8 ms·

A video from Mark Rober about Zipline, to get an idea. I was very impressed when I first heard of them. https://youtu.be/DOWDNBu9DkU https://youtu.be/DOWDNBu9D

A video from Mark Rober about Zipline, to get an idea. I was very impressed when I first heard of them. https://youtu.be/DOWDNBu9DkU https://youtu.be/DOWDNBu9DkU

RC_ITR 3y ago
For those that watched the video - what is being approved is the 'Sparrow' which is the catapult-launched drone they use in Africa. All the 'hover over the house and winch down the package' aspects are still vaporware.
ashton314 3y ago
The blood-delivery-via-catapulted-drone is pretty awesome. Video is definitely worth a watch!
- Semaphor 3y ago
  Yeah, it starts with the US drones, and those are nice, but just vastly less cool than what is used in Rwanda, which the video quickly pivots to.
  - XorNot 3y ago
    I mean, the part where it's pure electric is what strikes me as a significant for other applications: this is an adaptation in logistics that can be rolled out independent of people's personal transport preferences. Every bit of volume pretty directly can knock some ICE usage off the road, and more importantly because batteries are integral to the process it's pretty amenable to be running purely on renewables. That's a hell of "technology which can just plain make everything better" possibility.
    - Semaphor 3y ago
      I guess for me the difference is that one is only now being tested in the USA. And even if successful, it will take forever to come here in Germany, especially in any place but Berlin/Hamburg/Munich. And the other one is in active use.
  - aikinai 3y ago
    Completely agree; he should have led the video with the medical drones. When it was recommended by the algorithm, I watched a few seconds and then closed it—Okay, another drone delivery company... But then someone personally recommended I watch it so I gave it another chance and loved the Rwandan section!
fillskills 3y ago
Came here to post this. Its one of the most amazing videos for me : combines medicine, engineering, entrepreneurship and flying!! Look forward to more of their successes.
- amelius 3y ago
  Also a nice peek at the Rwandese community.
nomilk 3y ago
> when your lunch only weighs a few ounces, delivering it in 2-ton gas powered vehicles is wildly inefficient Seems absurd when it's put like that. This is possibly something we'll look back on and struggle to comprehend how it was ever the go-to solution.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- bnegreve 3y ago
  The size of these vehicles is certainly absurd, but flying packages with drones that consume most of their energy to fight gravity does not seem particularly efficient either, (e.g. compared to small road electric vehicles with the same payload, which would have its own practical problems).
  - XorNot 3y ago
    Aircraft are more energy efficient then cars[1] at scale. But even a light plane like a Cessna 172 does 13L/100KM[2] depending on flight speed. Certainly more then my Prius, but it can take a much more direct route too. There's also the simple practical issue: self-driving cars can't navigate a complex crowded environment, whereas self-flying planes navigate a much simpler environment with many more regulatory controls on behavior. [1] https://www.sustainablebusiness.com/2014/02/surprisingly-airplanes-more-energy-efficient-than-cars-52127/ https://www.sustainablebusiness.com/2014/02/surprisingly-air... [2] https://www.flyouts.com/vliegtuig/cessna-172 https://www.flyouts.com/vliegtuig/cessna-172
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - cma 3y ago
      If Prius was adapted to run optimally on extremely high octane leaded fuel what could it get?
      - 3y ago
gniv 3y ago
They’ve been doing those deliveries in Rwanda for 6 years! Very impressive. This video has a bit more info and is less rushed: https://youtu.be/jEbRVNxL44c?si=vWGAmhDr2nyA-vDu https://youtu.be/jEbRVNxL44c?si=vWGAmhDr2nyA-vDu
nlh 3y ago
Quick tangential question: I watched a few seconds that video and was immediately struck by how Mark sounds so....YouTube'ey? What is it about his intonation and narration style that is so distinctly YouTube? I don't watch enough YouTube to get a sense for whether it's distinct to him or to an entire class of popular channels. Every sentence or two is a "quip" - it's loud and sing-song'y. Lots of phrases seem to end on a rising tone (my parents used to call this "upspeak?" because it sounds like you're asking a question? all the time?). Where/when did this style arise?
- waldothedog 3y ago
  Can’t say for sure where it comes from. But upspeak and it’s tangential culture does more psychic damage to me than advertising, “bad ux”, dubious business models, and most of the other common gripes on here
- cosmojg 3y ago
  > I cut my finger making lunch? So I placed an order for some bandaids a couple minutes ago? And now they're four seconds away! That is a nearly silent drone system that can deliver a package from the sky? Right to my backyard in as little as two minutes? With dinner plate accuracy! Where else do people talk like this? What motivates this kind of speech?
  - new_user_final 3y ago
    You can ask ChatGPT to make it 500 words intro. It will sound natural, just like, how you talk with your friends. People don't want to wait for someone talking something 5 minutes then realize that it's not the video they want to watch. The idea is that you want to say everything about the video within 10/15 seconds to make viewer interested. Just like how you want that the title of HN story must be under 80 character, not 800. Do you start conversation with someone by saying 80 words then go on for 30 minute?
  - marcosdumay 3y ago
    > Where else do people talk like this? On TV, but it got out of fashion recently. There's a Monty Python sketch about an island full of foreign news reporters that's quite illustrating.
sllabres 3y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c

A video from Mark Rober about Zipline, to get an idea. I was very impressed when I first heard of them. https://youtu.be/DOWDNBu9DkU https://youtu.be/DOWDNBu9DkU

RC_ITR 3y ago

For those that watched the video - what is being approved is the 'Sparrow' which is the catapult-launched drone they use in Africa. All the 'hover over the house and winch down the package' aspects are still vaporware.

ashton314 3y ago

The blood-delivery-via-catapulted-drone is pretty awesome. Video is definitely worth a watch!

