We are not quite ready for delivery drones.
Russia’s Parcel Service launched their delivery drone and it literally hit a wall. This shows why we are not quite ready for delivery drones.
This past Monday Russia launched their delivery drone to deliver a small package to a nearby village. After a few seconds of flight the drone smashed into a wall and into the ground. $20,000 was flushed thanks to WiFi interference. Though no one was hurt the incident shows the dangers with using a delivery drone.
Rudron Expeditor 3M was the company who was responsible for the drone testing. From broken champagne bottle to crashed drone, this christening did not go how the politicians pictured. Despite the set back it is still a step toward progress. Engineers will have to test ways to conduct flight regardless of interference. If drone delivery is going to be successful it will have to be able to operate safely regardless of the conditions. The last thing that postal services want is for a lawsuit as a result of a drone crash.
From business suits to lawsuits
There is a push from businesses to get drone deliveries off the ground. Everyone from Amazon, Postal Services, and Pizza delivery companies are interested in getting this going. There are customers wanting to pay a premium to get their package now. And there are executives in suits looking to collect the money for the service. There are still a lot of variables that need to be worked out before we are ready to make drone deliveries a reality. Densely populated areas will have interference from WiFi, cellular, radio, as well as atmospheric conditions. In sue happy America a failed delivery could equal lawsuit. Regardless whether the delivery was a result of delivering medicine, blood, and equipment for EMS, a crashed drone that injures or damage property will equate to a lawsuit by the offended party.
I do not care so much about drones to get someone their goods in 30 minutes verses a few days. There is a service aspect to drone delivery that interest me. To be able to get asthma medicine to a needy child in minutes. Provide blood to an accident victim in seconds. And to get supplies to elderly patience miles a way is why I look forward to seeing drone deliveries in action. Unfortunately we still have a few challenges to overcome before we are ready.
