Hasta La Gadget!

Drone deliveries could be the next big thing when it comes to courier services. Just ask Amazon with their Amazon Prime Air program, as well as UPS and DHL who are looking into the possible integration with their existing services. How about FedEx who has long claimed to deliver to the world on time? It seems that FedEx has dabbled in the world of delivery drones, but they are none too thrilled to introduce the concept into the market.

FedEx CEO Frederick Smith, who spoke with Wall Street analysts during their quarterly earnings call, laughed when approached concerning the topic of delivery drones, and shared that their Chief Information Officer was looking into the situation. Robert B. Carter, FedEx’s Chief Information Officer, is a quadrotor enthusiast, and his most recent drone research results pointed to a drone that can “operate about eight minutes and carry about four Budweiser beers,” which hopefully, was said in jest rather than seriousness. Do you think that delivery drones will one day be the ideal way of getting packages arrive in front of your doorstep? Are there any existing services that have been totally computerized and automated at the moment, that you miss the human touch?

FedEx Non-chalant About Drone Deliveries original content from Ubergizmo.

Flyonix specializes in aerial video and photography. The studio recently put their knowledge of drones for a geeky pursuit. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, Flyonix set out to build and fly a life-size TARDIS. And they succeeded. Somewhat.

Flyonix built a custom rig with 12 propellers. Judging from their brief making-of videos – which you can watch here and here – they made the TARDIS model itself out of styrofoam. With everything in place, all that was left was to let her fly…

Oh, the humanity! Unfortunately it seems like her chameleon circuit wasn’t the only thing that needed fixing. According to Metro, a battery shortage was responsible for the crash. If you’re an aspiring Time Lord, you can see more in-progress photos of Flyonix’ ill-fated TARDIS on the studio’s Facebook page.

[via Likecool & Metro]

Amazon has certainly raised a fair number of eyebrows recently with its Amazon Prime Air delivery system, and it does seem as though Amazon has ruffled the feathers of its competitors somewhat. Since their announcement, we have covered news concerning UPS performing research into delivery drones, while the folks over at Deutsche Post DHL have successfully completed their first successful drone delivery yesterday, where a robotic craft as seen above managed to deliver its 3kg medicine package to the intended recipient.

Coming in a shade of yellow that is unmistakably DHL’s signature shade, the “Paketkopter” managed to make its way across the skies at a height of 50 meters across the Rhine, where it managed to carry the package from a pharmacist in Bonn to the DHL head office that was located roughly 1km away. DHL manager Ole Nordhoff shared, “We are at the beginning of the research project. It is an exciting bit of technology.” Ultimately, do you think that drones will make it big in the delivery service market segment? Why not use drones to deliver pizzas and other kinds of food, too? There is a danger of someone actually bot-napping the delivery drone in order to gain access to its contents, but I guess companies would cross that particular bridge when the time comes.

DHL Drone Delivery Test Proved To Be A Success original content from Ubergizmo.

Swann has been making some really cool flying RC toys that look like different sorts of helicopters. I have played with several of those helicopters over the years and they are a lot of fun, but inevitably, I end up crashing them into the wall and breaking the propeller or gears that move the propellers.

The latest flying toy from Swann is the Quad Starship and it reminds me a lot of the Parrot AR.Drone, only smaller. The Quad Starship has four propellers each protected by a plastic ring. That should mean you can touch a wall without the quadcopter suddenly becoming uncontrollable and crashing.

The Quad Starship has a wireless range of 330 feet and a controller powered by four AA batteries. The helicopter itself is powered by a rechargeable battery good for eight minutes of flight time. In addition to its size, and lack of an onboard camera, the other biggest difference between this and the AR.Drone is the price. The Swann Quad Starship sells for $79.99(USD) making it a fraction of the cost of the AR.Drone. Only time will tell if it flies as well, though.

Forget Amazon delivery drones; the US Air Force’s latest unmanned stealth craft has reportedly already taken to the skies, potentially capable of mounting clandestine electronic warfare in enemy territory. The drone, believed to be the RQ-180 and made as part of a potentially $2bn project by Northrop Grumman, is already running test flights ahead of […]