Amazon teases new details of planned Prime Air drone delivery service
Online retailer Amazon has released a new two-minute video hinting at more of its plans for Prime Air, a drone-based shipping service which -- if legalized by the U.S. government -- would allow deliveries in 30 minutes or less.
Hosted by ex-Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, who is set to star in new Amazon programming, the video showcases a drone design which does vertical takeoffs and descents but switches into airplane-style flight mid-transit, with a range of 15 miles. Earlier prototypes used a design more similar to conventional drones, without wings or a tail. The company is said to be working on "different designs for different environments."
Sensors allow the new drone to avoid air- and land-based obstacles. To help narrow down a landing zone, the video shows a shopper placing a small Amazon sign in the middle of her yard as a beacon.
Future shoppers would receive mobile notifications of imminent deliveries. They might also be prompted to authorize landings, or tell drones to wait a minute to make sure the landing area is clear.
Prime Air remains theoretical for the time being, since the company is waiting on commercial drone regulations from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which could be ready within the next year. The video may indeed partly be an attempt to bring politicians and the public on-side with the idea.
Hosted by ex-Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, who is set to star in new Amazon programming, the video showcases a drone design which does vertical takeoffs and descents but switches into airplane-style flight mid-transit, with a range of 15 miles. Earlier prototypes used a design more similar to conventional drones, without wings or a tail. The company is said to be working on "different designs for different environments."
Sensors allow the new drone to avoid air- and land-based obstacles. To help narrow down a landing zone, the video shows a shopper placing a small Amazon sign in the middle of her yard as a beacon.
Future shoppers would receive mobile notifications of imminent deliveries. They might also be prompted to authorize landings, or tell drones to wait a minute to make sure the landing area is clear.
Prime Air remains theoretical for the time being, since the company is waiting on commercial drone regulations from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which could be ready within the next year. The video may indeed partly be an attempt to bring politicians and the public on-side with the idea.
Comments
- Drop package into the yellow net in my front yard.
It is only a matter of time before the ISIS-types take advantage of this technology to wreak havoc....
I wouldn't take anything written, spoken or demonstrated by Clarkson seriously... OK, maybe with a pinch of salt. I remember reading one of his first journalism pieces in a quality British motoring magazine back in the 1980s. He was 'road testing' a bicycle in the middle of London, and reckoned he was so pissed he couldn't find the brakes... so cycled straight into a pub and stopped the bike by crashing into the bar, whereupon he ordered another drink! Just about sums him up I think!
That's why I like the guy!
Let's not politicise this thread. Some countries have killed an awful lot of innocents too. Not to mention everyone involved in Paris were EU citizens.
Back to the topic at hand I think we have to admire Amazon for the ambitions in this area.
Let's not politicise this thread. Some countries...
Do as I say, not as I do...
If one has an emergency that requires something that's less then 15 miles away, they could round trip it by Uber or car in less then an hour.
1) What I brought up is a serious issue with drones. Last I looked, this is a story about drones for delivery of physical objects.
2) If anyone's politicizing this thread, it's you. Especially with your shocking moral relativism.
Back on topic, the potential for abuse of this technology is immense.
(For the record, you added the 'back to the topic' sentence as a second thought to your original post).
The potential for abuses exists in EVERYTHING. Does this mean we should stop driving cars? Owning guns? Eating? Fear of the unknown or abuse is a weak excuse for not implimenting something.
I kept recalling the image of Clarkson wielding their infamous hook line; "what could possibly go wrong"
if Amazon had a pair, they would have had him say it.... would have been funny.
As is they appear to have gone to la-la land with MS (where, apparently, the world bristles with delivery droids and interactive holo walls (and no doubt flying cars). ;-)
1) What I brought up is a serious issue with drones. Last I looked, this is a story about drones for delivery of physical objects.
2) If anyone's politicizing this thread, it's you. Especially with your shocking moral relativism.
Back on topic, the potential for abuse of this technology is immense.
(For the record, you added the 'back to the topic' sentence as a second thought to your original post).
Um, remote control airplanes (and helicopters) have been around for decades.
There is potential in almost anything...
Back on topic again: I like how they gave it more of an R/C airplane look now that drones like DJI are starting to get a bad rep with the public - I mean the potential for abuse is immense!
(/s that last bit)
If one has an emergency that requires something that's less then 15 miles away, they could round trip it by Uber or car in less then an hour.
Higher overhead overall than a drone with no immediate labor costs for drivers and no exposure to traffic etc. though it'd be more weatherproof than an aerial delivery...
Of course that's presuming Amazon has any data supporting that this level of urgency is at all significant and that this would somehow combat brick and mortar stores immediacy value. Versus publicity stunt with a 'what the hell maybe someday' component, though given Amazon barely makes money now they really got funds to waste on this sort of thing???
If someone has a few extra dollars to invest FedX might be one to look at. 8-)
The potential for abuses exists in EVERYTHING. Does this mean we should stop driving cars? Owning guns? Eating? Fear of the unknown or abuse is a weak excuse for not implimenting something.
You really should read more carefully the next time. Who said anything about 'stopping' anything? Nonsense.
I expressed a worry that a number of pretty serious folks have about this technology (with essentially the premise that it is a free-for-all at this point). For example, drones create all kinds of privacy worries. Drones have come falling from the sky into settings of large gatherings like sports stadiums. They have interfered many times with first responders' ability to fight forest fires. They have been repeatedly a threat to aircraft in the US (esp. during takeoffs and landings). Non-lethal weaponized (e.g., rubber bullets) drones are already legal in some parts of the country. The list goes on. Do you seriously think that terrorists would not use such a weapon to create havoc?
There is an entire regulatory and legal apparatus to deal with all the issues arising from vehicles, so it's a vacuous comparison to drones. Cars are licensed, regulated and taxed every step of the way from sale to ownership to disposal. There are rules of the road. Every vehicle is registered. There is no such regulation for drones.
Also, if you think that there's no difference between a technology that essentially travels in two dimensions (vehicles) versus one that travels in three (drones) you're being pretty silly. Drones can go a lot of places that vehicles can't: they can take out high-rises; they can fly into dams; into the White House (as they have); into ships; into historical sites..... I could go on.
Sure, planes and helicopters can do some of that too (as we well know), but it is a highly regulated and controlled technology. They're far more difficult to use to cause mayhem.
Um, remote control airplanes (and helicopters) have been around for decades.
There is potential in almost anything...
Um. Silly post. You have no idea how drones can operate, how they're designed, and what they can do relative to "remote control airplanes and helicopters", do you? See above.
Um. Silly post. You have no idea how drones can operate, how they're designed, and what they can do relative to "remote control airplanes and helicopters", do you? See above.
Really? I have no idea huh?
Like one of the few professors at one of the first colleges working on getting a legit FAA Drone License program started... and having used R/C airplanes and helicopters (that had programmable gyros in them since waaaaaay back) since the 70's, and drones since 2004?
I have no idea.
Ya, you'll put your eye out kid.
Wow. Impressed. (/s). I could impress you with lots of info about my bio too, so what?
Defend the logic of your post vis-a-vis the main point I raised -- which is, what drones can do relative to remote controlled airplanes and helicopters -- or go find something else to do. Otherwise, it just stands as a silly post.