Week 0: It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's a Delivery Drone!

Whoosh, bzzzzzzz, ding!

Welcome to my delivery drone development blog, where I’ll take you on an adventure to discover the possibilities of tackling the last-mile delivery challenge for deliverable goods using drones.

“What is the last-mile delivery challenge?” you may ask. Well, it’s the final stretch of the delivery process, where goods are transported from a distribution center or hub to their ultimate destination, often a residence or business. This phase is typically the most complex and expensive part of the delivery process, as it involves navigating dense urban environments, dealing with traffic congestion, and ensuring timely and accurate delivery to customers’ doorsteps.

Many have proposed drone delivery to replace the diesel trucks that roam our streets. And the idea does have many merits! Drones’ linear paths significantly improve route efficiency and reduce the overall carbon footprint of delivery operations. Drones also provide greater flexibility and scalability as they can reach locations that may be inaccessible or difficult for traditional delivery vehicles to access, such as remote rural areas or dense urban neighborhoods with narrow streets.

However, current drone delivery solutions are not ready to tackle the last mile. They are too loud, inefficient, and unintelligent. Some challenges to innovate include precise drop-off locators, quiet propeller design, battery swap capability, and adequate payload capacity. In my senior project, I aim to develop a system that does just that.

So, why me?

I’ve had a lifelong passion for transportation, from trains to planes. My curiosity naturally shifted from RC cars to UAVs as I grew older. With years of advanced physics, mathematics, and design/engineering expertise, I am ready to innovate and push this field forward.

To build my autonomous delivery drone platform, I’m working with Mr. Abishek Kumar, who holds multiple patents in drone technology, and Dr. Sanhita Dixit, my physics teacher since 7th grade and internal advisor.

If all goes well, expect a fully functional, autonomous drone that solves most of the problems I mentioned above by the end of the school year! Cheers to a wonderful third trimester filled with creative thinking, design challenges, and burnt PCBs.

Aidan Peter, out.