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Roads? Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Roads!
The first IAA approved drone delivery took place earlier this year, bringing the experimental technology one step closer to mainstream acceptance. But is a future of urban skies dotted with freight drones really on its way or is it all just science fiction?
The rst drone delivery approved by the Irish Aviation Authority taking o from Dun Laoghaire. Image Credit: IAA.
It’s a Saturday in late January, the first drone delivery approved by the Irish Aviation Authority has just taken place in Dun Laoghaire. This flight is the culmination of
work done by ten year old Belle Moore, a student of Alexan- dra College Junior School in Milltown. It’s all part of the research for her project on drones for the Intel Mini Scientist Competition.
At 5pm the drone took off from the Dun Laoghaire shoreline taking two minutes to successfully deliver a package to its target – a boat at sea almost 200 meters away. The package contained life-saving supplies: an emergency thermal blanket, an EpiPen, bandages, plasters, thermometer, first aid leaflet, gloves, wipes, burn dressings, high-energy bars and water. Advocates of drone technology have long pointed to such important uses as this – the ability to deliver essential items to people in emergency situations. Nonetheless, one could just as easily image a drone delivering the latest iPhone, a pair of slippers, a take-away pizza... you name it.
As demonstrated by Belle Moore and those involved in the first IAA approved drone delivery, new possibilities have now opened up in what has always been one of the most complicated stages of supply chain – last mile delivery. Drones are being touted by Amazon and Google as the next step in home delivery, with each making significant R&D investment in the area. There is no shortage of displays of confidence in this new technology – executives at Google Wing claim they will deliver packages this year via drone, Amazon brazenly featured an ad during the recent NFL Superbowl which showed a couple re-ordering Doritos through Amazon Air (Amazon’s as-of-yet hypothetical drone delivery service) while venture capitalist investment in drone delivery start-ups is at an all-time high. The question is no longer whether drone delivery is possible but rather can it become economically viable, and if so, will it meet the regulatory requirements?
The successful drone delivery in Dun Laoghaire in January came about only after much careful planning and monitoring on the part of the IAA. Resolving issues around regulation and public health and safety will be crucial to any future progress in drone delivery technology. Significantly, Ireland was the first country in the world to introduce mandatory registration for all drones over 1kg. There are currently over 6,000 drones and small aircraft registered with the IAA and
that number continues to grow. Yet, we shouldn’t expect to see these small devices overhead anytime soon. Legislation prohibits users from operating their drones in many different scenarios, such as over an assembly of people or farther than 300m from the operator or indeed within 120m of any person, vessel or structure not under the operator’s control. Drones are also not permitted if they will be a hazard to another aircraft in flight; or closer than 5km from an aerodrome; or over 400ft (120m) above ground level; or over urban areas; or in civil or military controlled airspace; or in restricted areas (e.g. military installations, prisons, etc.); or if the operator hasn’t received permission from the landowner for take-off and landing. In other words, flying a drone over 1kg is highly prohibitive and would not, as of yet, be a practical solution for any courier or delivery service.
Beyond the regulation restrictions, perhaps an even greater hindrance to the proliferation of the technology is the question of economic viability. There are two primary factors to consider when it comes to this: route density and drop size. Route density is the number of drop offs you can make on a delivery route, often called a “milk-run” in industry parlance. Drop-size is the number of parcels per stop on the milk run. If you make lots of deliveries over a short period of time or distance, the cost per delivery will be low. Likewise, if you drop off lots of parcels at the same location, the cost per parcel will be low. The current prototypes that companies have unveiled usually carry just one package and once the drone makes its delivery it has to fly all the way back to its home base to recharge its batteries and pick up the next package. Comparing this to a typical van delivery, which can make upwards of 100 stops on a single route, delivering multiple packages each time, drone delivery fares poorly. As it stands, it is hard to imagine drone delivery being a competitive option. As a home delivery service, drones may well be a technological solution in search of a problem.
However, the “milk-run” comparison, which seems to negate the effectiveness of drone delivery, might not be the only factor at play in terms of their economic viability. There is also something we shall call the “Amazon factor”, for lack of a better term. The “Amazon factor” prioritises customer experience over all other considerations, including short-term profit. In this light then, Amazon’s potential drone service, Amazon Air,
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DRONE DELIVERY