Delivery parcel drones
- 1. Drone Parcel Deliveries Team Members: Prateek Vijai Malra Tanvi Sharma Ashish Kumar Hota
- 2. History of rules related to drone use in the United States 2014: Initial attempts to use commercial drones in the US blocked by FAA August 2016: New FAA rules included guidelines for commercial use of small UAVs stating they must weigh less than 55 lb., fly up to a maximum of 400 feet (120 m), at a speed of no greater than 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), could only be operated during daytime, and that drone operators must also qualify for flying certificates and be at least 16-years old June 2017: The United States Senate proposed legislation to allow package deliveries by drones October 2017: A presidential directive was issued that called on the FAA and Transportation Department to work with local officials to create initiatives that would enable American companies to eventually use drones for delivery purposes
- 3. Milestones in drone technology 2013: Deutsche Post delivered a small quantity of medicines through a drone prototype called Parcelcopter 2014: Companies such as Amazon, Google, FedEx and La Poste conducted major tests and development of drone prototypes 2015: Ali Babas drone delivery service delivered tea to 450 customers in China, SF Express started used Xaircraft drones to provide delivery services in China 2016: Flirtey conducted the first fully-autonomous drone delivery in an unbar setting in the US. Amazon did its first drone delivery in the UK 2017: In China, e-commerce company JD.com widely used drones to deliver products to local contractors, who took the products to consumers in rural areas 2018: Boeing tested a cargo drone prototype capable of carrying upto 500 lb. payloads
- 4. Some ongoing developments and uses of delivery drones Amazon is testing drones for its Prime Air Brand and has said that 86% of its packages weigh less than five pounds UPS is testing drones that can be launched from traditional delivery vehicles. This will allow drivers to save fuel and deliver more packages, especially in rural areas where there may not be distribution centers DHL has developed fully-automated Packstations, which allow customers to insert a package that is delivered via drone with no human intervention Other companies have used drones to deliver blood samples from remote African villages to labs and hence, avoiding journeys through bad roads Typical UPS and FedEx ground delivery may cost 6 dollars per mile whereas drone delivery may cost just 5 cents per mile with delivery in just 30 minutes or so
- 5. Some examples of drone deliveries Amazon Prime Air: https://youtu.be/MXo_d6tNWuY Workhorse mating drones with delivery trucks: https://youtu.be/L8LepC4FNlg
- 6. Obstacles and disadvantages of using drone delivery Order staging: The process of docking will need to be redesigned and employees will need to be trained Weight limit: An order weighing above a certain weight will have to be distributed into multiple shipments leading to an increase in delivery costs which may be passed to the customer. Drones cannot do milk runs Drop ship vendors: Many retailers use drop ship vendors to deliver products to customers. Such vendors will have to invest in drones in order to remove competitive and stay in business Distance limit: Drones can fly only upto a certain distance at a time. When used for long distances, they will need to be carried by delivery trucks Investment: Developing drone technology requires a considerable time and money investment, which may not be possible for small companies Criminal use: Drones carrying items can be targeted by thieves and they can use them for smuggling Weather restrictions: Drones are not suitable in bad weather conditions such as snow, hail, rain and high winds Risk of failure: Drones are machines which can fail. They also share airspace with birds and other aerial objects leading to a fear of collision. If they fall down from a great height, they can get damaged along with the shipment they are carrying, thus leading to a loss Damage to property and injury: Collision of drones with property and humans can lead to monetary loss and injury Violation of privacy: Drones can conduct aerial videography and photography of peoples homes
- 7. Feasibility and advantages of using delivery drones Companies will have to satisfy all the regulatory requirements of FAA before they can use drones for delivery Companies will be able to use drones more effectively for smaller distances as drones may operate on batteries which may have a limited life Companies will need to ensure that there is no damage to property or humans as this will lead to a big damage to the companys reputation and a big setback to the use of drone delivery in industry Early adopters of drone delivery may get a huge advantage over laggards and non- adopters may be pushed out of business Delivery drones can provide huge savings in transportation costs (last-mile delivery costs) and warehousing costs Delivery of products within 30 minutes can lead to an all-time high customer satisfaction There will be less vehicles on the road and they will be carrying much less weight leading to a great reduction in emission of greenhouse gases
- 8. Economic analysis of the Amazon Prime Air model 86% of Amazons shipments weigh under 5 pounds (suitable for drone deliveries) Average cost of delivering one shipment is 88 cents If Amazon charges its customers $1 per delivery, it will earn 50% return on investment in drone infrastructure while offering a very inexpensive same-day delivery as compared to other options
- 9. References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delivery_drone http://www.fehrandpeers.com/drone-delivery/ https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/innovation/companies-cutting-edge- drone-delivery https://www.practicalecommerce.com/8-Obstacles-to-Drone-Delivery-for- Ecommerce https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/15/separating-fiction-from-feasibility-in- the-future-of-drone-delivery/ https://www.flexport.com/blog/drone-delivery-economics https://www.flexport.com/blog/drone-delivery-economics