Opening Insights: The Future, Delivered
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology,
in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
CARL SAGAN
An old man sits on a creaking rocking chair on a rickety old porch with dull, peeling paint. He rhythmically tilts his chair back and forth causing the aging wood to groan in protest. His granddaughter sits cross-legged in front of him wearing bright yellow one-piece pajamas. She examines every wrinkle on her grandfather’s weathered old face and imagines what wonders of the past his tired eyes have seen.
His eyes are what draw her in. They are bright and wise, reflecting a subtle mournfulness, but at the same time, playful and smiling.
She asks him, “What’s that dull buzzing noise? It sounds like it’s coming right out of the clouds. It never stops!”
“What you now hear are the swarms of delivery robots attending to the people’s every whim. The people have become shut-ins. They no longer wish to leave their homes – they are too afraid. It’s too dangerous to travel any distance. It’s too dangerous to physically meet with other people. They don’t talk to each other anymore. They share their feelings and reactions online with pictures and symbols, but have forgotten how to communicate.”
“Why did they do that?” the young girl asked with a puzzled look.
The old man winced from an unseen pain and replied, “Somebody told them it would be better, and they believed it, because they wanted to feel good and they didn’t want to ever grow up. They wanted someone else to be responsible for their happiness and well-being. Now they exist, but they don’t live.”
The article that follows continues an on-going conversation about delivery robots and touches on what companies are doing with unmanned aircraft technology. This technology is flashy and exciting, with a potential to offer great convenience and provide a service for those possessing mobility challenges. The potential benefit to all is easy to see, but has anyone stopped to think about possible side effects?
Informational Insights: Easier is Better – Isn’t it?
Can you imagine what life will look like 10 years from now? There’s no question that we will have new technologies and services that make life easier, but the question remains, what is the price we pay for the ease?
At this very moment, organizations with an immense amount of power over our choices and flow of information are designing systems to deliver the products we need for living. When you control the supply of goods and services, control their demand and control the narrative, doesn’t that make you more powerful than any government?
Perhaps we should pause and spend a few moments of thinking on the developing technologies that seem to have our best interests in mind. What are the unforeseen costs that we are paying for convenience?
The following article was published by The Wall Street Journal, a Dow Jones product and unit of News Corporation. It was written by Sebastian Herrera, reporter at the Wall Street Journal, with graphics by Alberto Cervantes, a visual information designer at the Wall Street Journal.
Flying robots that deliver packages to people’s doorsteps are no longer science fiction. Companies including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Wing and Uber Technologies Inc. are starting the most advanced trials of drone delivery in U.S. history.
While commercial drone delivery faces many hurdles, government-approved tests by the tech giants will mark the first time consumers in parts of the country experience the technology. Wing this month started tests in Christiansburg, Va., while Uber says it will experiment in San Diego before the year ends. Amazon hasn’t revealed where it is operating but said in June it would begin delivering packages to consumers via drone “within months.”
Amazon, Uber and Wing are hardly the only players tinkering with the technology. This month United Parcel Service Inc. gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to build out a fleet of unmanned aircraft to deliver health supplies and eventually consumer packages in the U.S.
Experts say wide-scale drone delivery operations will take years to build out. The FAA predicts sales of drones for a wide range of commercial purposes to grow from 600,000 in 2016 to 2.7 million by 2020.
The approaches vary, and success is anything but assured.
Design
Amazon says its hexagonal design allows the drone to switch between a vertical helicopter-like mode and a horizontal airplane mode. The hexagonal wings help stabilize the drone in gusty winds and double as a shroud to protect the six propellers, Amazon says. Amazon first tested a drone service in Cambridge, England, in 2016 and tried out roughly 50,000 design concepts before settling on its latest design. Amazon hasn’t said where it is testing the new drones.
