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Comment by LargoLasskhyfv | Hacker News Reader

Watching this, several observations:

Why does it have to be in a cabin, even lifted up into it, while most pallets/boxes are shrink-wrapped already?

If avoiding shrink wrapping because plastics, use standardized hoods with deposit, if you have to. Works for pallets/boxes already.

They could do with the net, like shown there anyways.

Also some lighter mechanism which goes into the pallet/box from below, since they are standardized. Or good old rope/chains/somesuch.

Lastly, why the EFFING EFF is he wearing a helmet while riding a Cargo-TRI-Cycle, which won't go above 25kph ever?

Also: Can I have one with joystick to sit in? *g*

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I think the cabin is primarily for weatherproofing purposes. In my experience with shipping/receiving big boxes and pallets of stuff (in the US), shrink wrapping is not a given. Even most shrink wrapped shipments are not weatherproof to the degree where they would remain totally dry when flown under a drone during a rainstorm. Usually the shrink wrapping makes it more "drip proof," for brief periods of sitting outside while being transferred between warehouses/vehicles.

IMO, holding customers to a higher standard of weatherproofing is a non-starter. Adoption of drone transport will be more popular if customers can basically assume the weather exposure is the same as with conventional transport.

Cabin also reduces drag, even if it might seem low. Combined with weatherproofing and general enhancement to protection in case anything comes loose, it simply makes sense to me.

Could be. But I've been under the impression they don't move that fast. Cabin or not. Perceived benefit seems to be more direct line of flight, if allowed at all.

I think the netting/chaining of cargo won't work as the winds here in Germany can get quite strong, making the cargo's weight less balanced and messing up the drone's stability.

Then use two L-shaped bars in between the landing skids, fixed to the top structure and/or landing skids. Have two other bars swing down from the top on the other side of the pallet/box, have them lock in. Should be still lighter.

Also I know about the winds because I live in HH and bicycle there all the time ;)

Shouldn't really matter when you think about what even things like Ardupilot or similar firmware for drones can do to stabilize flight in all sorts of situations.

It's just a matter of scale. And that thing has way more propellers to dynamically counteract any imbalances than the small hobbyist things.

I don't know. It looks overdesigned to me. Form should follow function. In vague comparison this looks like the first railroad wagons for passengers still somehow looking like horse-drawn chariots. Makes no sense to me.

alternatively, it is designed enough to ensure a margin of safety required in an experimental aircraft hauling cargo? The expectation should be to anticipate and minimize all failure modes, not to count on shrink-wrap.

source: I have moved a lot of pallets of things, shrink wrap is not for safety it is for convenience. Getting off axis at all with shrink wrap results in failure. (this is why lifting pallets with a skidsteer is much riskier than with a forklift where the pallet is always horizontal.)

I didn't suggest to count on shrink-wrap, but on reusable hoods, and some sort of net over that. The net can be see in the video.

I also have moved countless pallets and boxes a really loong time ago for about a year. In an eight (metric) ton forklift, going up to 12 meters high, and up to 35kph fast. Needing a change of batteries by another forklift every other half of the shift ;>

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