Amazon wins FAA approval for Prime Air drone delivery fleet

G

groveChuck

U-matic Member
Amazon received federal approval to operate its fleet of Prime Air delivery drones, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday, a milestone that allows the company to expand unmanned package delivery.

The approval will give Amazon broad privileges to “safely and efficiently deliver packages to customers,” the agency said.

The certification comes under Part 135 of FAA regulations, which gives Amazon the ability to carry property on small drones “beyond the visual line of sight” of the operator. Amazon said it will use the FAA’s certification to begin testing customer deliveries.

The company said it went through rigorous training and submitted detailed evidence that its drone delivery operations are safe, including demonstrating the technology for FAA inspectors. “This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates the FAA’s confidence in Amazon’s operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to our customers around the world,” David Carbon, vice president of Prime Air, said in a statement. “We will continue to develop and refine our technology to fully integrate delivery drones into the airspace, and work closely with the FAA and other regulators around the world to realize our vision of 30 minute delivery.”

Amazon added that while the Prime Air fleet isn’t ready to immediately deploy package deliveries at scale, it’s actively flying and testing the technology. The company has zeroed in on drone delivery as part of a push to get packages quicker to Prime members. Since last year, Amazon has also invested billions of dollars to transition from two to one-day delivery.

Amazon began testing delivery drones in 2013, aiming to drop off packages at customers’ doorsteps in 30 minutes or less. In August 2019, the company submitted a petition for FAA approval of those plans. In its petition, Amazon said deliveries would occur in areas with low population density and packages would weigh 5 pounds or less.

The company debuted a new, electric delivery drone at its 2019 re:MARS conference that’s capable of carrying packages under 5 pounds to customers within a half-hour and can fly up to 15 miles. Jeff Wilke, Amazon’s CEO of worldwide consumer, said at the time that the drone could be used by the company “within months” to deliver packages.

Amazon isn’t the only company seeking to expand commercial drone delivery. Last April, Alphabet-owned Wing became the first drone delivery company to receive FAA approval for commercial deliveries in the U.S. UPS last October won approval from the FAA to operate a fleet of drones as an airline.


cnbc.com/2020/08/31/amazon-prime-now-drone-delivery-fleet-gets-faa-approval.html
 
And here is the destruction of the RC hobby. No more space for the recreational flyers to operate.
 
combatentropy said:
Would you rather hold back technology?
Click to expand...

Maybe. While sometimes I wished packages arrived sooner, it's not a major issue. If given the choice I'd rather less obstruction locally in the sky.

I'm fine with disabled people receiving medicine and other specific application game changers but think it'd be a shame if delivery drones littered the sky just because several obese gentlemen want their oreos.

I was going to complain about noise but delivery vans/trucks make noise as well. Perhaps we wouldn't even notice the 5lb deliveries though?

What happens in a major business district, do you receive the package in a designated area - at which point you're standing in line anyway and the 30 minute thing is out the window?
 
These sound limited in their range and payload unless they later switch to something more like the classified ones used by the military. So it seems there must become a lot of load and launch hubs all around. Since amazon often delivers via fedex / ups / usps etc it would seem the uas would ideally load up and launch from there with the product. But those facilities are not set up for such. Does amazon plan to set up their own?

This may kill our use of suas since they will be flying in the same airspace. Here comes more control.

I see great challenges in this actually working. There are loads of obstacles in the way where many people live. If a yard is inaccessible where do they drop the package? And how about the guy that shoots them Down ?
Weather? No fly zones? Etc?
 
firehawk said:
These sound limited in their range and payload unless they later switch to something more like the classified ones used by the military. So it seems there must become a lot of load and launch hubs all around. Since amazon often delivers via fedex / ups / usps etc it would seem the uas would ideally load up and launch from there with the product. But those facilities are not set up for such. Does amazon plan to set up their own?

This may kill our use of suas since they will be flying in the same airspace. Here comes more control.

