The Robopocalypse is a Thing: Walmart Applies for FAA to Test Drone Delivery

Wal-Mart Stores Inc applied Monday to U.S. regulators for permission to test drones for home delivery, curbside pickup and checking warehouse inventories, a sign it plans to go head-to-head with Amazon in using drones to fill and deliver online orders.

The world's largest retailer by revenue has for several months been conducting indoor tests of small unmanned aircraft systems – the term regulators use for drones - and is now seeking for the first time to test the machines outdoors. It plans to use drones manufactured by China's SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd.

In addition to having drones take inventory of trailers outside its warehouses and perform other tasks aimed at making its distribution system more efficient, Wal-Mart is asking the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to research drone use in "deliveries to customers at Walmart facilities, as well as to consumer homes," according to a copy of the application reviewed by Reuters.

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Robopocalypse Report #4

I will probably not do this more than one per week in the future; however, we have a spate of interesting news this week.  So join me as we run through the heralds of the coming Robopocalypse and

A guy mounted a handgun on a little quadcopter and took it into the woods to shoot.  This has caused some controversy.  However, this should not be seen as new, so much as different in kind: the Russians trounced us with weapons armed quadcopters.  However, handguns are cheap and common whereas machineguns are not.  Hence, the outcry.  The day will come, folks, when there is a murder by drone. 

Speaking of drones, Flirtey's delivery service for the Wise County, Virginia fairgrounds is going ahead.  Flirtey teamed with NASA and the FAA granted the license.  I've mentioned it before, but this really does have the chance to be the Kitty hawk moment for US drone delivery services.  OTOH, this has the chance to be the proverbial turkey shoot if someone gets hurt, too.

In exoskeleton news, Rewalk has their next gen version ready.  The US Army Research Lab also has a new proof of concept exoskeleton for the purpose of improving soldiers aim.

OCRobotics has also produced a snake arm robot.  That'd be awesome - in a smaller form - for fishing keys out of tight places.  No exporting it to Japan though!

Normally, I focus on the robotic side of the Robopocalypse, but there's also a software side.  There are a lot of programs out there which will automatically do what people do today or will shortly.  Machine learning, big data and near real time analysis can have some serious impacts on the job market of the future.  It might also have a major impact on fashion trends as well.  If this were adopted, this could end up making fashion quite chaotic.  OTOH, I could also see a case where it might actually tamp down changes.  OTGH, I bet it will cause people to pick their clique and follow their separate trends: a filter bubble for the fashion trends!

Robopocalypse Now: FAA to Allow First Drone Deliveries in USA on July 17th

Here in the United States, it seemed like legal red tape would stall the launch of delivery drones for years, but the wait is over sooner than expected.

On July 17, the Federal Aviation Administration will allow unmanned aircraft to deliver medical supplies to a free clinic during research flights in West Virginia. That occasion will be the first legal drone delivery on U.S. soil, and represent another big step forward for the U.S. drone industry.

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Great Flying Robopocalyptic Stalkers! Amazon Drones Could Follow You to Complete Delivery

If Amazon’s drone delivery service ever gets airborne, the company’s drones may follow you to work to deliver your package.

That’s one of the more intriguing details included in Amazon’s patent application, approved April 30, which lays out the company’s plan of operation for its delivery drones. The document indicates that Amazon’s vision for drone deliveries is a lot bigger than just moving a package from point A to point B.

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Amazon Reveals More About Robopocalyptic Drone Delivery Plans

Online retailer Amazon has disclosed full details of a concept for delivering packages with unmanned air vehicles in a US patent application published on 30 April.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos first announced plans to deliver packages with small octorotor UAVs in a 2013 interview with 60 Minutes, but the company had kept silent on how the package delivery concept would work.

But newly-published patent application – titled “unmanned air vehicle delivery system" – describes a complete system with a customer interface, route planning, inventory tracking, in-flight navigation and completing delivery.

The concept anticipates that a “remote entity” would control the UAV at the delivery point to select a safe landing site. That information would be stored and used to make future deliveries automatically, the application says.

As the aircraft navigates to the delivery site, Amazon envisions making adjustments to the route in real-time. Some would be driven through communications with other UAVs in the same area, which would provide updates on weather and ground traffic.

The UAV also would monitor the ground to avoid flying over people and animals, according to the Amazon concept. The flying delivery vehicles may have to pass over roads with moving ground vehicles, but Amazon’s plan is to minimise the overflight time by only crossing over roads at a perpendicular angle.

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Even During the Robopocalypse, the Brits Love Their Tubes

Drones flown by Amazon aren't the only way we could be getting our parcels delivered in the near future. UK firm Mole Solutions is exploring the possibility of using small robot trains running on underground tracks to manage deliveries, and it's just received funding from the British government to help test the viability of the proposal.

The system Mole Solutions wants to put in place uses the same maglev technology adopted by Japan's super-fast Shinkansen train. In a maglev-powered system, the natural repelling forces of electromagnets are used to keep the carriage hovering slightly above the track, thus cutting down on friction and increasing speed.

There's plenty to recommend the idea: no deliveries held up by traffic congestion and no need to wait for drivers to become available before you can get your hands on the latest Blu-ray boxset. Mole Solutions says the small tunnels could be installed alongside existing transport infrastructure and create a system that ran 24 hours a day.

The steel carriages would run down concrete tubes measuring between 1.3 m (4.27 ft) and 2.4 m (7.87 ft), while the loading and unloading would also be handled automatically. Unloaded pallets would be stored in secure, temperature-controlled units at specified depots – the box wouldn't trundle straight up to your front door (at least not yet).

