713,826
Total
views
This number combines views from the following outlets:
- 36% TED.com
- 24% TED apps
- 25% iTunes
- 12% YouTube
- 3% Other
Share this talk and
track your influence!
Share this talk and track your influence!
We'll tell you how many views you sent our way. Just log in and share the talk. We'll do the rest.
Log in
No account?
Sign up now - It's fast and free
Sign up now - It's fast and free
Learn more
about how we calculate this
A billion people in the world lack access to all-season roads. Could the structure of the internet provide a model for how to reach them? Andreas Raptopoulos of Matternet thinks so. He introduces a new type of transportation system that uses electric autonomous flying machines to deliver medicine, food, goods and supplies wherever they are needed.
pin
This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.
- Interactive transcript (22 languages)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Discuss
287 comments
Enthusiastically agree? Respectfully beg to differ? Have your say here.
There are currently no comments for this talk.
While i love this idea, I don't think it would take long before the drones were hijacked and put to darker, more nefarious purposes. 2 kilos of illegal drugs, or explosives could cross a continent just as quickly as medical aid.
I agree that this is a Problem that would Need addressing, but the same is true of roads, rail and shipping.
1. Interception and theft: already happens with road vehicles (theft, carjacking)
2. Security at the docking stations/landing sites: already happens with road vehicles (gas station hold-ups)
3. Repairs: already an issue with land vehicles (remote repairs difficult)
4. Regulation of what can be transported to where: ditto with land vehicles (truck payload inspections)
Four guys were just caught trying to smuggle tobacco into a prison with a drone:
http://gawker.com/georgia-police-bust-drone-dropping-contraband-into-pri-1472633983
Anyway so I don't think a drone transport network is any more problematic than our current road networks.
What is of concern though, is that every drone will be fitted with cameras..
A big HORRAY to Andreas for being one of the few that provide solutions instead of just problem identification. The whole theme of this is a giant leap towards serving the needs of the undeserved cost effectively!
I hope this matternet become well known. sky transportation is undeveloped, compared to ground transportation. if sky transportation is developed, transportation would be comfortable
Great minds must be thinking alike After seeing this talk and the power of quad copters and their control, why wouldn't we use them like a motorcycle to move about. I can see a stand that we would harness to and disembark and embark, fuel etc. It would limit it's height and can't be used on a freeway etc. It would be ATV of the sky
It seems like a better idea for big cities. Many buildings have unused roof space where these drones could land easily, and business already have a demand for the rapid transit of small parcels and packages. This could replace express mail and bicycle couriers for speedy situations.
If I had one million, I would finance that project. This is one of the most common sense project that I have seen up to now. What's more, I am assisting to the begin of this new technology, that I have imagined as scfi author. "So the future is now". Thanks Mr. Andreas Raptopoulos.
It's about time to do this. I like the term "we need to engage in social fiction.
We have hijackings now, everyday, of cars, trucks, airplanes.... a truck of medical supplies, food, weapons, could be stopped and driven away. This type of drone use, it seems, would be more difficult to hijack, and in fact, without a very high degree of technical knowledge, the drone would be rendered useless once it is downed. Cost of replacing a drone verses a truck? As well as no human life risk in the hijacking?
I see this, from the presentation, as a future transportation answer. My take on this is: this is not some guy with a remote control, piloting a drone, this is an established hi-way, a route, that can be automatically navigated. The concept is brilliant and I am excited to see where this technology leads.
Matternet is more than we think, this is about saving lives, bringing scalable hopes...
We can have drones bringing the babies to mothers, as oppose to cranes bringing them.