New UPS trucks designed to add drone on top

[OLDMAN3]

"The drone rides on top of the truck but its claw sticks down into the cabin of the truck so the driver can hand it packages. Burns explains the drone is not for all deliveries. "The logistical software or the driver will say, 'hey this house is three miles in the wrong direction. I've got four other deliveries this way, so that's a good one for the horsefly. I'll keep going with the other four and it will catch up with me later.'"

Here's how it works:

• The truck cover rolls back and the drone takes off.
• Guided by GPS, the drone flies at an altitude of 400 feet.
• A certified pilot in a national call center will guide the drone as it's descending.
• After the drop-off, the drone heads back to the truck.
• GPS can get it within three feet of the truck but then an IR camera uses an infrared pattern on top of the truck to guide itself back into the landing bay."

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonv...-ups-trucks-designed-to-add-drone-on-top.html

http://wvxu.org/post/post-office-mi...truckdrone-customer-loveland-company#stream/0

 

[rod]

By chance was this in the "Onion" ?

 

[OLDMAN3]

From:
WVXU, a public radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio, which also operates station WGUC and WMUB.

The full story is in one of the two links I provided.

"UPS has ordered 18 of them (vehicles) for its Houston market"
"The drone component

There will be an add-on drone for any company that wants it once commercial drones are approved by the FAA. (UPS does not have the drone, just the electric trucks for its Houston market)"

 

[soberups]

Its cute but it still does not solve the fundamental underlying problem of the power-to-weight ratio of existing or foreseeable battery technology. A drone with enough power to get any amount of cargo in the air will not be able to haul that cargo more than a few hundred yards. Extending the range requires a bigger, heavier battery which means decreasing the payload by a corresponding amount. This is the reason why we do not have battery-powered helicopters or aircraft. The only way around this is to use an internal combustion or jet turbine engine, both of which have the necessary power-to-weight ratio but then you run into the problem of scaling them down to a size small enough to fit on or in a truck. Look at the size of a modern, state-of-the-art helicopter versus its payload, even without the weight of a pilot or a cockpit to put him in there is simply no way for a drone to get a significant amount of weight into the air and fly it a meaningful distance with existing technology.

 

[FrigidFTSup]

Waste of money and very difficult to do because of FAA airspace rules.

 

[rod]

If its true its no more than a publicity stunt-----and an expensive one at that. You boys remember this waste of money come contract time and they start crying about how tough times are.

 

[OLDMAN3]

 

[OLDMAN3]

 

[OLDMAN3]

 

[OLDMAN3]

• DHL Parcelcopter already in use in Germany.[32]
• In February 2014, the prime minister and cabinet affairs minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that the UAE planned to launch a fleet of UAVs for civilian purposes.[33] Plans were for the UAVs to use fingerprint and eye-recognition systems to deliver official documents such as passports, ID cards and licenses, and supply emergency services at accidents. A battery-powered prototype four rotor UAV about half a meter across was displayed in Dubai.[34]
• UK based FPS Distribution [35] and Switzerland's Swiss Post are both developing[36] drone delivery services for wide scale use.
• In December 2014 French mail services company La Poste unveiled experimental[37] delivery drone project.
• In February 2015 Hangzhou based e-commerce provider Ali Baba started[38] delivery drone services around select cities in China.
• In March 2015 Shenzhen based SF Express started[39] providing delivery services with Xaircraft drones in China.
• In May 2015 CJ Express initiates[40] delivery with drone services in South Korea.
• In July 2015 FAA endorses Let's fly wisely by Flirtey an Australian[41] startup to deliver medicines[42] via drones in USA.
• SOURCE:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delivery_drone

 

[I Am Jacks Damaged Box]

"Burns explains the drone is not for all deliveries. "The logistical software or the driver will say, 'hey this house is three miles in the wrong direction. I've got four other deliveries this way, so that's a good one for the horsefly. I'll keep going with the other four and it will catch up with me later.'"

