Really neat technology

[mikbone]

The Rwanda healthcare delivery drone planes at 90 second intervals was amazing and inspirational.

The whisper quiet propeller was also neat.  Which reminded me of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba–Kongsberg_scandal

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by mikbone

[NeuroTypical]

Excellent.  American ingenuity making me jealous of Rwandan healthcare.   (And Zipline appears to have an office in SLC)

And I'm glad to hear the news that Rwanda seems to be bouncing back from their horrible news of the '90's.  

[askandanswer]

My former home town began trialling the use of drones for home deliveries in 2017. The trials continued for about 2 years and were pronounced a success. According to news reports at the time, the most frequently ordered items were cups of coffee and packets of milk. People trusted the system enough that the 7th most ordered and delivered items were eggs. For one regular user it took about 3 minutes to get his coffee delivered from 5 kilometers away. 

"Wing has trialled its drone delivery service in and around Canberra since 2017. In 2019 it set up a permanent operation based at the Mitchell nest, delivering to seven surrounding suburbs.

The service recently partnered with Coles.

The drones can carry up to about 1.5 kg so are limited to smaller items. They can't deliver your weekly shop.

g.

Simon says a litre of milk is the most common order through Wing.

"The seventh most sold item on Coles was eggs, which I think is a really interesting example. Eggs are very fragile, but people trust the system enough to put eggs in and that can be delivered safely."

But overall coffee is the most popular order - flat whites in particular."

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7802239/drone-delivery-is-about-more-than-just-flying-takeout/

https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/digital-strategy/current-initiatives/industry/canberra-a-hub-for-trialling-new-ideas#:~:text=Wing Aviation Pty Ltd%2C a,from a base in Mitchell.

 

 

 

[Still_Small_Voice]

How will all these drones flying around not collide with aircraft?  If there are thousands of these flying around one will very likely have a collusion with aircraft.

[Vort]

12 minutes ago, Still_Small_Voice said:

How will all these drones flying around not collide with aircraft?  If there are thousands of these flying around one will very likely have a collusion with aircraft.

Aircraft have strict altitude requirements for flight, with airlanes typically thousands of feet in altitude and minimum operating altitudes around cities of something like a thousand feet above the highest point or obstacle in the area. I imagine delivery drones fly at an altitude of no more than a few hundred feet. I also assume that drones will not be allowed anywhere near airfields, so there will probably be no overlap between the airspaces where the two types of vehicles/devices operate.