
Zookal starts "world first" delivery-by-drone service in Sydney - tomhoward
http://pandodaily.com/2013/10/14/zookal-starts-world-first-delivery-by-drone-service-in-sydney/
======
zik
What they're proposing is illegal in Australia too. There's really strong
regulation about what you can and can't do with a drone and this falls
strongly into the "can't" category. I know this because I've tried.

All drones have to be human piloted under our current regulations. So the
autonomous thing is illegal for a start. Secondly flying aircraft of that size
at low altitudes over populated areas is also illegal. And flying them at high
altitudes without a transponder is illegal, and they're too small to carry a
transponder.

I bet someone from CASA (our FAA equivalent) sees this article and gives them
a nice little visit.

~~~
tlb
Do transponders have to be large? Obviously most current ones are made to fit
avionics racks, but is there a reason why one couldn't be made as small as a
cell phone?

~~~
zik
This is one of the smallest transponders on the market. It still weighs much
more than a textbook and requires an even larger power supply.

[http://www.garrecht.com/index.php/en/mode-s/vt-01-uav](http://www.garrecht.com/index.php/en/mode-s/vt-01-uav)

~~~
jjwiseman
That weighs 800 grams, the TT21 Mode S transponder is 440 grams:
[http://www.trig-avionics.com/press081127.html](http://www.trig-
avionics.com/press081127.html)

------
deletes
Using modern technology to deliver information via helicopters printed on
paper. Reminds me of pigeon mail service.

~~~
xorgar831
If only there was some other way to transfer information, I just can't think
of any... oh well.

------
tomflack
World first? I've seen a cake delivery company by drone in Shanghai months
ago.

[http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/shanghai-company-
claims-...](http://www.popsci.com.au/technology/shanghai-company-claims-it-
delivered-cakes-with-drones)

Then it seems they were grounded

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380095/China-
ground...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380095/China-grounds-
worlds-CAKE-DRONES-fears-fall-someones-head-novelty-delivery-service-goes-
sweet-sour.html)

------
ollysb
I can't conceive of a future where drones don't make up a huge portion of
deliveries. They're not very big so organising airspace shouldn't be too
difficult (they could stick to specific altitudes, routes etc.). Given the
lack of obstacles and the fact that they're automated, speed of delivery would
be improved along with time of delivery predictions. Amazon must be looking at
this pretty hard, same day delivery could become what, 10 minute delivery?

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hartror
It is just me or does this seem like a cheap way to "buy" a drone? I assume
they have done something to discourage people walking off with their hardware?

~~~
BoppreH
That is an interesting concern. Any passerby can grab the drone while it's
landing, and there's no way to know who did it. Constant camera feeds would
help but you can still hide your face.

~~~
yogo
From the video what he described was that the drone lowers the package
(apparently it stays out of reach) and if someone tries to pull the package
and the drone the drone supposedly let's go of the package. This was not
demonstrated in the video.

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ck2
This seems silly.

Now use drones to deliver food to remote regions of earth and maybe you have
something.

~~~
gridspy
First deliver text books right next to the delivery system inventors until the
technology works perfectly.

Then consider making it about 1000x more robust and putting it into remote
regions.

~~~
ck2
The amazing thing about using a bike messenger for textbook delivery is they
could actually go inside buildings like dorms or leave packages at reception
desks. They can also carry 30+ pounds of textbooks.

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javajosh
A drone-powered sneakernet convoy could move data pretty fast on physical
drives. Faster, probably, than all but the fastest links.

~~~
johnchristopher
A legal, safer and cheaper alternative to maintain and operate already exists:
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm)
and there is an RFC for use with IP
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers).

~~~
javajosh
I'm familiar with the RFC. The (sad?) thing is, I'm being serious. If you use
autonomous drones they could drop the drive into a receptacle for upload, and
scootch over to pick up a drive going the other way (if needed). Whenever the
drone needs to recharge, it drinks power from a landing area.

This is no a widely applicable data transmission method, but for the people
that need it, they would really need it. Data sizes grow larger, but running
fiber through cities is time-consuming and expensive. This would be a
reasonable alternative.

There are limits, of course, on the kind of data you'd want to transmit in
this way, since it would be fairly easy to intercept. OTOH it is more secure
since interception is trivially detectable. So "vast amounts of data,
relatively short distances, where detecting interception is more important
than preventing it". Sounds like a viable niche to me!

~~~
johnchristopher
I totally agree with you! The pidgin thing was intended to be a little
humorous :)

I can see a lot of cases where transmitting large amount of data over
pidgin/dolphin or drones could be valuable or the only way to do so.

~~~
javajosh
Dolphins? Now you're talking.

------
genwin
It only a matter of time before you won't be able to have a conversation on a
patio or deck. Enjoy your BBQs while they last.

~~~
jrockway
That quiet was ruined long ago when they started allowing automobiles into
residential areas.

~~~
genwin
True, although I can rarely hear cars while in my backyard. Hundreds of drones
flying overhead may not be so quiet.

~~~
Cthulhu_
Back home, I used to live in an area that had the occasional jet fighter
flying over from the nearby military airbase. Yeah.

Noise pollution isn't a new problem, and I'm pretty sure drones like this will
be the least contributor, especially if they're electric, especially if they
fly high enough.

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vincie
Power lines, objects like cars and people and pets on the ground, pools - I
wonder how these things will avoid doing damage. Frankly I would be pissed if
they drop things on my head or my car.

