The concept is great, but it is so ripe for abuse.
Too bad they didn't do the same thing with the automobile. Just think of all of the ways someone could actirresponsibly or, ever worse, commit a crime and then be miles away in minutes.
Yep, too many problems, and people are way, way too stupid to come up with solutions. Best to ban them altogether.
Remember this is just for commercial drones.
This is much better than what they have done up to now.
You needed a private pilot's license including the physical to get the certificate... now you just need the written exam every 24 months.
Sounds like the FAA are slowly getting their act together here.
Define commercial drone.
Is this so I can legally accept money to video something from the air?
Anyone can fly a DJI Phantom and shoot video for personal use. But the moment you get paid for a real estate video... it's illegal.
I'll take the FAA test, stay within eyesight, and obey the 500 foot rule... I just want legally use quadcopter footage for videography.
1. Drones can only lift both small and light objects
2. Birds are highly territorial and attack drones
3. The range is nearly halved by the need for the drone to return home
4. Wind/Rain/Snow: No drones.
And finally, the most important aspect: Drones carrying goods will be perceived as high tech piñatas.
Amazon obviously think otherwise:
Quote:
"We can do half-hour delivery... and we can carry objects, we think, up to five pounds (2.3 kilograms), which covers 86 per cent of the items that we deliver."
The mini-drones are powered by electric motors and could cover areas within a 10-mile (16-kilometre) radius of fulfilment centres, thus covering a significant portion of the population in urban areas.
Good luck to the birds and how high can you jump?
Seriously, the Chinese are already trialling a similar system.
Google are trialing automated drone delivery in Queensland and have delivered packages to farmers in tests.
Even DHL are having a go:
Quote:
Logistics firm DHL has been given the go-ahead to use a drone to fly parcels to the German island of Juist - the first time an unmanned aircraft has been allowed to deliver goods in Europe.
The company, owned by Germany's Deutsche Post, joined the likes of Amazon and Google in testing the potential for drones to deliver parcels and packages.
The "parcelcopter", weighing abut 5 kilograms, could fly up to 65 kilometres per hour and carry loads of up to 1.2 kg.
The drone was expected to take 15 to 30 minutes to fly to the car-free island 12 km off the north coast of Germany, which is home to about 1,700 people.
Seems a lot of fairly large companies don't share your views.
Another example of the amazing insight of Amazon's leadership.
Come on people this is the USA ... Enough $s and a bunch of politicians would rush through and exception bill for Amazon ...
I can see it now, having to phone our guard gate to tell them an orange drone is coming to our house today at 4 p.m., don't shoot it down. Well this is Florida!
Amazon using drones is nothing more than PR.
1. Drones can only lift both small and light objects
2. Birds are highly territorial and attack drones
3. The range is nearly halved by the need for the drone to return home
4. Wind/Rain/Snow: No drones.
And finally, the most important aspect: Drones carrying goods will be perceived as high tech piñatas.
I had not thought about birds. Where I live there are regularly a whole bunch of massive birds overhead, from pelicans, storks, eagles and of course vultures circling over road kill, old people and joggers etc. I can imagine this could get quite entertaining assuming it wasn't my delivery.
Amazon will probably use disposable drones to save the return requirement. It's not like they want to make a profit or anything. You return it for a 20 cents refund in CA, MA, NH and VT or it self destructs in 60 seconds.
Too bad they didn't do the same thing with the automobile. Just think of all of the ways someone could actirresponsibly or, ever worse, commit a crime and then be miles away in minutes.
Yep, too many problems, and people are way, way too stupid to come up with solutions. Best to ban them altogether.
*yawn*
Cars drive on roads, in two dimensions which are highly restricted and capable of limited travel. Someone wants to stalk me in a car, go ahead and try. Cars have license plates, models are easily identifiable, and in many cases the driver can be identified since they have to actually be IN the vehicle to operate it.
Quadcopters work in three-dimensions and can enter one's private property in ways a car cannot. There are no identifiable features of a quadcopter that can immediately identify its owner.
So your "car" analogy is just plane lame. Nice try though.
I think the proposed rules are at least sane, however I'll take a few points that I think might be designed to kill Amazon's idea: [QUOTE]The FAA's proposed regulation would also restrict drone flight to the daytime, and vehicles may not weigh more than 55 pounds or fly more than 100 miles per hour. The maximum altitude of an in-flight drone would be 500 feet above ground level, and using first-person live camera views, like those that connect to Apple's iPhone, does not satisfy the line of sight requirement.[/QUOTE]
The maximum height is clearly to prevent interaction with airplanes. The line of sight requirement however completely kills it ever being used to deliver anything.
Mainly the 500ft limit would nix it ever being usable in any major city since it would have to follow vehicle roads... which you may as well just drive a car then.
Where drone package delivery has the most practical use is residential towers (eg delivery to the window/deck) , and those in remote areas (eg the islands along Alaska, BC and Washington) that fedex/ups doesn't deliver to anyway.
And you know where there is a real practical purpose? Go look at the blizzards in the east part of the North America right now... deliver emergency supplies to people without a car.
Ultimately having it replace conventional UPS/Fedex/USPS/DHL is unlikely. It can however solve some of the "last-mile" aspects. Think about how often you miss your delivery window. Well now you could just call/email the depot and have the drone go fly it back that day.
Comments
And, not to be a Luddite here, but...
Ah, the infamous "but" clause...
The concept is great, but it is so ripe for abuse.
Too bad they didn't do the same thing with the automobile. Just think of all of the ways someone could act irresponsibly or, ever worse, commit a crime and then be miles away in minutes.
Yep, too many problems, and people are way, way too stupid to come up with solutions. Best to ban them altogether.
