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Zipline's new drones release tethered mini-drones for precision package deliveries
Zipline is revealing its new drone delivery platform today that the company says is capable of making a 10-mile delivery in 10 minutes, precisely placing packages on small targets like a patio table or the front steps of a home.
The new drone, which Zipline calls the Platform 2 (P2) Zip, uses a system of wires that lets down the package inside a cute little mini-bus-looking container the company describes as a "delivery droid." The P2 Zip hovers more than 300 feet above the ground at the delivery point, keeping its blades and noise away from people (and trees and wires and buildings) to let down its tethered droid instead.
The droid has the ability to steer with propellers as it's coming down, then lands and softly drops its payload.
[...] Similar to Wing's newly announced delivery network, Zipline says its P2 can dynamically move from dock to dock to charge up as needed and be ready to take orders. P2 can travel up to 24 miles one way without a payload and up to 10 miles while carrying six to eight pounds of weight. In comparison, Wing's drone can carry about three pounds and is technically capable of up to 12 miles of flight one way.
Zipline's new drone brings Rx deliveries to Michigan Medicine, Intermountain and MultiCare patients
Today, Zipline delivers 75% of Rwanda's blood supply outside the capital of Kigali. Zipline drones now serve 3,400 health centers and over 45 million people.
The company is planning to complete about 1 million deliveries by the end of 2023. By 2025, the company hopes to operate more flights annually than almost all major U.S. airlines.
In 2022, Zipline gained the first FAA Part 135 approval for long-range deliveries. The company claims to reduce carbon emissions of deliveries by 97% when compared to gas cars. Zipline drones now fly in seven different countries and three U.S. states. In 2024, the company plans to begin operations in Michigan and Washington with more states to follow.
Amazing Invention- This Drone Will Change Everything (21m31s Mark Rober video)
Previously: Zipline Drones Will Deliver Medicine by Parachute to Communities in Utah
(Score: 3, Touché) by Frosty Piss on Wednesday March 22, @01:44AM (5 children)
Drone delivery is like flying cars, the purpose of these companies is to suck up VC until they implode or Amazon buys them.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday March 22, @02:11AM
VCs willingly bet on 19 losers hoping for that one winner that turns into the next Unicorn.
There may be space in the drone delivery market for a bit of diversity.
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(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22, @02:17AM
This perhaps looks to be a hybrid of that. It looks useful in Rwanda and perhaps can be useful in the US for some very specific things (like perishable medical supplies in rural areas), but as a general solution? I tend to agree with you.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ataradov on Wednesday March 22, @02:20AM (2 children)
ZipLine is actually finding good uses for this. It is not delivering amazon packages, which is stupid indeed. One of their biggest uses is delivering medication supplies to remote sparsely populated areas, specifically in Africa and other less developed areas like that.
And they have been operating longer than a typical VC money extraction startup.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 22, @03:14AM
It looks like the P2 Zip could be a legitimate option for small grocery deliveries (max 6-8 lbs, ~3.5 kg). Their idea is to build a chute into the side of a supermarket that gets loaded with a package, drones will take packages or charge there, and the container within the drone delivers the package silently with pinpoint accuracy, avoiding the shotgun problem.
Amazon drone delivery will eventually work for a decent chunk of the population because Amazon has many fulfillment centers [wikipedia.org] near major cities. Millions of people live within 10 miles of one of these, more if you expand it to 20 miles, etc. Having said that, the per-delivery cost in the pilot programs was absurdly high the last time I checked.
As always, every little improvement in battery technology makes the robocalypse more likely.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by richtopia on Wednesday March 22, @03:27PM
I'll reiterate your statement. Zipline's core use-case is a slam dunk for drone applications: rural Rwanda has frequent power outages and roads are often better described as mud. This means a local clinic will loose power and all of their perishables are lost, and to receive replacements is a day drive only capable by a rugged 4x4. Centralization enables backup power systems so the blood bank won't spoil, and the drone delivery turns the day drive into a 30 minute flight. They also use fixed wing drones, which enables 50 miles of range.
I'm both excited and disappointed by this announcement. Previously, the company has made comments with the approximate message of "we don't deliver McDonald's because we want to solve real problems". This new model appears to be consumer delivery focused, although I haven't seen a specific use-case or partner stated yet. As awesome as it is to save lives with novel technology applications, I also understand that other markets exist and there is money to be made.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday March 22, @03:46AM (1 child)
Controlled by what exactly? Dunno about you but I'd hate to get hit by one of these things zipping around.
Although, if it's carrying blood, I can only imagine what the first responders will think with someone laying on the ground surrounded by a pint or 3 of blood, plus whatever is leaking out of them.
Relationship status: Available for curbside pickup.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22, @07:50AM
Yeah it sounds OK if there's only one company doing this and it's flying below aircraft level. I guess most birds would be able to avoid the drones.
But once you have multiple companies sending drones to the same areas, you better have some collision avoidance stuff.
Zipline claims to have some of these: https://www.flyzipline.com/detect-and-avoid [flyzipline.com]
https://dronedj.com/2022/08/15/zipline-drone-sara-patent-lawsuit/ [dronedj.com]
https://www.popsci.com/technology/zipline-drones-use-microphones-to-listen-for-planes/ [popsci.com]
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Wednesday March 22, @11:29AM (1 child)
Business is good until someone steals one and delivers a bomb with it.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22, @11:35AM
Probably more likely that someone will steal one and deliver door-to-door advertisements with it.