Problem Definition
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Scenario
There have been major changes in the delivery of packages in the course of time. These changes can be observed in the goods transported, the globalization of the market, the needs of customers, the different services offered by carriers, and importantly the means of transportation that carriers employ. The end stage of package delivery has varied from delivery by carriage in the early days of package delivery to trucks nowadays. [1] Moreover, the future of package delivery has already given notice. Amazon and Google are both working on a drone delivery service. [2][3] Amazon even claims to be ready to implement their Prime Air service as soon as the FAA grants permission.[2] These drone deliveries, however, are still limited to express under 30 minute deliveries. [2]
It is not that hard for one to see a future in which the majority of package deliveries are carried out by drones when looking at these recent developments. Especially when taking in mind that Amazon’s chief executive Jeff Bezos already claims the service to be able to carry packages up to 2.3 kilograms, which covers 86% of the items Amazon delivers.[4] Amazon also expects that ‘One day, Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today.’.[2]
One major problem that arises immediately is where packages should be delivered would drones take over large part of the package deliveries. In package delivery by truck the driver rings the bell and hands the package over. When no one is at home, he takes the package with him again. Drones will probably not be able to ring the doorbell and it cannot be the intention to fly the package back and try again at a later time, because drones still only carry one package, whereas in trucks a single package is just one of many.
Packages could just be around people’s houses. The drone has than delivered its package and the buyer has received it. This is a possibility, although it would be easy to steal package when they are not taken inside quickly enough by the buyer. However, delivering around the house is impossible for people who live in an apartment building. Delivering around the apartment building would make it very easy to steal a package. Therefore, we want to design a package mailbox for drones which can be used in apartment buildings.
Problem
Here we write what our main research problem is
References
[2] http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011
[4] http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-25180906
Click here to see our old idea from week 1.