this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
788 points (96.2% liked)

Technology

60076 readers
2829 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Only one item can be delivered at a time. It can’t weigh more than 5 pounds. It can’t be too big. It can’t be something breakable, since the drone drops it from 12 feet. The drones can’t fly when it is too hot or too windy or too rainy.

You need to be home to put out the landing target and to make sure that a porch pirate doesn’t make off with your item or that it doesn’t roll into the street (which happened once to Lord and Silverman). But your car can’t be in the driveway. Letting the drone land in the backyard would avoid some of these problems, but not if there are trees.

Amazon has also warned customers that drone delivery is unavailable during periods of high demand for drone delivery.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's obvious that autonomous drones are more difficult to create than they seem... I think delivery robots that go on the ground are much safer and more feasible. They can carry heavier packages, they are less dangerous and can travel at less dangerous speeds.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

... and they can get robbed or kicked, their sensors sprayed shut... and repair costs a fortune. I don't think delivery without a human makes much sense, maybe except for a drone that delivers to the Australian outback or a small island at the German coast.

They want desperately to cut delivery cost by taking out the human they have to pay for it to do the work. To do so they spent billions they could have used to pay these people a decent wage and hire more of them. It is dumb.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Don't those same issues apply to humans though? You can beat up or kill a human delivery driver and take everything in the truck just as easily as you could with a hypothetical robot.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

This is very true, but every porch pirate isn't a moral free tweaker willing to do whatever it takes to score. I think the average down on their luck schmuck would have fewer qualms vandalizing an automated delivery system.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am from Germany, our crime rate is very, very low. I doubt that many people here would think beating up or even killing a person is "as easy" as doing it to a funny looking delivery robot. Depending where you are from, that might be different though. If you live in a place where people actually see no difference between both and do one as easily as the other, then please stay safe!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Solution: every 17th drone is a decoy carrying a paint bomb to mark anyone who robs it or were just standing around not trying to defend it or defending it effectively enough. Then the Amazon corporate police can swoop in and deal with anyone with paint on them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

There are ways to prevent that, like alarms, notifying the police. These robots will absolutely have ways to be tracked at all times, cameras and all. You could also only use them for low value packages, so the effort is less worth it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

And use less energy since they don't have to fight gravity

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because there arent enough people to fill delivery jobs? Or is it that they'd want living wages and health insurance?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you seriously think we shouldn't try to automate things as much as possible? Why keep jobs that no one really wants to do?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because the reason no one wants to do those jobs is because they don't pay anything and they don't have any good benefits.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I would bet people don't want to do those jobs because they're not really fulfilling or enjoyable to most.