Wing’s drone looks more like a small plane. Its two wings, extending more than 3 feet, each feature a propeller and allow the drone to fly further while conserving energy, the company says. Altogether, the drone has 14 propellers designed to reduce noise. Wing, which started in 2012 as a project in Alphabet’s X lab, began trials in Australia in 2014 and has conducted more than 80,000 tests. Wing is initially working with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and FedEx Corp. to deliver small packages, food, beverages and medicine items in Christiansburg. Wing’s parent also owns Google.
Uber is using a drone built by another company. The modified AR200 by AirRobot has limitations, flying slower than the other drones and with a more limited range. Uber says that will improve when it begins testing a proprietary drone late this year or early next year. It completed limited tests in May at a McDonald’s near San Diego State University. Uber says residents near the university will soon be able to order drone-delivered food from certain local restaurants through the Uber Eats app.
Takeoff
The companies approach the takeoff differently. Amazon aims to have its Prime Air drones depart from its fulfillment centers with a package in tow. Wing’s drone is designed to hover in the air when it picks up a package from a store, sending a tether down where a worker can attach a package.
Uber said restaurant workers will clip a food package onto Uber’s drone from the ground at the start of the delivery. Like Amazon, Uber’s drone will typically scale vertically to a height of up to 400 feet, the maximum allowed by the FAA. Wing’s drone is slated to travel at heights of 100 feet to 200 feet.
Flying
The companies say drones could dramatically speed up delivery times, with Amazon flying a max of 15 miles round trip and expecting its deliveries to take 30 minutes or less. Wing aims to deliver in less than 10 minutes for a 12-mile range. Uber’s tests in San Diego averaged 7 minutes for a 3-mile range. Wing’s drone can zip at speeds of up to 70 miles an hour, roughly the equivalent of a car on a highway.
Landing
The landing is challenging. The drones have to find a safe spot and ensure they don’t hit anything, including people.
Wing never actually lands. Once the drone reaches customers’ homes a tether lowers a box to the ground from about 24 feet in the air and automatically unclips the package. The company designed the tether to create a safe space between its drone and customers.
Uber said its drones will eventually land on top of vehicles of its Uber Eats drivers, who Uber said will be responsible for the last leg of deliveries — a method it said limits customer interaction with the drones.
Amazon’s payload must carry electronics, household items and other popular products on the retailer’s online marketplace. Amazon’s drone carries packages within a closed compartment that opens once on the ground.
Obstacles
Amazon, Wing and Uber have to overcome a number of obstructions and concerns before drone delivery can become widespread.
The companies say they have built safeguards to their devices. Amazon uses machine learning algorithms and infrared sensors to detect birds, wires and other obstacles. Amazon programs its drones with scenarios — such as a delivery location not being detected — and commands to follow in such scenarios.
Last winter, Wing tested its drone north of Helsinki during snowy and windy conditions. The company’s drone has built-in wind sensors and is waterproof, with computer chip boards covered in silicone coating. Uber is planning to put a thermal feature in its future drone to keep food items cold or hot.
Unlike airplanes, experts say no standard exists on how drones will identify and communicate with each other while in the air, making drone delivery by multiple companies in the same area not currently possible. Some companies have been given more freedom than others. Wing, for example, has been certified to build out an air carrier network, while Uber and Amazon haven’t.
The article text was taken from the website of MORNINGSTAR, “a global investment research company […].” The Drones Are Coming! How Amazon, Alphabet and Uber Are Taking to the Skies
This article originally appeared in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Drones Are Coming! How Amazon, Alphabet and Uber Are Taking to the Skies
Possibilities for Consideration: Too Much Power?
What happens when commercial organizations have power over your information and choices? The logical conclusion is that they will take from you the very maximum they can take without spoiling the harvest. Regardless of the announced intentions of those who bring to us the latest technology, it is our responsibility to hold them and ourselves accountable for how that technology shapes and changes our lives.
Take a moment and examine…
- As you reviewed the material above, what stood out to you?
- What is the potential impact, economically and/or socially?
- What action is needed to stop or support this idea?
- You may want to consider whether you:
- want to be aware of,
- should become supportive of,
- would want to be active in this topic?
Add Your Insight
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; we must do.
LEONARDO DA VINCI