by Ric | Jan 12, 2020 | Land, News Brief |
Bipedal Package Delivery Drones? 0 Comments Written by Ric January 12, 2020 Image Source: Agility Robotics Ford recently announced they bought the first two units of Agility Robotics’ “Digit”, a commercially available bipedal package delivery robot that can pick and stack packages of up to 40 lbs (18 kg). The move is part of Ford’s current exploration into last-mile logistics, particularly in the case of supporting self-driving delivery vans. Digit’s bipedal design allows it to better navigate through complex, human environments such as stairs, a key obstacle for autonomous curb-to-doorstep delivery. It’s four degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) arms also allow it to it push open doors or even push itself up after falling down. According to the Verge, each Digit unit is priced in the low to mid six figures. However when factoring in maintenance and lifespan, this number roughly translates into an hourly cost of ~ $25. In addition to door-to-door logistics, the 100 pound (45 kg) Digit could potentially perform warehouse/stockroom work, or even infrastructure inspection as part of its delivery route. Image Source: Agility Robotics Related Articles Browse All Categories...
by Ric | Oct 23, 2017 | Land, News Brief |
Mail delivery robot “assistant” will automatically follow postal workers in Germany PostBOT is an all-weather, ground-based drone that will accompany postal workers along their delivery routes. It can carry up to 150 kg (330 lb) of mail and packages. The robot was designed with considerable input from Deutsche Post personnel and was built by the French company Effidence which won the DHL Robotics Challenge last year. The main goal of this mail-toting machine is to ease the physical challenge of the job even as the postal workers continue to age. The current version of PostBOT is 150 cm (4 ft 11 inches) tall and can travel at speeds of up to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). In case you are wondering how the four-wheeled mail delivery bot will handle steps, well, according to The Postal Hub there are no steps in Bad Hersfeld where the six week trial is set to begin later this year. It will be interesting to see how PostBOT will interact with the Parcelcopter, DHL’s tiltwing delivery...
by Ric | Oct 24, 2016 | Air, Land, Sea, Type |
Last update: 23 OCTOBER 2016 CompanyDrone NameChassisDescriptionPayload (kg / lb)Range (km / mi)Flight Time (minutes)Speed (kph/mph)Cargo TypeDelivery MethodControl SystemNetwork DHLParcelcopter 3.0TiltwingJames Bond drone2.0 / 4.48.3 / 5.2-70 / 43.5ParcelStationAutonomousCommercial DHLParcelcopter 2.0QuadcopterOver the sea we go!1.2 / 2.612 / 7.5-43 / 26.7ParcelContainerAutonomousCommercial DHLParcelcopter 1.0QuadcopterThe Pioneer1.2 / 2.61 / 0.6-43 / 26.7ParcelContainerAutonomousCommercial PRODRONEPD6B-AW-ARMHexacopterHas arms!20 / 44-3060 / 37.3ParcelWinch / ContainerPilotIndividual PRODRONEPD6BHexacopterHigh payload30 / 66-3060 / 37.3ParcelWinch / ContainerPilotIndividual PRODRONEPD6-AWHexacopterFast5 / 11-5076 / 47ParcelWinch / ContainerPilotIndividual PRODRONEPD6E2000-AWHexacopterHigh output10 / 22-5065 / 40.4ParcelWinch / ContainerPilotIndividual PRODRONEPD4-AWQuadcopterWaterproof and unlimited power!3.5 / 7.7-4060 / 37.3ParcelContainerPilotIndividual This database is frequently updated. Check back often. WANT MORE? WHY NOT TRY THE PREMIUM VERSION OF THE DATABASE? Free For All $0 Basic Payload DataBasic Range DataBasic Speed DataBasic Description FREE Premium For Analysis $79 Free DB ContentDrone DimensionsBattery InformationImagesCompany LinksExcel Version PURCHASE Data + Consulting For Big Projects $$ Premium ContentCompetitor AnalysisPresentationsConsulting...
