Rivian working on off-road drone to replace a spotter

[mini2nut]

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1143347_rivian-vehicle-spotter-drone-system-patent

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[jeeden]

Sweet...

 

[Rizzian]

Kind of like this Porsche concept from 6 years ago:


...But that drone isn't so much a spotter, but more of an autonomous selfie stick to let the driver see how cool they look driving their Porsche through the twisties.

 

[COdogman]

Can it bring me food and bourbon?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Discussed many times and even by those who work in patent law, lots of patents are filed, it doesn’t mean the ideas are actively pursued. Also, take what you see on motorauthority with large dose of salt.

 

[jerseyff]

Flying a drone from a moving vehicle is not legal, will be interesting to see how this pans out.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Flying a drone from a moving vehicle is not legal, will be interesting to see how this pans out.

There are already consumer-grade hobby drones on the market that can lead or follow autonomously, with obstacle detection and avoidance. The user simply launch or recall. Example: https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us...at-Skills-are-available-within-the-Skydio-App

 

[thrill]

Sweet...

Warning: Do not look at laser drone with remaining eye.

 

[Epzey]

This is awesome and why I feel like Rivian is what LR used to be as far as off-road enthusiasm. When the L322 Range Rover Debuted they had what they called the venture cam that you could place outside the truck and watch on the Nav screen as you tackle an obstacle. The fidelity for the time was insane it could broadcast clear signal up 20ft. Sadly it was never released outside of UK but I believe since then people have been able to retrofit to other regions. Here is to hoping Rivian doesn’t use DJI components.

Now they need to build out there SC’s to have small off road courses like LR used to.

 

[Falco]

Flying a drone from a moving vehicle is not legal, will be interesting to see how this pans out.

I do it all the time from a motorcycle

 

[SwampNut]

Flying a drone from a moving vehicle is not legal, will be interesting to see how this pans out.

That's false. You're half right, you can't do this in populated areas or in class restricted airspace. Off road and unpopulated in class G airspace? Legal. Just did this pre-test in my Part 107 class.

Autonomous drones are trivial these days, of course. Re-landing on a vehicle is still a challenge, even for my very automated, latest-tech Mini 4 Pro just trying to land on the bed cover.

This is with pretty much zero setup or thought, just told it to go follow, and then used the RC screen to see what was over the hill.

 

[iansriv]

Can it bring me food and bourbon?

Probably will at some point with Ubereats.

 

[kylealden]

Remember folks: A patent just means "somebody at Rivian had an idea they wanted to protect." It does not mean Rivian is working, will work, or has worked on this. There are a thousand obstacles behind idea and reality, of which technical feasibility and patentability are arguably the most trivial.

Ask yourself as a shareholder if you'd really want Rivian spending resources on drones for a tiny niche of their customer base, in a time when they are laying off much more essential staff and delaying factory buildouts in order to keep costs in check, and you'll see what I mean.

This is a cool idea and it would be a huge red flag if they were investing seriously in it right now.

 

[jjswan33]

Remember folks: A patent just means "somebody at Rivian had an idea they wanted to protect." It does not mean Rivian is working, will work, or has worked on this. There are a thousand obstacles behind idea and reality, of which technical feasibility and patentability are arguably the most trivial.

Ask yourself as a shareholder if you'd really want Rivian spending resources on drones for a tiny niche of their customer base, in a time when they are laying off much more essential staff and delaying factory buildouts in order to keep costs in check, and you'll see what I mean.

This is a cool idea and it would be a huge red flag if they were investing seriously in it right now.

Don't worry it will be a big revenue driver. When the drones are not in duty spotting you off-road they will take side jobs delivering Amazon packages

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Don't worry it will be a big revenue driver. When the drones are not in duty spotting you off-road they will take side jobs delivering Amazon packages Whole Foods' 365 branded granola.

Fixed it for ya.

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