[gee_totes]

Hate to be a negative nelly here, but what really turned me off about this project is how narcissistic it seemed. Offering folks at burning man autonomous robots that will deliver miniature statues of themselves seems the furthest thing from something that could actually help the world.

And then to top it off the whole thing is being made into a TV show? Count me out.

[stcredzero]

> Offering folks at burning man autonomous robots that will deliver miniature statues of themselves seems the furthest thing from something that could actually help the world.

That's not the end goal. If you can deliver a tchotchke to someone, you can also deliver a bottle of pills, documents, cellphone batteries, a Raspberry Pi, or small craft items. Remember that lots of places in the 3rd world don't have roads. Lots of places aren't even very passable by foot in parts of the year. Having any kind of infrastructure at all is a win and will enable better healthcare and more economic activity.

What better way to test such a service than to send trivialities to 1st and 0th worlders? No one's going to die if they don't get their statue, and they might even donate to the cause anyhow. Someone might die without their pills, or their business might take a big hit without a part or a battery. Better to practice on the Burners than on people who actually need it.

[gee_totes]

Thanks for the response, it really got me thinking. I was about to tear down your critique bit by bit -- you think healthcare is all about delivering pills? -- what do you know about roads in the 3rd world -- etc, etc -- but then I realized something vis a vis the 3rd world road analogy.

Why aren't the positioning the autonomous drone delivery network as something that is more useful for the first world? I think running drone networks to deliver medicine and small good is merely a stopgap measure to building roads. And once roads are built, I feel that real economic growth can finally commence.

<aside>In fact, having this drone delivery network in the 3rd world may retard the development of roads; roads will only be needed to transport big things, and people can get by with continuous delivery of small things via autonomous drones, thus it will take longer for roads to be built because there will be less demand.</aside>

If this dialectic between roads and these drones exists the 3rd world (or rather, our idealized 3rd world with no roads), what about the first? Couldn't these drones be used to reduce the number of delivery trucks, as small, light items would simply be delivered by drone? Think of the reduction in carbon emissions and the reduced cost of road maintenance that would be the result of shrinking fleets of delivery trucks.

The above scenario, I feel, would make for a better pitch video. Showing me how this network can be scaled to improve the environment (and roads) around me is going to make me much more likely to open my wallet than telling me a story about some imaginary farmer with a broken tractor part that can be printed up with a 3D printer.

[stcredzero]

> I was about to tear down your critique bit by bit -- you think healthcare is all about delivering pills? -- what do you know about roads in the 3rd world

It's good you didn't because the 1st one would be putting words in my mouth, and it's apparent I know a little bit more about roads in the 3rd world than you do. (I've actually traveled and worked in parts of the world where there are no roads whatsoever, no electricity/gas/landlines/mobile whatsoever, locals have to take a boat 2 miles on the river to get their mail, and planes have to land on the beach.)

> I think running drone networks to deliver medicine and small good is merely a stopgap measure to building roads. And once roads are built, I feel that real economic growth can finally commence.

You should read the Matternet site. That is exactly the idea. It's a good hand-up idea. Once you enable healthcare, government, and economic activity, you enable the local population to build and maintain real infrastructure. Drones are interesting precisely because they are potentially low cost and "better than nothing."

> In fact, having this drone delivery network in the 3rd world may retard the development of roads; roads will only be needed to transport big things, and people can get by with continuous delivery of small things via autonomous drones, thus it will take longer for roads to be built because there will be less demand.

Unlikely. Drones are simply better than nothing. Once you have more economic activity, then you have the local economic base for real infrastructure, like roads.

[arialogistics]

gee_totes,

Delivery in what you describe as "the first world" can only happen when FAA and Air Space regulations change. Currently this is not the case and the Obama administration has proposed to open up the air space for commercial applications in 2014.

The regulations are only the first, there is also ITAR which prevents you from selling drones in the first place.

I agree that there will be much better application in cities. It is all part of building a roadless world and this is what we are doing at ARIA.

As for "imaginary farmers", I am glad you see different applications of the network. Since ARIA is focused on building infrastructure and NOT final applications, I think you should pursue such application.

We believe we are at the dawn of a roadless economy. An open backbone that can handle traffic control and prevent high-speed collisions of tiny UAVs is needed.

You can learn more at www.Aria-Logistics.com

Thanks,

Arturo