Semaphor 3y ago
Yeah, it starts with the US drones, and those are nice, but just vastly less cool than what is used in Rwanda, which the video quickly pivots to.
- XorNot 3y ago
  I mean, the part where it's pure electric is what strikes me as a significant for other applications: this is an adaptation in logistics that can be rolled out independent of people's personal transport preferences. Every bit of volume pretty directly can knock some ICE usage off the road, and more importantly because batteries are integral to the process it's pretty amenable to be running purely on renewables. That's a hell of "technology which can just plain make everything better" possibility.
  - Semaphor 3y ago
    I guess for me the difference is that one is only now being tested in the USA. And even if successful, it will take forever to come here in Germany, especially in any place but Berlin/Hamburg/Munich. And the other one is in active use.
- aikinai 3y ago
  Completely agree; he should have led the video with the medical drones. When it was recommended by the algorithm, I watched a few seconds and then closed it—Okay, another drone delivery company... But then someone personally recommended I watch it so I gave it another chance and loved the Rwandan section!

fillskills 3y ago

Came here to post this. Its one of the most amazing videos for me : combines medicine, engineering, entrepreneurship and flying!! Look forward to more of their successes.

amelius 3y ago
Also a nice peek at the Rwandese community.

nomilk 3y ago

> when your lunch only weighs a few ounces, delivering it in 2-ton gas powered vehicles is wildly inefficient Seems absurd when it's put like that. This is possibly something we'll look back on and struggle to comprehend how it was ever the go-to solution.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
bnegreve 3y ago
The size of these vehicles is certainly absurd, but flying packages with drones that consume most of their energy to fight gravity does not seem particularly efficient either, (e.g. compared to small road electric vehicles with the same payload, which would have its own practical problems).
- XorNot 3y ago
  Aircraft are more energy efficient then cars[1] at scale. But even a light plane like a Cessna 172 does 13L/100KM[2] depending on flight speed. Certainly more then my Prius, but it can take a much more direct route too. There's also the simple practical issue: self-driving cars can't navigate a complex crowded environment, whereas self-flying planes navigate a much simpler environment with many more regulatory controls on behavior. [1] https://www.sustainablebusiness.com/2014/02/surprisingly-airplanes-more-energy-efficient-than-cars-52127/ https://www.sustainablebusiness.com/2014/02/surprisingly-air... [2] https://www.flyouts.com/vliegtuig/cessna-172 https://www.flyouts.com/vliegtuig/cessna-172
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - cma 3y ago
    If Prius was adapted to run optimally on extremely high octane leaded fuel what could it get?
    - 3y ago

gniv 3y ago

They’ve been doing those deliveries in Rwanda for 6 years! Very impressive. This video has a bit more info and is less rushed: https://youtu.be/jEbRVNxL44c?si=vWGAmhDr2nyA-vDu https://youtu.be/jEbRVNxL44c?si=vWGAmhDr2nyA-vDu

nlh 3y ago

Quick tangential question: I watched a few seconds that video and was immediately struck by how Mark sounds so....YouTube'ey? What is it about his intonation and narration style that is so distinctly YouTube? I don't watch enough YouTube to get a sense for whether it's distinct to him or to an entire class of popular channels. Every sentence or two is a "quip" - it's loud and sing-song'y. Lots of phrases seem to end on a rising tone (my parents used to call this "upspeak?" because it sounds like you're asking a question? all the time?). Where/when did this style arise?

waldothedog 3y ago
Can’t say for sure where it comes from. But upspeak and it’s tangential culture does more psychic damage to me than advertising, “bad ux”, dubious business models, and most of the other common gripes on here
cosmojg 3y ago
> I cut my finger making lunch? So I placed an order for some bandaids a couple minutes ago? And now they're four seconds away! That is a nearly silent drone system that can deliver a package from the sky? Right to my backyard in as little as two minutes? With dinner plate accuracy! Where else do people talk like this? What motivates this kind of speech?
- new_user_final 3y ago
  You can ask ChatGPT to make it 500 words intro. It will sound natural, just like, how you talk with your friends. People don't want to wait for someone talking something 5 minutes then realize that it's not the video they want to watch. The idea is that you want to say everything about the video within 10/15 seconds to make viewer interested. Just like how you want that the title of HN story must be under 80 character, not 800. Do you start conversation with someone by saying 80 words then go on for 30 minute?
- marcosdumay 3y ago
  > Where else do people talk like this? On TV, but it got out of fashion recently. There's a Monty Python sketch about an island full of foreign news reporters that's quite illustrating.

sllabres 3y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEbRVNxL44c