I see great challenges in this actually working. There are loads of obstacles in the way where many people live. If a yard is inaccessible where do they drop the package? And how about the guy that shoots them Down ?
Weather? No fly zones? Etc?
Click to expand...

I see this, currently, as VERY limited use and in certain specific areas(wide open). My neighborhood would be tough. It’s heavily wooded and could pose lots of challenges getting a drone in and out of yards/houses. I fly my drone here frequently, which is why I can see there being problems in environments like this.

Also, would Amazon need the customer to set-up some type of “landing pad”/landing zone? Because I see trying to fly these drones into, sometimes confined areas, where package are typically dropped off, being problematic, too.

One thing that did pop into my mind, as far as “drone distribution”... Could they just “pre-load” a bunch of drones with the packages in the warehouse and then they are loaded into/onto special launch trucks that then go to central areas and the drones are automatically launched from a sort of mobile central distribution point and say, deliver 25-50 small packages in the area? I can imagine it looking like something out of a sci-fi movie or advanced military weapon. A big truck pulls up somewhere and doors open or the backs folds out and there are all of these drones there and they just start taking off, en-masse, like a swarm of giant bees leaving the hive, heading out to drop off their packages and then they all come back and re-load themselves into the truck and it closes up and drives off. Autonomously...

So now we can get our “stuff” delivered to us in 30 minutes or less, but no one has a job to buy anything, because the corporations have figured out how to replace everyone with AI and robots.
 
Just heard today that the local electric company is making all meters read from a satellite.
 
I will say that the reasonably great safety record of quad copters will get sullied by this... It's a short amount of time before one of these falls out of the sky, or drops a package on someone and hurts them.

Let's also think of the payload they can really expect to haul. With current motor and battery technology this isn't really a good choice for payload delivery.

And I'd like to see it get on my porch. Otherwise packages will be left out in the middle of the yard, getting wet, getting stolen. I just don't think this is a good solution to this problem.
 
Greg_E said:
I will say that the reasonably great safety record of quad copters will get sullied by this... It's a short amount of time before one of these falls out of the sky, or drops a package on someone and hurts them.

Let's also think of the payload they can really expect to haul. With current motor and battery technology this isn't really a good choice for payload delivery.

And I'd like to see it get on my porch. Otherwise packages will be left out in the middle of the yard, getting wet, getting stolen. I just don't think this is a good solution to this problem.
Click to expand...

There was a brief VO on this on the late news just a little bit ago. The drones look kind of like some old large(long) wing ultralight prototypes (very boxy) and there was an Amazon landing pad/landing zone in the customers yard. I get miffed when they leave packages on my front porch instead of at the side door. I definitely wouldn't like my stuff sitting in the yard. But I do kind of get the vibe that this may be an "on-demand" type thing that they will only do if the customer is home.
 
Run&Gun said:
There was a brief VO on this on the late news just a little bit ago. The drones look kind of like some old large(long) wing ultralight prototypes (very boxy) and there was an Amazon landing pad/landing zone in the customers yard. I get miffed when they leave packages on my front porch instead of at the side door. I definitely wouldn't like my stuff sitting in the yard. But I do kind of get the vibe that this may be an "on-demand" type thing that they will only do if the customer is home.
Click to expand...

The appeal is easy to see. Especially if they could deliver during the night.

I've got a baby sleeping on my chest right now. If I needed some toiletries, I could have them delivered before he wakes up to feed again and I wouldn't have to fully rouse my wife to watch him while I ran out, nor would i have to wait til morning.

In theory, it could lower carbon emissions as well. They say that people go to the store in addition to ordering things online right now. Most of the time I run out, it's for little daily necessities that I couldn't wait a day or two for. Maybe this could cut out those trips.

But i, too, worry about the safety, the insanity of it all, and the disruption to delivery drivers' jobs.
 
