How fast can drones deliver packages, from the current methods that are available to us in everyday life? Can we expect the time has come when drones will take the lead in the delivery World, and drastically speed up the delivery process. There are more than 2 million drones registered in the U.S., and that number is growing fast.
So Can Drones Deliver Packages? The drones are capable of delivering packages weighing between 2 and 30 kg (5 to 66 lbs) while flying up to 100 km/hr (62 mph). But drones do not deliver goods directly to people’s homes.
They are currently working on their upgrades, because their biggest problems are battery capacity, which shortens the range that Drone can deliver. Therefore, drones are not used daily for delivery, but in the near future it could be the primary means of delivery. Drones today fly automatically from warehouses to special landing pads where they deliver packages to customers. Amazon, UPS, Google and DHL are companies that are already exploring ways to deliver packages with drones instead of trucks.
Types of (Delivery) Drones
We have different types of drones, but all of them are divided into these 3 categories:
• Trick Drones – These tiny and affordable fliers are perfect for kids and beginner hobbyists. They’re limited by their flight time, which is typically 8-10 minutes, but they’re safe for flying indoors and affordable at around $100.
• Prosumer Drones – This is the middle ground between professional and consumer and the most common ones you’ll see, unlike trick drones, these have the power to carry a payload which if you’re an aspiring photographer allows you to add things like a GoPro or a gimbal. They fly for about 25 minutes and they’ll run about $1,200.
• Heavy Payload Drones – From pizza and cake deliveries, all the way to shooting cinema quality video. But going pro is pricey. These drones can run more than $15,000.
First Company To Deliver Pizza By Drone
Domino’s Pizza teamed up with a creative Ad agency titled „Tea and Biscuits“ and they are testing drone delivery so they can deliver all kinds of pies in the near future. Described as an octocopter the device carried two large pepperoni pizzas which were delivered in a city of London. So the drone was carrying 2 pizzas which were firmly attached on the bag. There were no difficulties in transport and these 2 pizzas were delivered in perfect condition within 10 minutes. The founder of Tea and biscuits stated: in any case this kind of delivery should be much faster than the classic ways. Many were surprised by the ease of this drone delivery.
The drone is being called the dama copter, however, it will take a long time for this program to become automatic, and this Domino’s company will need to invest a lot more resources and conduct a bunch of experiments to make this for commercial use. What is predicted in this industry by the Aviation Administration is that in a couple of years the market price of drones will be nearly $ 70 billion.
Benefits Of Drone Delivery
Drones come in all shapes and sizes, many with the same trademark buzz. One of the benefits is that aerial photography market is gonna explode. Searching the landspace after a hurricane tornado or flood can lead responders to where they’re needed most. It is just illustrated how important the need is for us to use unmanned technology in severe weather applications. Unlike helicopters a drone like Syfy’s only cost 25 cents an hour to run. Drones are flying from the hands of researchers, farmers and hobbyists, but any use for commercial purposes is banned. New regulations are said to be on the way, so here are some Pros and Cons of Drone delivery.
Pros of Drone Delivery
1.You can traverse very difficult terrain with relative ease and take a much shorter route in may cases (mountains, jungle,etc).
2. You’re not restricted to the way the transportation infrastructure was laid out (e.g., old rail lines, highways)
3. You can very precisely deliver your package with a helicopter-like drone due to it’s VTOL (vertical take-off and landing).
4. You don’t need a „costly“ human pilot (for most of the process)
Cons of Drone Delivery
1.The cost to transport a drone, per pound/volume is much higher than many other soulutions due the intensive energy requirements. We all know that rail and shipping transport are pretty cheap. Here you can see the comparisons:
2. If a drone is going to be used in a residential setting, don’t expect them to deliver the TV to you. Most dorne payloads will be below 10-15lbs (5-7.5kg) until we have a major breakthrough in battery technology.
3. Drones suffer from the same problems as rockets – the more you lift, or the further you want to go, the more energy you need aka The Tyranny of the Rocket Equation.
The benefits and disadvantages of using dornes for delivering good are mostly the same as using airplanes for transporting cargo.
Main Countries and Drone Delivery
China has joined a number of countries that allow Drones Delivery. Once the government has given them permission, the US will soon follow that trend. After years of talking about what the Drones could carry through the sky, it would finally happen regardless of whether you like it or not. The biggest online stores in the World are talking about the Drone delivery for some time, and they try to find a way to do it in the most effective way. When someone needs a surgical procedure and needs a product, speed is basically everything. The goal is to enable a large number of medical productions so fast, and this is only possible with drones.
In the future when thousands of drones fly over the sky in urban areas, we will need much more developed networks like 5G. If the signal is interrupted, they will not fall, but will continue to go their own way or get an order to return home. But nothing of this can be relayed until regulations and laws are adopted.
What are the Risks of Drone on Drone Crushing?
When plane notice another aircraft in its vicinity, both planes change their altitude in order to inshure they are not at the same vertical line. Drones have their own control system. Drones have an evasion system, which allows them to get rid of any other object on their way. There are radar systems in drones that are able to use it. But regardless of the fact that if two different drones are found on the same path from different companies and their radars are hanging, it still poses the problem of how drones react and this is one thing that needs to be solved.
What's The Future of Drone Delivery?
It’s just a matter of time when Drones have the potential to eliminate the challenges people face every day. Drone delivery is inevitable, it’s just a matter of time. When regulation loosen up and the infrastructure is in place, we will be seeing drone deliveries for many purposes. Drones could enable a step change in the availabiliy of everyday physical items. One of the main advantages of drone deliveries is speed. When you want something fast, you almost certainly want it delivered right to you. The future is to summon an item with a button on your smartphone and shortly afterwards, pluck it out of the air directly in front of you, and the future potential goes beyond adding convenience to online shopping. Pinpoint accurate delivery to any smartphone may improve the feasibility of life-saving applications for drones such as EpiPen or defibrillator deliveries. For about 10 years when drone technology will allow us to carry heavier loads for longer distances will change everything.
