Great article but please don't forget about Dexa (Drone Express). We have a Part 135 unmanned ai carrier certificate and we manufacture our own aircraft that is certified on the S1 list. We just recently flew drone deliveries for Grubhub in NJ. We are small but mighty! 😀
How noisy are they? What is the impact on externalities? If a residence receives a delivery, how many others are impacted, and do they appreciate the sound? E.g., the largest pushbacks against data centers has been over noise issues.
When Zipline delivers blood in Rwanda, there is compelling societal value, but when neighbors can’t speak over the noise of 100 drones delivering 100 Big Macs you can expect NIMBY pushback in the form of government restrictions.
Patrick, agree. This is definitely one of the issues we’ll need to track as more of these deployments come online.
In my experience, you really only hear the drone once it gets close to the delivery point. During most of the flight it is 300+ feet up, high enough that you generally don’t notice it.
That said, we should absolutely take these externalities into consideration. Hopefully, through a combination of industry self-regulation and thoughtful regulation, we can address them as they emerge while balancing innovation and impact.
Great article but please don't forget about Dexa (Drone Express). We have a Part 135 unmanned ai carrier certificate and we manufacture our own aircraft that is certified on the S1 list. We just recently flew drone deliveries for Grubhub in NJ. We are small but mighty! 😀
Beth, thank you for pointing it out. I just updated my tracker and will make sure to include Dexa in future posts!
How noisy are they? What is the impact on externalities? If a residence receives a delivery, how many others are impacted, and do they appreciate the sound? E.g., the largest pushbacks against data centers has been over noise issues.
When Zipline delivers blood in Rwanda, there is compelling societal value, but when neighbors can’t speak over the noise of 100 drones delivering 100 Big Macs you can expect NIMBY pushback in the form of government restrictions.
I see larger dilemmas than cost per delivery.
Patrick, agree. This is definitely one of the issues we’ll need to track as more of these deployments come online.
In my experience, you really only hear the drone once it gets close to the delivery point. During most of the flight it is 300+ feet up, high enough that you generally don’t notice it.
That said, we should absolutely take these externalities into consideration. Hopefully, through a combination of industry self-regulation and thoughtful regulation, we can address them as they emerge while balancing innovation and impact.