Blockchain And IoT To Make Delivery Drones Smarter

Over the past few years, the influence of drones in our day-to-day lives has increased. Be it for surveillance purposes, recording live events or the door step delivery of products, drones play a vital role in performing such tasks. While the first two methods have already been mainstream for several years, the last one is slowly taking shape. The delivery drones seem to have all the focus these days. Amazon has already begun testings for its Prime Air services in United States to deliver lightweight items via high altitude delivery drones within 30 minutes. The testings are going on for several months and chances are, we will have the Prime Air delivery option in the next 4-5 years if all goes well for Amazon.

Anyways, that’s not what this blog is all about. In this blog, we’re going to introduce you to a whole new concept of delivery drones which might change the way we perceive the coming future. The concept is given by a new blockchain startup named Chronicled. The company has recently revealed a prototype for the blockchain based delivery drones that can peer through the windows to put the deliverables right into your bedroom. Chronicled proposes the use of IoT and blockchain technology in order to build drones of the future.

Also read AI Could Be The Catalyst To Unleash The Power of IoT.

The Prototype

Chronicled has given its prototype for the smart delivery drones. The drones will be using encrypted microchips as well as the expert combination of Blockchain and IoT to make way for a new fleet of applications. The drones will fly to your house to deliver lightweight items including gifts, medicines and much more. But that’s what any programmed drone can do. Then what’s so special about these drones? Also, you might be wondering what blockchain has to do with any of this. Well, the drones proposed by Chronicled have a unique capability to enter your house through the window and drop the deliverables in the room where you want them received.

However, what’s really special about this drone is the use of blockchain technology which makes it different from all its peers. The drone will be using embedded microchips giving it a unique identity on the blockchain. The IoT applications will further use this to either allow or restrict access to the location. That way, the drone will be able to enter the window of your house or the warehouse and fly away after dropping the package. The company has also released a video showing how the drone will work. You can find the video right below.

 

How It Works?

As already told, each drone will have a unique identity on a shared cryptographic ledger called blockchain. There is BLE chip embedded inside the drone that will grant permission from the blockchain about whether it should enter a window or not. This will enable them to see which drone needs the access to enter a remote location. But in order to make it work, the window must have an advanced chip reader directly connected to the blockchain via interoperable IoT connections. When all these conditions are fulfilled, it works like this.

When the drone flies to your window that has a chip reader installed in it, the drone will grant access from the window to enter the house. The window will read the contents of the BLE chip which comes in contact with the chip reader installed in the window. The chip reader verifies the digital signature of the BLE chip and looks for its identity on the blockchain. After the identity of the drone is confirmed, the window door opens and the drone can enter to leave the package and then fly away.

Setbacks of The Technology

Although this new technology seems quite promising, it has its own share of drawbacks as well. First of all, the arrangement required by the technology to work is very expensive and yet prone to errors. Your house window not only required the chip reader, it also requires a high-end automation mechanism to open and shut it down whenever needed. The entire mechanism is an amalgamation of cutting-edge technologies like IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain which only makes it more exorbitant.

Furthermore, any miscommunication between the device may lead to bigger issues. Also, this kind of delivery method only seems far-fetched as of now. So far, we haven’t fully succeeded even with the ordinary delivery drones and it will take at least a decade more make it mainstream.