[rhodo]

Drones are roughly as loud as a gas powered leaf blower [1]. I bet the hype is going to die real quick when people realize how annoying the noise is. Or at least I hope. Drones are cool but imagining the high-pitched whine of a even a few of these at all times gives me a headache.

[1] https://theconversation.com/drones-to-deliver-incessant-buzz...

[Groxx]

That article seems to be claiming that gas leafblowers are 80-85dB.

That's absolutely ridiculous. The quiet ones might be that low, but others can go well over 100dB.

(which is not intended to claim that drones are quieter - leafblower-ish volume sounds about right. they're noisy.)

[xwdv]

Um excuse me? Suburbs are filled with the sound of gas powered leaf blowers and monstrous riding mowers all the time from landscaping companies often for hours at a time what makes you think noise is the reason drones will be banned?

[jcims]

Drones tend to have a discordance and dimensionality to the sound that lawn equipment lacks.

[jbay808]

Yes definitely; it comes from the four motor whines all slightly out of tune with each other. It's a very annoying and alien sound.

[nitrogen]

It also triggers survival instincts due to the similarity with the sound of swarming insects.

[hannasanarion]

The average suburban home doesn't get 3 leafblowings a day.

[xwdv]

Doesn’t have to be the same home, any home can be getting blown and you’ll hear it.

[m463]

My friend showed me his dji mavic and it flew up and became inaudible

[ogre_codes]

This is my concern too. I'd far rather they waited a few more years and just used small electric cars on the roads than having loud ass drones buzzing overhead.

[TylerE]

Can't be any worse than the rumble of a UPS truck. That carries.

A drone, at least, can stay at an inaudible (say, 500ft) altitude for most of it's trip.

[foolfoolz]

The UPS truck comes to your street once a day. Maybe you get 3 delivery trucks total.

A drone could be in your neighborhood every hour all afternoon. There is someone near me who flies theirs at night, i can hear it much farther away than any delivery truck

[apaprocki]

That is not a general fact. UPS visits our street probably closer to 5 times per day. Then there’s FedEx, USPS, and Prime all also visiting multiple times per day. Thankfully they are not as loud as the landscape care outfits that run the gas powered blowers n’ mowers.

[cma]

For deliveries it could have wings and only be loud during vertical landings.

[shiftpgdn]

That UPS truck rumble will be long gone in a few years as Ford, Mercedes and Rivian roll out their electric trucks and vans.

[jcims]

And Arrival - https://www.engadget.com/2020-01-29-ups-arrival-electric-tru...

[CapitalistCartr]

They are definitely audible (clearly) at 500 feet.

[blackrock]

This sounds like a business opportunity for someone to create a noise canceling mechanism for drones.

Just a device to emit the counter sound waves to cancel out the drone itself.

[austinwade]

What a terrible outlook.

[mrfusion]

Why not design them like owls? Use flapping wings instead of propellers. Copy how the owls feathers are arranged for quite flight.

[hannasanarion]

Because owls only weigh 4 pounds and can only carry an additional 1 pound.

Also, bird flight isn't just "flap wings". Birds have similar dexterity in their wings as you have in your hands. They maneuver by changing the shape of their fingers.

[tzs]

Is that an inherent physical limit of the design of owls, or are owls not much bigger than that because that's the size that works best in their niche in their environment?

[jfengel]

I don't think anybody knows. We can't mechanically reproduce the motion of owl wings so there's no chance to see how far it scales.