George Jetson, of cartoon fame, will be born this year and his son Elroy will be zipping to school in an autonomous pod in about 40 years. That’s still science fiction, but science fact is already pointing us to where drone technology can take us in the very near future.
Automatic delivery of mail and small goods has been around for generations. Skyscrapers were designed around intra-office pneumatic tube mail delivery systems. Local bank drive-thrus still use pneumatic tubes. The FBI had “OBR III”, the Mailmobile, in the 80s, that could carry 800lbs of mail on a loop around the office that would take about 45 minutes to complete. Modern drone technology or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), however, is opening new opportunities and is broadening what’s possible for the delivery and cargo industries.
Google, Amazon, and UPS are all working on UAV parcel delivery systems. The process is slow going as the real world is unpredictable and safety is a high priority. Your neighbourhood is not a controlled environment which makes adapting automated technology that much more difficult. There are kids on bikes, kites in the air, people working on power lines or on their roofs taking down holiday lights. All of the everyday happenings in a residential area have to be navigated by automated technology and we are not quite there yet. Additionally, local regulation needs to grow and adapt to developing technology. There are privacy issues, noise restrictions, and safety concerns with having unmanned vehicles so close to our homes. This produces a lag between what technology can accomplish and what the law can provide for.
Cargo transportation by UAVs in a warehouse environment doesn’t face the same kinds of limitations. For example, regulations on private property are much less intrusive because the environment can be controlled more. There are less unpredictable elements in a warehouse facility. You can build policies and practices for worker safety making the adoption of UAVs much more flexible. Existing buildings can also be quickly retrofitted for the guidance hardware necessary to run UAVs. Audi, for example, is pioneering just-in-time drone delivery directly to the production line. This can streamline parts storage while ensuring steady workflow as the right part is delivered exactly when the worker needs it.
Perhaps the biggest impediment to the adoption and widespread use of UAVs in logistics is the cost. Standardised, turn-key UAV systems don’t exist yet. Building anything like that is a serious capital investment, and risk-averse companies will be slow to adopt unproven technologies. We also can’t ignore the human resource element here either. While, by definition, UAVs are unmanned, they will require a whole new job category of technicians to build, program, maintain and service a fleet of drones. Education and workforce training could also slow down the adoption of UAVs in all segments of society.
One day we will have ice cream truck drones zipping around the neighbourhood, but only after the logistics industry has perfected the technology first.
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