People have found many useful
applications for modern drones and quadcopters. Other than their use for
military operations, intelligence and surveillance, they are now widely being
employed by large companies for logistics and transport of goods. This area has
a complete competitive edge for companies since a large part of their business
relies on efficient and fast delivery of goods. Drones are not just used for
the delivery purpose they are also used for the other areas related to
logistics including management, storage and supervision of the transport of
goods.
In most cases of transport, speed is
very crucial. This is particularly true for spare part logistics within a
factory. If machines fail to work, there is a huge loss of time and revenue.
Transport drones are able to move these spare parts quickly and hence save a
lot of manpower and time. Transport drones are operating quite successfully in
a factory setup where they provide their services 24/7 and without any sort of
delays or accidents. However, these machines need to be improved so that they
can carry more payloads and fly more efficiently and securely to their
destinations.
Features of Drones Used for Logistics and Transport
Drones used in transport are able to
carry a payload of 400g to 5000g. There are different types of UAVs currently
in use for this purpose and the flight time depends on the specifications of
these machines including battery life and equipment. Usually up to 30 minutes
is considered an average flight time for these drones. The machines also
provide an attractive feature of autopilot, which means the drone is able to
fly autonomously in a specified range without the need for a transmitter or remote
controller.
Companies offering drone transport ensure
redundancy in their design of flight electronics and their powerful motors and
accumulators ensure a safe drone flight and guaranteed delivery of goods to
their destination. The drone has cognitive abilities due to the availability of
a special sensor technology on board. This UAV is able to sense its
surroundings by perception and analysis. An optical sensor is fitted on the
drone that senses objects and sends data for further action.
The drones can be controlled with
the help of software on a PC that provides the following functions:
·
Flight planning
·
Flight
stability
·
Real-time
visualization
·
Integration
with Google Maps and Google Earth
These transport drones are not like
the ones available off-the-shelf for personal or commercial use. Those are
small devices with or without a camera designed mostly like a quadcopter and
sometimes equipped with a GPS and some other features. However, transport
drones are designed more like a delivery vehicle and have enough space to
securely house a package as well as some extra sensors to deliver the package
safely and with success.
Future of Drones in Transport
Currently drones are helping many companies
to realize fast delivery and pickup to go ahead of their competitors. The
future direction in this area is to allow drones to stop in mid-air and hand
over the package to another drone that it meets during the flight. Flying
robots are also being tested to be used for this purpose and they are expected
to be faster and more reliable than drones. Moreover, it is being experimented
that how these machines can be made more cost-efficient and more flexible to allow
catering to a large number of applications in the logistics and transport
industry.
In future, transport drones will be developed
with sense-and-avoid technology. It will enable them to sense obstacles in
order to avoid colliding with them in mid-air. If companies decide to deliver
their products to customers through drones, they will need to make sure that
the package is not lost in transit. Otherwise it will be a complete failure and
a huge loss. Since these machines are supposed to be fully autonomous or highly
automated, there is also a chance of having them hacked by hackers. This is
another area which needs to be addressed before transport drones can become a
reality for companies wanting to deliver their merchandise to customers at
their doorstep.
Amazon’s Delivery Drone
In 2015, Amazon announced its
delivery drone to the world that would be able to deliver packages in a matter
of hours after a person buys a product from the store online. The vehicle was
developed for the facility Prime Air that provides same-day delivery to
customers who opt for it. This drone would be able to deliver the package
within 30 minutes of order placement on the internet. According to Amazon,
their small drones are designed to weigh not more than 25kg. However, one
drawback of this prime delivery is that you can only order items that weight
less than 5 lbs. These machines will be totally autonomous and complete their
mission without human intervention. They are also able to return to their home after
successful delivery of the package. Amazon launched a video on YouTube that
demonstrate how this drone will find the recipient’s address and then figure
out where to land by inspecting the backyard of the house. The customer would
need a landing square to place in the backyard, which will be recognized by the
drone. Once the package is delivered, the customer will take the square back in
the house.
However, this whole thing made a lot
of people perplexed on how exactly it would be achieved because of so many
orders being placed every minute in the USA alone. Would there be a horde of
drones all over the place flying to their destinations? How would every
customer get its package within 30 minutes of placing an order?
These and many other questions have
been answered by a representative from Amazon. There is a security risk
involved with such type of delivery but let’s see how Amazon handles it in the
future and changes the world of online shopping by making it possible for
people to receive their packages so quickly and efficiently!
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