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Amazon Given Permission by FAA to Test new Delivery Drone

Amazon has won approval from U.S. federal regulators to test a delivery drone outdoors, less than a month after the e-commerce powerhouse blasted regulators for being slow to approve commercial drone testing.

The Federal Aviation Administration had earlier given the green light to an Amazon prototype drone in March, but the company told U.S. lawmakers less than a week later that the prototype had already become obsolete while it waited more than six months for the agency's permission.

The FAA granted Amazon's request to test delivery drones in a letter dated Wednesday, posted on the agency's website.

Amazon must keep flights at an altitude of no more than 400 feet (120 meters) and no faster than 100 miles per hour (160 km per hour), according to the letter.

Seattle-based Amazon.com has been pursuing its goal of sending packages to customers by air, using small, self-piloted aircraft, even as it faces public concern about safety and privacy.

The company wants to use drones to deliver packages to its customers over distances of 10 miles (16 km) or more, which would require drones to travel autonomously while equipped with technology to avoid collisions with other aircraft.

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Amazon Moves Robopocalyptic Drone Delivery Testing to Canada due to FAA Obstructionism

Amazon is testing its drone delivery service at a secret site in Canada, following repeated warnings by the e-commerce giant that it would go outside the US to bypass what it sees as the US federal government’s lethargic approach to the new technology.

The largest internet retailer in the world is keeping the location of its new test site closely guarded. What can be revealed is that the company’s formidable team of roboticists, software engineers, aeronautics experts and pioneers in remote sensing – including a former Nasa astronaut and the designer of the wingtip of the Boeing 787 – are now operating in British Columbia.

The end goal is to utilise what Amazon sees as a slice of virgin airspace – above 200ft, where most buildings end, and below 500ft, where general aviation begins. Into that aerial slice the company plans to pour highly autonomous drones of less than 55lbs, flying through corridors 10 miles or longer at 50mph and carrying payloads of up to 5lbs that account for 86% of all the company’s packages.

Amazon has acquired a plot of open land lined by oak trees and firs, where it is conducting frequent experimental flights with the full blessing of the Canadian government. As if to underline the significance of the move, the test site is barely 2,000ft from the US border, which was clearly visible from where the Guardian stood on a recent visit.

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While the FAA Stalls, Robopocalyptic Delivery Drones Take Off in China

While companies like Amazon are chomping at the bit to launch drone delivery services in the United States, packages are already soaring through the air in China.

Two years ago, residents in the city of Dongguang spotted experimental SF Express-branded delivery drones hovering overhead with packages in tow. SF Express is the country’s largest mail carrier, and it presently delivers roughly 500 packages a day via drone. Now, the company says it plans to expand its services and double the number a packages it sends each day, according to a Chinese news report.

The state of drone couriers in China couldn’t contrast more with the situation here in the United States.

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Robopocalypse is Nigh: FAA Grants Amazon Permission to Begin Test Flights of Delivery Drones (With Restrictions)

Amazon.com Inc has won approval from U.S. federal regulators to test a delivery drone outdoors, as the e-commerce company pursues its goal of sending packages to customers by air, even as it faces public concern about safety and privacy.

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it issued an experimental airworthiness certificate to an Amazon business unit and its prototype drone, allowing test flights over private, rural land in Washington state.

The FAA also granted Amazon an exemption from other flight restrictions so the experimental drone can conduct those flights.

The approval is a win for Seattle-based Amazon, the largest e-commerce company in the United States, and advances plans by the company and others to deliver packages using small, self-piloted aircraft.

There are limitations, however. The experimental certificate applies to a particular drone and Amazon must obtain a new certification if it modifies the aircraft or flies a different version, making it difficult to adapt the model quickly in the field. Amazon's petition for permission indicated it was testing several iterations of a drone at an indoor facility in Seattle.

Amazon must keep flights below 400 feet (120 meters) and keep the drone in sight, according to the FAA.

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Alibaba Testing Robopocalyptic Drone Delivery Service in Beijing, Shanghai & Guangzhou

In a move possibly meant to catch up with foreign counterparts such as Amazon, Alibaba Group’s Taobao — the largest online-shopping website in China — has tested using drones to deliver goods.

The company is offering the trial service, which is free of charge, from Wednesday to Friday to 450 Taobao buyers of ginger black tea, costing 49 yuan ($7.80) per box, according to Alibaba’s corporate news site Alizila.

The trial took place in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the three largest cities in mainland China, while the drones were provided by Shanghai YTO Express Logistics Co., Alibaba’s Alizila said.

The first box of ginger tea was delivered by a drone in Beijing on Wednesday, with the course navigation pre-set on the drone’s GPS. It took off from a branch of the express company in a Beijing suburb and buzzed the city before arriving at its destination, a video on the Alizila site showed.

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France’s La Poste Embraces the Robopocalypse With Drone Package Delivery

Joining a succession of companies envisioning delivering parcels using unmanned air vehicles, France’s La Poste mail service claims it has successfully completed a delivery using a UAV.

Following in the footsteps of Amazon, DHL and Google, all of which are endeavouring to expand delivery operations by using UAVs to deliver small parcels, La Poste announced that through its GeoDrone project it tested the domestic delivery of a 4kg (9lb) parcel in December.

The UAV completed a delivery sequence demonstrating its ability to take-off, fly, land and drop off a parcel, then return to its starting point.

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