by Ric | Dec 8, 2015 | Land |
How one company is betting on ground-based autonomous delivery solutions (delivery bots) to buck the airborne delivery drones trend. Unmanned Cargo Delivery Concept – Chronicle 23 Skype Co-Founders Launch The Starship ‘Ground Drone’ For Deliveries (November 5, 2015) (Editor’s Note: Are wheeled ground drones traveling along on city sidewalks a more realistic alternative to aerial drones for autonomous last mile deliveries? Maybe. It all depends in what environment they will operate. Gated communities, university campuses and retirement villages are likely candidates…) What the Article Chronicles: According to Strategy&, by 2035 we will be living in a world where 1/6 of the cars on the road are driverless and 4 to 6 deliveries per week are made by drones. A world where brick and mortar stores will function more like distribution centers complete with rooftop landing pads for UAVs and garages for driverless delivery vehicle fleets. So it doesn’t come as a surprise to hear that two former co-founders of Skype, already experienced in “disrupting” traditional industries, have created an Estonian start-up that will produce small ground-based autonomous drones that look “like a fridge on wheels with blinking LED lights”. The goal? To deliver groceries and other small goods in a way that will satisfy the e-customers constant desire for instant gratification services. The terrestrial 6-wheeled concept will likely be able to deliver about 2 grocery bags worth of cargo – 20 lb (9 kg) within 5 to 30 minutes at 1/10 to 1/15 the price of conventional delivery. A mobile app would allow customers to track their delivery. The same app would allow them to unlock the Starship,...
by Ric | Dec 3, 2015 | Land |
Delivery Drone Service Concepts – Lifting Railroad Freight Containers Can delivery drones be used in other areas besides home delivery? Are Cargo Container Stacking Drones (CCSDs) feasible? Unmanned Cargo Delivery Concept – Chronicle 22 The benefits of automation – higher productivity, reduced cost and increased safety – are very alluring, particularly in places of very busy logistics activities such as railroad yards (or ports) where if something goes wrong during the handling and stacking of freight containers, they can become bottlenecks affecting the entire supply chain. Given that the transportation of containers by rail is significantly growing (particularly in places like China) there will be a need to further automatize and speed up the handling and stacking of freight containers in railyards. Automation of gantry cranes is already becoming commonplace, but how about the other transport agents such as reach stackers? Could a reach stacker be programmed to handle and stack containers autonomously? Taking it a step further, could drones do the trick? As mentioned in a previous post, drones can theoretically already deliver a 4,000 lb car to your driveway so why could they not theoretically deliver the 62,170 lb (28,200 kg) payload of 20-foot freight containers? What would it take to make these drones a reality? The basics of the technology needed do appear to already exist. Precise positioning systems would have to be integrated into these drones to help them measure dimensions and contours of the containers to be transported. Unmanned gantry cranes can position containers within +/- 50 mm. The technology already exists, so it would just be a matter of shrinking and integrating the technology...
by Ric | Oct 27, 2015 | Land |
Will driverless truck become the norm? Unmanned Cargo Delivery Concept – Chronicle 19 Rio Tinto shifts to driverless trucks in Australia (October 19, 2015) (Editor’s Note: Rio Tinto’s Komatsu Autonomous Haulage System trucks in action can be found here. A similar video created by Hitachi trucks can be found here.) The Rio Tinto mining company certainly thinks so. Similar in scope (but not necessarily in size) to the Daimler Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz Actros autonomous truck concepts, the British-Australian mining group currently operates a fleet of 69 automated trucks collectively moving approximately 20 million tons of iron ore per month at the Yandicoogina and Nammuldi mine sites in Pilbara, Western Australia. By eliminating breaks, shift changes and absenteeism, their “autonomous fleet outperforms its manned fleet by an average of 12 percent”, states their iron ore chief executive, Andrew Harding. Automatization improves utilization efficiency and thus reduces haulage costs and capital expenditure costs. Industry insiders estimate each autonomous mining truck can save 500 work hours per year. Official Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) / Drone Name: Autonomous Haulage System (AHS), part of the Rio Tinto “Mine of the Future” program launched back in 2008. Operation Specifics: In operation, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Remotely supervised by a control center 1,200 km (750 miles) away in Perth, Australia. The autonomous trucks depend on GPS directions, Lidar and millimeter wave radar to deliver their loads. Future Applications: Autonomous Haulage Systems are here to stay as the world’s biggest miners turn to technology to cut costs and increase profits. These unmanned trucks will be used in cooperation with Rio Tinto’s “AutoHaul”, their fully-autonomous heavy haul, long distance railway...