
Mercedes Benz and Matternet unveil vans that launch delivery drones - endswapper
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/07/mercedes-benz-and-matternet-unveil-vans-that-launch-delivery-drones/
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scoot
Very surprised at their choice of a quadcopter which has four very obvious
single points of failure.

A hexacopter, or better still an octo with split flight controllers and power
sources has some chance of recovering from a powertrain failure - an essential
criteria for a multi-rotor designed to fly in or over populated areas, or
indeed anywhere where the cost of the loss of the vehicle or payload is
prohibitive.

(None of which of course solves the problem of how you safely land and secure
the delivery at the target site, but it's table stakes.)

This is a hobby-drone cleverly positioned to senior execs looking for the new
hotness without understanding the fundamental requirements for a practical
solution.

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BlickSilly
I believe oneway drones are next so that the van doesn't have to stop moving.
Then upgrade to a truck on a highway - just keep launching as the truck is
maintaining 55-65 mph. Unit lands in your yard. When you get home, Remove your
item, fold up the power unit, recycle the cardboard/plastic components and
stick the reusable portion of the unit in your mailbox. Unit is self addressed
and postage included to go back to the nearest facility.

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JoeAltmaier
Doesn't that turn the delivery problem into an exactly mirrored pickup
problem? Getting the drones back would be about as much work as getting the
package to you.

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danvoell
Couldn't you make drones that unpack the package? So there is nothing to
return?

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JoeAltmaier
I believe the idea was, the truck is going too fast to stop and wait for them
to return.

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chillingeffect
How could we design/modify our homes to receive these packages?

Santa Claus-chute for things to slide down?

Helicopter landing pad in the front yard?

How can we sort the packages/letters into their individual receptacles?

This could save US mail carriers a lot of effort.

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neodypsis
Interesting. Maybe a new type of mail box in the roof for houses (as you
suggest), and some kind of Amazon Locker with a landing pad on top for the
apartment complexes. Combining drones with a better mail box would allow the
asynchronous delivery of packages.

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JoeAltmaier
They mention hard-to-reach location delivery. But it may be simply more
efficient to deliver in a 'star' geometry with the van stationary and the
drones dropping packages throughout a neighborhood. Save time; save on traffic
and parking (park under a freeway, deliver to the business district).

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god_bless_texas
What a weird combination. I understood Matternet's strategy while using drones
for the good of humanity delivering HIV testing in faraway places. Partnering
with Mercedes Benz to deliver "things to places" seems like it is competing
with Amazon. Does Mercedes have or want a large African footprint? Do non-
Amazon stores have enough of a desire to have speedy drone delivery of
packages that this makes sense from a business standpoint? Is this news the
product of a large MB investment that needs attention and proof of traction?

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endswapper
It isn't that weird.

Mercedes and Matternet both have an interest in the efficient, cost-effective
delivery of things. Matternet, for now, is concerned with the "last mile,"
([https://mttr.net/company](https://mttr.net/company)), the aerial logistics
part, and Mercedes is concerned with every other mile.

Amazon is a prospective client, they have the things people want.

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bsenftner
They are being too timid in their thinking and designs. All they need is the
driverless "engine cab" and then a transformer-like packing of drones to form
the rest of the vehicle. It arrives in the neighborhood of delivery and then
all the drones take off, deliver, they return, and reassemble into the
driverless delivery truck.

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pjc50
I blame them for wanting to achieve a working product rather than a really
cool concept.

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usrusr
That would be a truck with a docked cargo bike.

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pjc50
Your cargo bike can fly over walls?

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usrusr
It can go around walls. I did not notice the concept to specifically mention
prison yard drops.

