Re:Amazon details its plan for how drones can fly safely ove...
by munificent on Wednesday July 29, 2015 @05:07PM
(#9971577)
I believe the ultimate solution will be a combination of the two:
You have an automated road vehicle that acts as an "aircraft carrier" for drones. Something roughly the same size as a delivery truck today. It gets loaded up at the distribution center with packages and a few drones.
It picks a route that gets roughly near all of the deliveray locations. As it goes by, a drone is dispatched to take the package a couple of blocks to the person's doorstep and then returns to the "aircraft carrier".
When the drone gets back to the truck, it plugs in an recharges.
This uses drones for what they're best for: quickly and efficiently navigating small complex spaces like side streets and front yards when there is only a small payload you need to deliver. The truck addresses the shortcomings: limited flight time and payload capacity.
You have an automated road vehicle that acts as an "aircraft carrier" for drones. Something roughly the same size as a delivery truck today. It gets loaded up at the distribution center with packages and a few drones.
It picks a route that gets roughly near all of the deliveray locations. As it goes by, a drone is dispatched to take the package a couple of blocks to the person's doorstep and then returns to the "aircraft carrier".
When the drone gets back to the truck, it plugs in an recharges.
This uses drones for what they're best for: quickly and efficiently navigating small complex spaces like side streets and front yards when there is only a small payload you need to deliver. The truck addresses the shortcomings: limited flight time and payload capacity.