A real eye-catcher: Mark Rober, a tech YouTuber and former NASA technician, has published a video – you can see: Mark sitting relaxed on a terrace and giving up a meal delivery via cell phone.
The special thing about it: Instead of the Lieferando delivery service, a drone makes the delivery. But: Not one drone, but actually two. Plus silently. And in minutes. But wait a minute: drone deliveries? Isn’t the number over?
Perhaps. But not when it comes to ziplining. Zipline is a California-based logistics and transportation company set to revolutionize drone delivery. Okay, big words – but what is really behind them?
mother and daughter drone
Zipline does not work with one drone, but with two in one: a mother and a daughter drone. Let’s take the food delivery example above. The mother drone flies at a height of about 90 meters above the hungry Mark Rober – and ropes down a daughter drone, which drops the longed-for food at Mark’s feet, so to speak.
What: Mark Rober
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What’s special about it?
One of the great advantages of the two-drone method is that the daughter drone can sensitively steer forwards and backwards thanks to the built-in propeller – and can therefore deliver deliveries with pinpoint accuracy (for example the burrito that your stomach is craving).
The other advantage Zipline hopes to gain over its competitors is the noise factor. The responsible technicians orientated themselves on the flapping of wings from the animal kingdom (especially that of the hummingbird) and on this basis they came up with low-noise propellers.
The video states that the discreetly perceptible propellers of the drone can only be heard as an inconspicuous background noise. Key word: white noise.
What does Mark Rober think about this? Deliveries should also, if you Mark Robers Video would like to believe happened extremely quickly. Mark describes it this way in his video:
“Deliveries happen within two minutes – and then land directly on your dinner plate. For me, that’s almost better than beaming.”
Mark’s entire video has a running length of almost 20 minutes, explains in detail what effort Zipline makes – and what successes have already been recorded:
link to YouTube content
The drone arrangement should create deliveries of up to four kilograms, which then deliver the freight precisely – for example on your tabletop.
Zipline envisions a futurein the charging station on these drones can be attached next to supermarkets or restaurants – in order to transport groceries to customers from there.
When are you coming to Europey?
The video shows Zipline as a service provider whose drones are already frequently jetting through California delivering to customers. It is not yet known when Zipline will also become active in Europe or even Europey. That’s why we asked Zipline. As soon as we have received an answer, you will be informed.
What do you think of Zipline’s two-drone method? Is this the future of delivery services – or is it a fascinating, but ultimately too ambitious development? If Zipline’s offer were available in Europey, would you use it? Please let us know what you think about it in the comments.
