Google building fleet of package-delivering drones

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's secretive research laboratory is trying to build a fleet of drones designed to bypass earthbound traffic so packages can be delivered to people more quickly.

The ambitious program announced Thursday escalates Google's technological arms race with rival Amazon.com Inc., which also is experimenting with self-flying vehicles to carry merchandise bought by customers of its online store.

Amazon is mounting its own challenges to Google in online video, digital advertising and mobile computing in a battle that also involves Apple Inc.
Google Inc. calls its foray into drones "Project Wing."

FULL story at link.



This undated image provided by Google shows a Project Wing drone vehicle during delivery. Google's secretive research laboratory is trying to build a fleet of drones designed to bypass earthbound traffic so packages can be delivered to people more quickly. The ambitious program announced Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014, escalates Google's technological arms race with rival Amazon.com Inc., which also is experimenting with self-flying vehicles to carry merchandise bought by customers of its online store. (AP Photo/Google)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140829/us--google-drones-e6d5fe68ff.html

[itsrobert]

7. Look again

Google says to "bypass traffic" Nothing stopping them from leaping traffic jams from hub to mini hub to mini hub, where the driver or driverless car will take it the rest of the way to the customer at the door.

[cstanleytech]

8. Unless the driver is a computer then that counts I suspect as being delivered to a human. nt

[littlemissmartypants]

2. In other news

Giant butterfly nets make a comeback.

~ Lmsp 🙌

[C Moon]

10. :D

[eggplant]

3. Amazon's announcement was intended as a *joke*.

The FAA ban had to do with a local brewery delivering six-packs to ice fishermen in Minnesota.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/tech/innovation/beer-drone-faa/

[benh57]

5. Wrong

Amazon is 100% serious. I thought the same, too, originally.

They are hiring many positions for the drone delivery program:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/jobs/ref=j_sq_btn?jobSearchKeywords=%22Prime+Air%22&category=*&location=*&x=34&y=8

Those job listings are no joke.

http://smile.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/07/11/six-things-you-need-to-know-about-amazons-drones/

[eggplant]

11. Well, no...

...the ad really was a joke.

That they've decided to actually pursue the idea is true. The Forbes article is really quite a PR puff piece for Amazon, though. All it says is that they want a private place to tinker with the idea, and if the FAA says no, then they'll find somewhere else to do it. They are a global company, after all. It isn't much of a threat.

It doesn't mean that drone delivery is going to be happening *any* time soon. Companies with the operating budgets of Amazon and Google can throw money (along with lots of jobs!) at ideas that never see the light of day without blinking a eye. I can't even begin to count the number of projects that Google has funded all the way through deployment, only to kill them off without a care.

Infrastructure is key. Being able to design the raw tech doesn't mean they'll be able to deploy it. Hell, even Google can't transmit their own data around the world efficiently -- they *literally* record on thousands of hard drives, and then FedEx them around the world, because it is faster than transmitting the data electronically.

[eShirl]

4. imagine a real-time Google Earth. n/t

[cosmicone]

6. The sky will be so crowded with drones

they are bound to have accidents.

A delivery truck can carry many deliveries on a whole-day route. A drone, on the other hand, can only carry one delivery item at a time, requiring multiple trips. It will make skies in the urban areas dangerous.

[cstanleytech]

9. Not to mention that they cant possible examine each and every package which makes

such an air delivery system ripe for being exploited by some people with say a small package full of sarin gas for example.

[cosmicone]

16. That is a comforting thought

[Omaha Steve]

17. Accidents?

Drones go potty?

[truthisfreedom]

12. What could possibly go wrong?

[Alkene]

14. What, indeed?

[blkmusclmachine]

13. No. Just no.

[Hoppy]

15. Can they deliver my refrigerator?

I waited 6 hours for my refrigerator to get delivered yesterday. It finally showed up at ten minutes to 5.

Now if teh drone can deliver my next refrigerator, I will get it from the google.

[tclambert]

18. Somebody's gonna get an eye put out!

[begin_within]

19. Great. Put more people out of work.

[cbdo2007]

20. I don't really see these things in our future....at least not in our lifetimes.

There are just too many unknowns, such as trees at locations, powerlines, kids playing, people stealing them, right of airspace for hundreds or thousands of these small drones flying around cities. I think it's a cool idea, I just don't see it as actually being plausible as a reputable form of package delivery.

Like if one drone can only carry one package, it seems like the cost of flying that one package out to someone's house from the warehouse wouldn't save that much time, and then it would have to fly back. At least now with trucks, they make a route and can hit 100+ houses per day, along a planned out route.

[NYC Liberal]

21. Marketing gimmick, just like Amazon's was. Hopefully people see it for what it is.

It's simply not feasible at all. It would be impossible in any city and there would be far too many risks everywhere. Those things would get shot down left and right. No need to rob a store or break into someone's house when you can have things literally fall right into your lap.