Comment by cryptoz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cryptoz | Hacker News Reader

Here's a few I've been thinking about:

- Remote aid delivery by drone: build and send small robotic aircraft to remote areas and drop aid, preferably starting with medicine (lightweight and very useful). Small helicopters (quadrotor drone copters as you see at TED/MIT) could land and accept return packages if necessary. Trips could be made to hazardous places where human-driven aid drops can't venture. Additionally, all aid drops could be done cheaper and more efficiently. [The drones should be solar-powered?]

- Microwave oven with a solid, opaque door. On the door put a nice 1020p screen and inside put video cameras. You could microwave food, see a convincing video of it cook and not have to deal with harmful radiation or an unpleasant grilled screen.

- Pizza button. I had this idea about two years ago, someone in Dubai is currently executing (I think). You order a button, a physical red button (or an app with a big button, but that's not as cool). If you press the button, a pizza arrives at your location (tracked either by smartphone or by pre-set address). Default pizza arrives unless other instructions are set. I would insist on extreme simplicity: no options, no choices. Just "press button to receive pizza".

My low-rent version of the drone delivery idea is the burrito cannon.

You order burritos via your phone. When they're ready, your phone tells you to go stand outside. Once there's a solid GPS fix, a precise, high-powered catapult throws the delivery package way up in the air. Like a smart bomb, it uses tailfin guidance to home in on your phone, popping a 'chute at the end.

What's mind blowing is that when you break this down, it's more or less achievable, minus regulation snafus regarding launching projectiles in a populated area.

One of my more outlandish fantasies is a point-to-point transit system built out of enormous catapults & nets that operates similarly...

That coincides with my vision of people traveling around the city in the air in clear spheres arcing gracefully across the sky...

A friend and I have joked about doing this with bread.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3719213

http://tacocopter.com/ ? Is this you or is tacocopter a joke that inspired you, by chance?

The pizza button info is here, but they're out of stock: http://www.redtomato.biz/magnet/

no idea why out of stock. OK -- take this idea to next level. Why dont develop a wifi ready button (everyone that buys the button need to pair it with their wifi) - probably cost of <$5,000 (kickstarter?) and have a simple web page like your router admin has that you can choose different pizza vendors, then work directly with pizzerias in the hood to offer them additional channel of sale! that would be my take.

You mean, like a computer instead of a button?

The radiation from your microwave isn't harmful, but I will admit it's kinda hard to see what's going on through that mesh.

I really like your drone delivery idea.

i too like drone delivery idea

The pizza button is a fantastic idea as an iPhone app. Show a huge pizza icon, nothing else, press it and get your pizza delivered to your home and discounted from your credit card.

As a developer, here are the interesting bits:

  - Press many times get as many pizzas
  - Configurable default pizza
  - Configurable default credit card
  - Configurable address
  - Keep it as simple as possible

Press pizza, send order to papa johns, get back confirmation and estimated delivery time.

Love it!

"Remote aid delivery by drone" is something I know Matternet, a Singularity University affiliated startup, is doing: http://matternet.us/our-vision/

http://openrelief.org/ - is a project that's laying down some useful foundations for Drone delivery.

Regarding your microwave idea, check out what these Penn students built: http://www.geekosystem.com/microwave-youtube-hack/

Not quite the remote aid delivery, but at least a Doner Kebab delivery is the goal of this start up (in German): http://www.doenercopter.de/

Nice. Press button to get pizza delivered instantly by automatic drone. Very nice.

http://tacocopter.com/

Regarding idea no. 2. You realize that putting electronics inside a microwave isn't as simple as that, right? http://i.imgur.com/OFEg9.gif

We have electronics on the surface of Mars, we certainly can fit one inside a microwave.

I was wondering how one would transmit image/video feed from inside to outside in realtime? Any hole to transmit the feed is gonna be a no-no(radiation leakage). Basically, if there is path for some EM communication from inside to outside, then MW radiation will also leak along that path(unless the path has some sort of band pass characteristics). You could do some kind of time slotted transmission(In one slot, close the communication hole to make a perfect metal box, turn on microwave. In next slot, turn off microwave, open hole and transmit video feed. Make the time slot ~msec for near real time feed).

With some kick ass marketing it should be possible to get the message to people - 1000x reduction in radiation!(?) why take the remote chance of effects of radiation!!

Interesting....

I could see myself eating pizza way too much with that button. I hate cooking and the press of a button for food would be just too tempting... Just what our society needs.

Google around for "tacocopter." It's not a real product, more of a hack of marketing droids, but you will find discussion of the benefits/problems it has.

I think you're looking for either 720p or 1080p.

You could do the pizza button as a QR Code.

You make instant payment through a QR code as well, if you accept bitcoins. Here's some details if you're interested: http://gary-rowe.com/agilestack/2012/01/09/how-to-accept-bit...

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