Here's how it works:

• The truck cover rolls back and the drone takes off.
• Guided by GPS, the drone flies at an altitude of 400 feet.
• A certified pilot in a national call center will guide the drone as it's descending.
• After the drop-off, the drone heads back to the truck.
• GPS can get it within three feet of the truck but then an IR camera uses an infrared pattern on top of the truck to guide itself back into the landing bay."

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonv...-ups-trucks-designed-to-add-drone-on-top.html

http://wvxu.org/post/post-office-mi...truckdrone-customer-loveland-company#stream/0

 

[Indecisi0n]

Our current guys can barely drive a truck and you want them to fly a drone?

 

[silenze]

I hope the pilots union addresses this in their next contract. Make sure the drone pilots are unionized.

 

[Richard Harrow]

I'd give it the last stop on the area and then drive back to the building without it. Catch me if you can!

 

[Faceplanted]

It's sad the lack of intelligence a ups driver has from some of these replys. The driver will not fly them. The technology for this already exhists 100%. They can get an exact gps coordinate for somebody's front door no prob.

I see a new system like Orion that will use a algorithm system to figure out which residential Stops with small boxes would be more cost effective to deliver by drone. Just as Amazon said a huge percentage of their driveries are light weight so we don't have to worry about any type of power to weight ratio. Keep denying this guys, once the faa allows this it won't be more than a few years before a system like this could be fully implemented.

 

[Box Ox]

I'm imagining trying to get a certified drone pilot on the line during a busy period. Being on hold listening to elevator music. Every 30 seconds, a prerecorded message plays: "We're sorry, all certified drone pilots are busy.

And I'm like" Come on, dang it! Ive found an open field, cleared the area of children and small pets, sounded the launch horn, punched the initiation/unlock sequence and rolled back the drone cover! This 2 pound Amazon box is ready to go, baby!

 

[soberups]

It's sad the lack of intelligence a ups driver has from some of these replys. The driver will not fly them. The technology for this already exhists 100%. They can get an exact gps coordinate for somebody's front door no prob.

I see a new system like Orion that will use a algorithm system to figure out which residential Stops with small boxes would be more cost effective to deliver by drone. Just as Amazon said a huge percentage of their driveries are light weight so we don't have to worry about any type of power to weight ratio. Keep denying this guys, once the faa allows this it won't be more than a few years before a system like this could be fully implemented.

But how much revenue do we get from a lightweight residential package?

There is no currently foreseeable battery technology that will allow a drone to haul a cost-effective amount of weight a cost-effective distance. Yes, in theory at least we have drones that could haul an envelope to a customers doorstep a few miles away (assuming ideal weather conditions, no wind etc.) but will the cost of the drone itself, the supporting infrastructure and the pilot to remotely fly it allow us to make more of a profit on that envelope than we are currently earning by having a driver deliver it?

I actually hope that drones can make deliveries one day. Why? Because the battery technology that would make it possible will transform society as we know it. It would mean an end to poverty, an end to world hunger, an end to warfare and an end to our addiction to fossil fuels. The internal combustion and jet engines would be obsolete, and we would have battery-powered cars that could drive for 500 miles with a battery the size and weight of a gallon of milk.

This isn't about the FAA. This isn't about putting drone docks on the roof of our trucks, or customers being OK with drones dropping packages on their porch. Those are the easy problems to solve. This is about the power-to-weight ratio of current and foreseeable battery technology. We aren't even close to figuring that part out yet, and when we finally do it will quite literally be the dawn of a new age for humanity.

 

[I Am Jacks Damaged Box]

It's sad the lack of intelligence a ups driver has from some of these replys. The driver will not fly them. The technology for this already exhists 100%. They can get an exact gps coordinate for somebody's front door no prob.

I see a new system like Orion that will use a algorithm system to figure out which residential Stops with small boxes would be more cost effective to deliver by drone. Just as Amazon said a huge percentage of their driveries are light weight so we don't have to worry about any type of power to weight ratio. Keep denying this guys, once the faa allows this it won't be more than a few years before a system like this could be fully implemented.

 

[Faceplanted]

My iq is 80 because of auto correct. Thanks sir

 

[I Am Jacks Damaged Box]

My iq is 80 because of auto correct. Thanks sir