Greg_E said:
I will say that the reasonably great safety record of quad copters will get sullied by this... It's a short amount of time before one of these falls out of the sky, or drops a package on someone and hurts them.

Let's also think of the payload they can really expect to haul. With current motor and battery technology this isn't really a good choice for payload delivery.

And I'd like to see it get on my porch. Otherwise packages will be left out in the middle of the yard, getting wet, getting stolen. I just don't think this is a good solution to this problem.
Click to expand...

I don't think that will matter. Just like tesla incidents, those involved with hiccups are just unpaid beta testers helping the system improve.

The usefulness of this wave of services is probably unimportant compared to amazon getting in ASAP and establishing themselves as THE standard for this type of thing.

I can't think of anything under 5lbs I'd pay a premium for to be delivered in 30 minutes. Missing ingredients would be cool to have delivered if you're midway through cooking something for your robot guests.
 
firehawk said:
When one if these crash it will be considerably more damaging than one of us crashing our mavic or phantom
Click to expand...

How come? I'd probably rather a ginormous company hell bent on maintaining an impressive safety record than some 17 year old FPV dude illegally flying like a maniac for more instagram followers.

You said phantom or mavic though, are you saying considerably more damage because amazon's drones will likely have more privileges and therefore the stakes are higher if there's a crash?
 
rob norton said:
How come? I'd probably rather a ginormous company hell bent on maintaining an impressive safety record than some 17 year old FPV dude illegally flying like a maniac for more instagram followers.

You said phantom or mavic though, are you saying considerably more damage because amazon's drones will likely have more privileges and therefore the stakes are higher if there's a crash?
Click to expand...

I think he's saying more damage as in more physical damage, because a Mavic or Phantom weighs considerably less than a larger, heavier drone with up to a 5lb payload attached.
 
Paul F said:
Oh boy! More jobs eliminated. Thanks Amazon!
Click to expand...

This is why there are guaranteed minimum income experiments going on in many countries, mostly Europe, but some small scale ones have been done in the US too. 47% of US manufacturing jobs have been lost to automation in the last 30 years, not offshoring. If manufacturers don't support the consumer societies they sell their products to ultimately they won't have any markets for their goods. Taxing robots like labor will guarantee that society as a whole benefits from the fruits of their labor, not just the uber wealthy.
 
If a drone has a flight time of say 24min give or take, then they would need to have drone stations 12min away from every household area in order to have safe drone returns.
Add in obstructions like trees and power lines in front of most houses, and no fly zones like the airport down the road, and hospitals which have helo pads, then I can see this never "taking off" in my area.
 
David W. Jones said:
If a drone has a flight time of say 24min give or take, then they would need to have drone stations 12min away from every household area in order to have safe drone returns.
Add in obstructions like trees and power lines in front of most houses, and no fly zones like the airport down the road, and hospitals which have helo pads, then I can see this never "taking off" in my area.
Click to expand...

I wonder what the true NFZ for hospital helipads is? It must be variable for each hospital. Our hospital is a trauma center with a helipad less than one mile(as the crow flies) from my house, and for some reason, the helicopters fly out past my house to line up for their approach/landing(I can hear them approaching, often from the direction/vicinty of the hospital, make the turn past my house and return for their landing). I can see the "helipad zone" on one of my flight checker type apps(there are a ludicrous amount of helipad and other aircraft landing/takeoff zones around me- I had no idea... Probably a miracle I can fly) and I can see the hospital from the air from my yard, but I seem to be able to fly freely. Now granted, I've never attempted to fly near the hospital, but I was up in the air about a week or so ago when a helicopter did leave and fly by. I descended to maybe ~100' up over my backyard(wasn't really much higher to begin with) and it was probably 1-2 miles away, but still close enough to just make out on camera.
 
To bad most electric lines in u.s. are above ground. Doubt more drones will make a lick of difference in whether communities bury electric lines. Wild fires might change that equation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top