~~~
flyinglizard
Not a problem. Multicopters ascend and descend entirely vertically, so
programming them to climb straight up to around 500 meters, go to the
designated drop point and descend straight down would eliminate all obstacle
concerns. It's probably low enough for avoiding fixed wing air traffic too,
unless you are around an airport.

Finding a clear drop point is easy (lawns, for example), and the drone can
sound some alarm to let pedestrians know its landing.

~~~
vincie
Well in that case, I am eagerly waiting for when this is generally available
to deliver my order from the local Indian or Vietnamese restaurant. I will
even build a landing platform for it and register its coordinates for
efficient and fast delivery of my rogan josh or pork rice noodle soup.

~~~
ne0phyte
The idea of registered landing platforms is actually pretty good. They don't
even have to be on private property, but maybe a platform every ~100m or so
would be enough. If you order something you get a code or maybe can use your
phone to get the delivery from the drone.

That would make the "where to land" and "how to drop the payload" much easier.

~~~
vincie
I want my own. I wouldn't want the curry and the rice noodle soup to go cold,
or worse, end up in someone else's belly.

~~~
ne0phyte
The drone could deposit the load at the landing station where you can pick it
up. And food won't be cold after a 100m walk.

------
deckar01
Silk Road 2.0 could use this. I wonder how long it will take to make the first
pirate drone.

~~~
kcorbitt
I don't think this technology will be very useful for illicit purposes until
there are enough drones in the sky to get lost in the crowd. They're not
particularily inconspicuous when they're buzzing around.

~~~
jjwiseman
A few hundred feet up, and you won't hear it and you probably won't see it.

~~~
jfoster
Plus, if it goes fast enough, the only risky part would be right when it comes
home.

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hobs
It seems a bit ridiculous, but if not this specific business (delivery of text
books by drone) I could see this type of delivery method become very useful
for all sorts of materials, legal and otherwise. I know the sensors are fairly
good, but you would soon have to organize some sort of traffic lane type
system if the drones were popular, would you not? (thousands or millions, not
hundreds)

~~~
atmosx
Jokes aside, in Greece we have a __HUGE __market for Gyros ( _the Greek burger
counterparts_ ) delivery. But as of now, a guy comes to your door, so we can
be in pajamas, working on your laptop, etc. I don't know how this drone could
safely land in those narrow streets, but if it could oh boy, it would be
disruptive.

~~~
hobs
That sounds like another reason to move to Greece.

------
spiritplumber
I hate to say it to Zookal, but we've done this in the small Italian town of
Verbania since 2010. There was even an article in the local newspaper, Eco
Risveglio. Email me at my username +gmail if you want a copy of the article.

They can also talk to Kite Winters in Melbourne if they want confirmation from
a more local source, she saw it.

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pkfrank
This is great publicity for the service, if nothing else.

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mingabunga
Well, I think this is cool. Nice use of technology to make life easier for the
seller and buyer. Maybe they have some hurdles to get it approved, but at
least they're giving it a go.

------
brianbreslin
Are these UAVs from flirtey completely autonomous ? I could see a ton of use
case for moving medicines in third world countries where roads are poor,
assuming they have a long range.

~~~
jordanthoms
[http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/11/speedy-delivery-andreas-
rapto...](http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/11/speedy-delivery-andreas-raptopoulos-
at-tedglobal-2013/)

------
kcorbitt
I wonder how this compares in total efficiency to traditional truck-based
delivery. I could see it going either way -- trucks can presumably move more
goods further per unit energy, but you can't take full advantage of that
unless your destinations are fairly close together. Otherwise hauling
everything with you for the whole trip becomes rather more of a liability.

~~~
flyinglizard
Drone delivery can be done entirely autonomously, with drones receiving
packages from an automated feeder and landing on charge pods between delivery
rounds. The drones themselves are quite cheap and the only wear item is the
battery.

~~~
robomartin
No, everything is a wear item. Any device exposed to the elements will see
degradation of pretty much every component.

------
etfb
The only danger is if the drone happens to fly over a wedding, and has to stop
and bomb it. Old habits die hard.

------
boontjie
Delivery by drone world first? What about the beer drone in south africa:
[http://smaakit.co.za/oppikoppi-beer-drone-
video/](http://smaakit.co.za/oppikoppi-beer-drone-video/)

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electic
Hmm, isn't this not secure? I can shoot this thing down in a variety of ways
and get a free package. Not to mention a free quad copter.

~~~
atmosx
Locks can be added, that's not an issue at this point. Thing is that doesn't
seem really secure.

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Numberwang
Is nobody noticing the name? I suspect this is a hoax.

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hackfest
is this the future of logistics?

~~~
7952
I think the future is fully automated routing of parcels in a network. This is
a way of solving the last mile problem for a particular kind of place, but it
doesn't build an actual network. In that sense the transmission medium is less
important than the standards that allow interchange.

