck and have the drones deliver the package to the backyard. never have to get out of AC.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

        How does the drone ring the doorbell? ~50% of people pay no attention to their phone notifications likely because they get too many of them.

  • Drones deliver medical supplies to hospitals in Rwanda. (just Google the previous sentence) That is the use case for drone delivery, high value, time sensitive products delivered by air where the road infrastructure is iffy at best. Amazon will already bring any small geegaw to me by the end of the day, the drone just isn't the best way to do it.

    • Amazon will already bring any small geegaw to me by the end of the day, the drone just isn't the best way to do it.

      Maybe the drone will be more efficient, eventually. Maybe not flying from the Amazon warehouse, but flying from the delivery truck, dropping off the package instead of the driver having to pull up, get out, and ring the doorbell. That is what innovation is all about: knowing when something doesn't work, but also not giving up on an idea entirely just because one particular mode of operation doesn't work.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        That's the idea behind their Scout wheeled robot. A truck would pull into the neighborhood, a fleet of Scouts would emerge, and the truck drives away to get another load of Scouts while they're doing their deliveries. The truck comes back to the assembly point and the Scouts roll back on to get reloaded. I have a lot more hope for that model.

    • I haven't heard the the word gewgaw since I last watched 'The Lavender Hill Mob' - thanks for the fond memory! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

  • Why aren't they using existing well developed technology, like a Trompe-l'il of a tank with a white Z on it?

  • But they delivered a ton of story points. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Njovich ( 553857 ) on Saturday November 04, 2023 @06:12PM (#63980410)

    What is the last thing project Amazon actually delivered on? Same with all the other corps. All the big tech companies have turned from delivering on products to delivering on metrics. If you are going to judge people on how many 'story points' they'll deliver, that's exactly what they will be delivering to you. Some useless metric that you will now have a lot of.

    Yes it just added one checkbox to some feature but gee golly it was a lot of story points and they hit the burndown chart just right.

    Plans for new development is made by people that know very little about development and have zero vision. Decisions on how employees perform are done in a way that makes innovation a terrible idea. It's the end of development.

  • Because it's a liability nightmare (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Saturday November 04, 2023 @06:33PM (#63980440)

    First, if that drone collides with ANYTHING, shit will hit the fan. That could be a building, that could be a powerline, even a damn bird is enough if that drone then happens to fall down onto a car, cause a crash and some injuries or deaths. That's a PR disaster waiting to happen. No insurance will touch that with a ten foot pole.

    Also, those drones would have one hell of a lot of deliveries just to justify their existence. Not only would they have to deliver it on time and in one piece (kinda dubious if they really plan to drop that package from 12+ feet, I mean, even UPS is more careful with the crap they deliver and just think how many packages they managed to trash for good before your kids had the chance), that package falling from the equivalent of the first floor also then has to stay where it's dropped and not bounce over into your rose garden or, worse, your neighbor's. Or just cause some other damage, or fall into the next puddle... anyone who ever had a paper delivered knows exactly what I'm talking about.

    But these drones also would have to stay in one piece and not get shot down by people who'd like to get a free package. Can you imagine some skeet shooting gun enthusiasts getting themselves some free loot? And no, a camera sure won't help a bit here, because of course people would first mask up, what do you think?

    And all that while delivery goons are cheap and plentiful?

    There simply is no sensible business case here.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      And no, a camera sure won't help a bit here, because of course people would first mask up, what do you think?

      How many of the dildos who invaded the capital building masked up? If ever there was a time for conservatives to wear masks, that was it.

      • The difference is that the bozos probably thought they got the "right" on their side and that they're acting for the good of the country. I could absolutely see them caught up so deeply in their own little fantasy world that they seriously thought that not only they would succeed but also that this is going to be seen as some kind of second revolution.

        When I shoot down a drone delivering goods, it's pretty obvious to about anyone that this may not exactly be within the confines of the law and certainly not

        • The difference is that the bozos probably thought they got the "right" on their side and that they're acting for the good of the country.

          OK yeah, but hear me out, these same people have been crying about the deep state and how allegedly good people working for their good of their country have been stymied by it. But then they didn't do anything to protect themselves from it if their coup should fail? What a massive disconnect. This is my surprised face and all that, but even though it's not surprising it is still staggeringly dumb.

          • They didn't possibly consider the possibility that their coup could fail. They did absolutely expect the secret service and military to join them.

            The "deep state" was supposed to be powerless when the military and secret services turned against its former masters after realizing this is the opportunity to break free.

            You have to understand that you're dealing with people here that are completely detached from reality. Their mind was literally caught up in their own world, they got high on their own supply an

    • You're funny, what happens when an Amazon delivery truck hits ANYTHING or ANYONE?

      • We call that a car accident and people are used to it. That won't even make a footnote in the local papers.

        A drone falling from above onto the sidewalk, well, in some areas, this is front page material. That could have hit YOU! Without warning! Falling right from the sky onto unsuspecting YOU!

        • you're funny, minor things with Amazon delivery trucks make local papers.

          "A 64-year-old cyclist crashed into the rear of an Amazon delivery van Wednesday afternoon on Sheridan Road, authorities said." -- August 23, 2032 Winnetka-Glencoe IL

          You have higher probability of a bird shitting on you in a ten year period than getting hit with a drone. More likely dropping a pizza on me and I hope it's italian sausage, or a burrito would be good too....hope I'm wearing casual clothes so I can chow down and wash of

          • oop mistyped year, it's 2023, happened 3 miles of where I live couple months ago. Other bigger accidents with Amazon trucks too within 5 miles but that's the most minor chickenshit one I could find that made the papers.