Define commercial drone.
Is this so I can legally accept money to video something from the air?
Anyone can fly a DJI Phantom and shoot video for personal use. But the moment you get paid for a real estate video... it's illegal.
I'll take the FAA test, stay within eyesight, and obey the 500 foot rule... I just want legally use quadcopter footage for videography.
Amazon using drones is nothing more than PR.
1. Drones can only lift both small and light objects
2. Birds are highly territorial and attack drones
3. The range is nearly halved by the need for the drone to return home
4. Wind/Rain/Snow: No drones.
And finally, the most important aspect: Drones carrying goods will be perceived as high tech piñatas.
Amazon obviously think otherwise:
"We can do half-hour delivery... and we can carry objects, we think, up to five pounds (2.3 kilograms), which covers 86 per cent of the items that we deliver."
The mini-drones are powered by electric motors and could cover areas within a 10-mile (16-kilometre) radius of fulfilment centres, thus covering a significant portion of the population in urban areas.
Good luck to the birds and how high can you jump?
Seriously, the Chinese are already trialling a similar system.
Google are trialing automated drone delivery in Queensland and have delivered packages to farmers in tests.
Even DHL are having a go:
Logistics firm DHL has been given the go-ahead to use a drone to fly parcels to the German island of Juist - the first time an unmanned aircraft has been allowed to deliver goods in Europe.
The company, owned by Germany's Deutsche Post, joined the likes of Amazon and Google in testing the potential for drones to deliver parcels and packages.
The "parcelcopter", weighing abut 5 kilograms, could fly up to 65 kilometres per hour and carry loads of up to 1.2 kg.
The drone was expected to take 15 to 30 minutes to fly to the car-free island 12 km off the north coast of Germany, which is home to about 1,700 people.
Seems a lot of fairly large companies don't share your views.
Define commercial drone.
Is this so I can legally accept money to video something from the air?
Anyone can fly a DJI Phantom and shoot video for personal use. But the moment you get paid for a real estate video... it's illegal.
I'll take the FAA test, stay within eyesight, and obey the 500 foot rule... I just want legally use quadcopter footage for videography.
Yep, you are fine and dandy if you do it for "fun", but the moment you make money off of it, you are illegal. Go figure.
Come on people this is the USA ... Enough $s and a bunch of politicians would rush through and exception bill for Amazon ...
I can see it now, having to phone our guard gate to tell them an orange drone is coming to our house today at 4 p.m., don't shoot it down. Well this is Florida!
Kind of like sex.
Not in all jurisdictions. It's even legal here in America, just not in a lot of places...
Note that prostitution is legal in entire countries in some places in this world.
I had not thought about birds. Where I live there are regularly a whole bunch of massive birds overhead, from pelicans, storks, eagles and of course vultures circling over road kill, old people and joggers etc. I can imagine this could get quite entertaining assuming it wasn't my delivery.
Amazon will probably use disposable drones to save the return requirement. It's not like they want to make a profit or anything. You return it for a 20 cents refund in CA, MA, NH and VT or it self destructs in 60 seconds.
If that was @me ... I was being funny (trying).
Pollution is legal everywhere. Checkout that tail pipe!
Not in all jurisdictions. It's even legal here in America, just not in a lot of places...
Note that prostitution is legal in entire countries in some places in this world.
If that was @me ... I was being funny (trying).
Thankfully, humour is still legal, both free, paid and unintended, as certain posters' posts remind us regularly here.
I just spent the last few hours watching the SNL's 40th so I am feeling in a funny mood ...
Too bad they didn't do the same thing with the automobile. Just think of all of the ways someone could act irresponsibly or, ever worse, commit a crime and then be miles away in minutes.
Yep, too many problems, and people are way, way too stupid to come up with solutions. Best to ban them altogether.
*yawn*
Cars drive on roads, in two dimensions which are highly restricted and capable of limited travel. Someone wants to stalk me in a car, go ahead and try. Cars have license plates, models are easily identifiable, and in many cases the driver can be identified since they have to actually be IN the vehicle to operate it.
Quadcopters work in three-dimensions and can enter one's private property in ways a car cannot. There are no identifiable features of a quadcopter that can immediately identify its owner.
So your "car" analogy is just plane lame. Nice try though.
Amazon have obviously not been keeping up their bribery payments to the DOJ.
[QUOTE]The FAA's proposed regulation would also restrict drone flight to the daytime, and vehicles may not weigh more than 55 pounds or fly more than 100 miles per hour. The maximum altitude of an in-flight drone would be 500 feet above ground level, and using first-person live camera views, like those that connect to Apple's iPhone, does not satisfy the line of sight requirement.[/QUOTE]
The maximum height is clearly to prevent interaction with airplanes. The line of sight requirement however completely kills it ever being used to deliver anything.
Mainly the 500ft limit would nix it ever being usable in any major city since it would have to follow vehicle roads... which you may as well just drive a car then.
Where drone package delivery has the most practical use is residential towers (eg delivery to the window/deck) , and those in remote areas (eg the islands along Alaska, BC and Washington) that fedex/ups doesn't deliver to anyway.
And you know where there is a real practical purpose? Go look at the blizzards in the east part of the North America right now... deliver emergency supplies to people without a car.
Ultimately having it replace conventional UPS/Fedex/USPS/DHL is unlikely. It can however solve some of the "last-mile" aspects. Think about how often you miss your delivery window. Well now you could just call/email the depot and have the drone go fly it back that day.
I don't think there's a problem flying model aircraft if you live in a skyscraper higher than 500 feet up. Ditto drones.
I don't wish to lay out any plausible scenarios, but I can certainly imagine them.