Paper Airplane What?

Last night I came across a link to an article on paper airplane drones.  Yes, you read that correctly!  Paper airplane drones!  It is a paper airplane with the addition of a motor and a small control unit that can be controlled by a smart phone.

According to FAA rules, drones may not be used commercially anywhere in the United States, unless the operator has applied for an exemption.  It makes sense as the FAA is responsible for the safety of people who fly.

A lawyer filed papers for an exemption to use his paper airplane drone for commercial uses and the FAA granted the exemption.  I find it interesting that the FAA has determined a paper airplane drone had commercial uses.  I don't know about you but most of the paper airplanes I remember making in my youth were never big enough to handle both a motor and a camera without bogging down. 

It is possible that the motor and spine provided by the kit could easily add enough stability and areodynamics so the plane could fly further and stay airborne much better.  I don't think you can use the standard lined paper either because I don't think it will give enough support.  Hmmmmm, that brings up an interesting question, "Just what type of paper can you use to make this type of drone?"  I'm off to do more research on this but you can find information on this drone with ABC News and Popular Science.

Mail delivery by what???????

I had already started writing my entry for today when low and behold, the radio had a really awesome piece on package delivery in Switzerland.   The Swiss Postal Service is working with a company in California to test out having drones deliver packages.  Yes you read that right,  Drones!

The idea is that you have a landing pad located somewhere safe for the drone to land and deliver the package.  The drone actually has a cargo container that contains the package.  Once the drone lands, the recipient opens the container and removes the cargo before the drone takes off again. 

The Swiss Postal System is not looking at the drones to deliver all packages because the drone's cargo hold is only large enough to carry two apples.  Due to the terrain, there are three situations the postal service is interested in using drones.

First, many places can easily be cut off from the rest of the world due to the snow covered terrain.  A drone would allow people to receive items of immediate need.

Second, people who live in isolated areas could receive their regularly scheduled medications.

Third, drones could act as medical couriers such as carrying lab samples.

They stated that this type of delivery would not become a reality till 2020 but in the meantime they are testing the system out to see how well it would work.  I assume they will test the drones out in all sorts of conditions to see if they work in snowstorms with cold winds, rain, etc.

I am geeky enough to think this is absolutely cool.