          • With the difference that a bird shitting on me is a matter for the dry cleaners while a drone falling on me is a matter for the coroner.

            • Try a small plane instead, four of those crash every day in USA. We won't even talk about cars or the hundreds of bicycle deaths a year.

          • Likewise if you are young and healthy statistically you are more likely to get struck by lightning than die of Covid. Yet every day when I go to the city I see dozens still masking up. People are not good at assigning risk.

    • Delivery drone is the correct idea, but their implementation is wrong. Zipline keeps their drone a few hundred feet high and reels down the package on a tether line in a special secondary module (that has a propeller to counteract winds) and then releases the package. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      • Walmart has the same technology: https://www.youtube.com/shorts... [youtube.com]

        • What I hate about these shorts is that you can't fast forward through the parts that convey no information but only should get you "excited". Sorry, not gonna watch.

      • Same problem. Actually, a few more problems. First, that drone has to be bigger for the additional weight of that delivery module. Meaning that the weight of what you can deliver goes down. A drone can by definition also only deliver one package. Now, I don't know about you, but looking at the drone, the packages I get are either too bulky for this thing or too tiny, which means that they'd send out that drone with the equivalent of a stuffed letter envelope. And it also has the same problem any drone deliv

    • The liability issue has been my argument against drone delivery since the beginning of the concept. Imagine a pigeon strike over a crowded street dropping a 40 Lb drone + package in a 100 foot freefall. It will kill someone. Kill someone rich and powerful, and it's game over for the drone company. Secondly, I foresee an army of porch pirates following drones just waiting for free goodies to rain from sky. - or, their own drones with grabbers picking up dropped packages.
      Given the existing infrastructu

  • dropping the package? (Score:3)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Saturday November 04, 2023 @06:48PM (#63980460)

    Err .. they are supposed to reel the package down on a tether .. it is extremely noisy for a drone to be at ground level .. not to mention it wastes energy to climb back up to altitutde. The way to do it is to reel the package fown from a couple hundred feet like what zipline does. Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • Laws of physics are setting in. Batteries simply are not to the point where this type of delivery is going to be economically viable until at least the next generation of batteries. Problem is magnified by the complexity of these systems, we are far from drones being reliable to the point where they won't need constant expensive human maintenance.

    Until then these services are just stock pump schemes.

  • Drones upset territorial Endangered Birds /Raptors (Score:3)

    by Canberra1 ( 3475749 ) on Saturday November 04, 2023 @07:46PM (#63980536)
    In Australia birds saw drones crossing their 'territory' as threats and abandoned nests/hatchlings. Hawks and Falcons and Eagles also attacked such drones on occasions. Ravens and Crow's also got stuck into these intruders, mobbing. Not sure how you can teach the birds that these winged monsters are not eating/competing for their food sources, or may rob their nests. At least the Australian Magpie wont eat any cheese other than Mozzarella, and some learn when to attack drones stealing preferred food. Not sure if any owls are also operating.

    • Yeah I noticed a sulphur-crested cockatoo screeching away this morning atop a light pole. Lovely birds but they make a hell of a squawk!

      A guy was presumably filming a nearby lake with a drone at 15m elevation hovering some 50m away from the bird who even at that distance saw it as a UFO predator.

      • Cockatoo's have very strong beaks. They also like damaging rubber fittings . Maybe some can be trained to rip off the antenna or hit the emergency off button.

  • I'm sure there is a way to make aerial drones useful for a company like Amazon, but they have yet shown a business case for doing it in the very long time they have been talking about it,

    It seems like a much easier task to make terrestrial delivery drones work well, although for what they pay their drivers today I doubt it would ever be cheaper.

  • Nothing. It's stupid and impractical and nobody wants it. They'll burn millions of dollars making stupid proprietary shitty drones and then fire everybody and liquidate for fractions of a penny on the dollar later.

  • So tens of deliveries in one month. I'll bet the suburban block I live on gets tens of deliveries a week.

    So, drones doing almost zero deliveries.

  • " The first drone that lands on someone's head, or takes off clutching a cat, sets the program back another decade, particularly if it is filmed."
    I really want to see this cat film.

  • I still get a drone delivered each time I order one.

  • It's an idea that somebody who has no concept of real world conditions would come up with.

    It's an idea that somebody who has no concept of aero regulatory restrictions would come up with.

    It's an idea that somebody who has no concept of HUMAN BEHAVIOR would come up with.

    Unbelievable it got this far.

  • Drones can't fly near airports, or military bases, or near government buildings...
        they can't deliver if the parcel it too heavy, or it's too far, or there is nowhere to land, or drop the parcel a short distance ...

    With so many restrictions, and nobody really caring if the majority of parcels get there quickly, it's rather a niche service ...

  • I know the tail end of the summary said need but we often conflate the two. The desire is pretty simple. We are happy to order something off Amazon and wait a day or two and get the product. Imagine if you could order it off Amazon and get it much faster than if you drove across town and back to pick it up? Powering a large piece of machinery (car) to haul a person plus the cargo is seemingly less efficient than a lightweight drone. Probably see some carbon/greenhouse gas reductions as well.

    Yes, the tech

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