Zipline: Next generation delivery drone system

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14 points·BSTRhino··10 comments

Another "innovation" shown in the eyes of CGI

I get it, but Zipline actually knows what they are talking about. I would imagine that they have more successful drone deliveries completed than all other operators combined.

> We're building on top of the tens of millions of miles we've already flown - half a million fully autonomous commercial deliveries over the last 7 years in 8 countries

https://twitter.com/ryanzip/status/1636107662596407296?s=20

But it's this exact argument I expect to see a video and not CGI

I would think that this is due to the need to raise money for the final product?

Aviation pro here… I am not so sure that Zipline does.

I have been an R/C hobbyist for years and what they have managed to do in Africa seems pretty darn neat. Not just the aircraft, but the operations.

What issues do see with their new design?

The absolute gall to say "you probably won't believe your eyes" on a simulated demonstration.

Several of the demonstrations were of real systems though (at least some of the drops and flight shots).

Yeah CGI is not the best way to showcase the working product, although I don't doubt that they could make it, since it's already fairly easy to do simple GPS-based mission planning[0].

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVz0EFG5auI (Disclaimer: I work with the video source on their local trajectory planning)

Further down the thread it gets a bit fantastical, I didn't realize it was a literal zipline they used, that may cause some issues wrt stability, still I hope it works out for them.

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