Drone Delivery in Switzerland

Matternet, a drone-delivery company based in Silicon Valley’s Menlo Park California, has recently joined forces with Daimler, as well as the government of Switzerland, to bring rolling distribution hubs for aerial package delivery. While the initial focus of the initiative was on the speedy delivery of time-sensitive lifesaving medical supplies, a shift to testing the consumer market Matternet, a drone-delivery company based in Silicon Valley’s Menlo Park California, has recently joined forces with Daimler, as well as the government of Switzerland, to bring rolling distribution hubs for aerial package delivery. While the initial focus of the initiative was on the speedy delivery of time-sensitive lifesaving medical supplies, a shift to testing the consumer market has taken hold. Over 100 successful drone drop-offs to strategically placed vans in Zurich have shipped everyday items like ground coffee and cellphones. Mercedes Benz’s Vito is the first production vehicle in the world to be specifically designed as a mobile receiving station and land site for electric powered drones operating on a fully automated network.

Since 2015, Matternet and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, have been exploring the use of vans as rolling distribution hubs for aerial package delivery. In March of 2017, Matternet was granted authorization to operate its drones over densely populated areas of Switzerland, an approval which was a world’s first. Not only have more than 100 drop-offs been successful, they were completed with a perfect safety record and more deliveries are planned for 2018. (Check out the full process on YouTube: How it Works)

Matternet’s investment in Switzerland has shown us that drone delivery is not only possible, it is happening right now. While the relative land area of Switzerland is small, its terrain poses numerous challenges, specifically the mountainous stretches which makes up 60% of the country's land area. By introducing the Vito variable to the drone-delivery equation, questions of distance and local control are addressed. As more tests are conducted and the safety record remains impeccable, this model would be something that Canadian regulators would do well to consider when crafting current legislation. This multi-lateral ongoing project will be closely scrutinized as 2018 progresses.

The UAV Goes to School

Three quarters of a decade ago, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) invested millions into creating ‘neuromorphic chips’ – a type of computer chip that is designed to be as close as possible to a human brain in function, size and power consumption– in short, a ‘brain chip.’ With the project titled ‘SyNAPSE’ – Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scale Electronics – the ‘brain chip’ sounds like something you would find inside the research labs of Cyberdyne.

One of these ‘brain chips’ was tested inside a tiny unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which measured six inches square, 1.5 inches high, and weighed only 93 grams, including the battery.

The ‘brain chip’ works by having networks of silicon ‘neurons’ that communicate through jolts of electricity.  In the experiment, the UAV flew between three different rooms, where the ‘brain chip’ absorbed data from the aircraft’s optical, infrared and ultrasound sensors. Incoming sensor data from the room’s walls and furniture was created in the networks of silicon neurons and the UAV began to understand its surroundings. This caused a separate pattern of electrical activity in the neurons that the chip had never experienced before.” The connected neurons had begun to change, mimicking a crude version of learning like in a real brain. The UAV became ‘self-aware’ and started learning on its own, albeit in a very basic way.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to fundamentally change our civilization in ways we could not imagine. As AI takes to the skies, the public debate on the ethics of artificial intelligence will only increase.