Two updates to report. First, at the CSCMP Annual Conference I was able to attend the "Educators Conference" and watched a great presentation by Professor Dr. James Campbell, Professor and Chair, Logistics & Operations Management Department, College of Business Administration, University of Missouri - St. Louis. He discussed the use of the "Truck - Drone" hybrid which entails trucks moving to central locations with product. At that location, the drones would be launched and conduct deliveries. A fascinating topic which made more sense as things such as battery life and laws about flying out of vision will make launching them from central DCs almost impossible for the near term.
He also had a nice graph showing the cost per delivery and Amazon can get this cost down to $1.00 per package. That is amazing. There was a lot more in the presentation and it is clear thought leaders such as Dr. Campbell are making large strides.
Second, I checked in on Missy Cummings who, in 2013 was the star of the Nova episode. Remember, she was one of the first F/18 pilots for the US Navy and a graduate of the US Naval Academy. She now runs HAL - The Human Autonomy Lab at Duke. She continues to study the use of bigger and bigger drones and believes these will be used for delivery. She also has an interesting twist (See video below) on the human interaction of drones. That is becoming the topic as the technology is no longer "futuristic" but rather it is known and can be implemented. The question is how will we interact with drones.
If you have not seen the original NOVA episode, even though it is 3 years old, you really should watch it (Below). I have also included a recent speech Missy made. She is truly brilliant in this field.
Mary "Missy" Cummings Gives Talk at Duke
PBS NOVA - Rise of the Drones
