BYD cars now have an on-vehicle DJI drone launch platform | Hacker News Reader

BYD cars now have an on-vehicle DJI drone launch platform

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30 pointsnickthegreek20 comments

I wonder it'd make sense to rent out vehicle drone launchpads for delivery drones to attach to to hitchhike, while recharging. You could imagine a fleet of always-connected private cars uploading their autopilot routes, and a parallel fleet of quadcopters matching *their* routes and picking out optimal carriers.

- extend range

- higher uptime due to recharging

Clearly you need the right incentives for drivers.

Poland had a neat system for hitchhikers back in the day. A hitchhiker bought a book of tickets. It included a small, distinct sign to hold up to signal drivers. When you got a ride, you tore off a coupon the driver, and each ticket was ... (drum roll please...) a lottery ticket.

So, every lift you gave gave you the driver a non-zero shot at a prize.

This is something that Chinese company are very good at. Partnership and working together to deliver Amazon products.

Western companies are more like "protected garden" with big companies very afraid to share innovation and sure that they can only strive supported by their own strong "intellectual property"!

s/Amazon/amazing/ but really funny honestly.

This has the potential for social media to create influencing videos for BYD.

I love the concept: if your car is a status symbol then you want great videos of your car in spectacular situations.

A bit like the drones that follow you while skiing or biking. Probably mostly about admiring yourself or bragging, but perhaps sometimes useful for other feedback.

Because it is relatively expensive, perhaps that is a good selection bias for valuable influencers?

I had this idea for a long time, but for bikes And of course for speeding. You launch the drone, which can go at tremendous speeds. Goes ahead, and reports back if any cars-tractors-cops-whatever are in your way. So you could react faster or the bike itself could brake before the obstacle would appear on your horizon.

Idea is 8 years old

https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/07/land-rovers-new-discovery-...

To what end?

Could be cool for recording video, or scouting traffic patterns?

Traffic patterns have basically been solved by maps/waze/whatever. And you really don't want to be watching that screen even in a slow moving traffic. Recording video... maybe, but is that ever an in-the-moment thing? I never had an "I'd like to film my car going at city speeds" thought.

This is a consumer version of what the PLA is probably deploying for military operations already.

Imagine a Humvee-equivalent with integrated drone scout giving real-time threat and mobility assessments... or for targeting support for air power.

Or a mesh network. Getting a signal is probably easier if you've got a repeater hovering above.

Based on the application domain, I want my personal security auto-mobile drone to resemble the gyrocopter in Mad Max.

A good way to create a dual-use technology in order to monetize it, amortize the development costs, and achieve production economics of scale.

For that matter, check out what China is doing with Ro-Ro ships. Amphibious assault -adjacent.

Top down view to you can drive like a videogame?

I can imagine using this tech to take high-res landscape videos while driving through wilderness regions or places with amazing vistas in general. You'd obviously need a co-pilot to actually operate the drone, but you could get some really amazing footage on the way to a camp site and while you're camped too. Could be cool for capturing candid videos during parties or at family reunions or such.

Surveying a pipeline, canal, electrical/communication line, rooftop. Drones are standard tools for site survey; you can inspect infrastructure without the same risk of human injury.

The Green Hornet used a car-launched drone to fight crime in the 60s. Similarly, Joe Astor in the 90s.

I'd be curious to know the specific design and capabilities of the Green Hornet's drone.

Neat. Scout vehicles for invasion.

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