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© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.U.S. drone company starts delivering medicine in Japan
By YURI KAGEYAMA TOKYO©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Michael Machida
America steps up once again!
GBR48
quote: The zero-emission quiet flights can go as far as 300km.
That must require an incredibly powerful elastic band and a lot of winding.
Great for rural areas, considerable potential for expensive problems in urban areas.
Addfwyn
Dropping things from drones IS what America does best afterall.
Seriously though, it is good to see the tech used for something beneficial. It seems particularly useful in remote areas where traditional delivery mechanisms are a lot more limited. Mountains, islands, or other remote inaccessible areas. I doubt we will reach a day anytime soon where we see drones crisscrossing around Tokyo with packages, but for specific use-cases it could be great for people.
BackpackingNepal
Isn't this trespassing? I don't want any flyer to record me naked sunbathing on rooftop. I want calm air and sound.
Mark
Soon someone will start complaining about this and that and before you know it they will be grounded. Just like anything else that is imported or new idea that are not Made In japan.
Doyager
Drone are in use for the purpose in Japan for several years now. Japanese major drug ditrubutor Alfresa announced to take this initiative in 2016. Surprised that JT reports it as first such operation.
lostrune2
A lot of delivery innovations coming from US-based enterprises
For ex: SpaceX reusable delivery rockets - they're still the only ones able to figure that out, even when other governments have decades of head-start in rockets
Desert Tortoise
This idea needs to be scaled up and used to resupply Ukrainian forces and civilians holed up at the Azovstal Steel Mill.
Desert Tortoise
Um, not true. The main rockets of the Space Shuttle were re-used. They were designed to float and were recovered from the ocean. The Space Shuttle itself was likewise reusable. It was considered to be uneconomic to reuse the big main fuel tank. If you think about these re-usable rockets, they are heavier than normal because they must carry enough fuel to launch their payload into space and then have fuel left over to land with. That extra weight cuts into payload and it is not an insignificant consideration when you are launching stuff as heavy as a Space Shuttle.
Kumagaijin
Imagine the day you can get your "medicinal" marijuana dropped to your doorstep, or your balcony. Well, maybe not in Japan in this century, but somewhere in the world.
Toshihiro
I agree with GBR48, I can imagine parcels getting snagged in powerlines, trees and roofs of buildings. Stuff like these are perfect for the countryside where airdrops are more likely needed. I'm imagining a day where unmanned quadcopters are strong enough to CASEVAC/ carry and transport patients from far-away places to hospitals.
Desert Tortoise
If one of these packages lands on one of my dogs or damages a car in the driveway I am not going to be someone anyone wants to be around. They better have good lawyers too !
TokyoLiving
Maybe 50 years ago..
Wake up, the dream is over..
Yrral
Maybe Walmart can speed up their in store service line, instead of relying on self checkout