Hailed as the future of package delivery, Amazon has come up with the innovative idea of using drones to enhance efficiency and speed in delivering goods to consumers. The Chief Executive Officer of the Amazon.com Inc. Jeff Bezos has unveiled this new innovation of package delivery system on the CBS news program called “60 Minutes”. Amazon is known for its amazing delivery service and is one of the most famous online shopping portals. Although the idea of self-guided drones delivering goods to consumers within thirty minutes is still under development process, the idea has been welcomed by the world with awe.
The company in question has revealed its plans of hoping to implement the system within the next five years. The project named Prime Air unmanned aircraft project is under the research and development stage currently. It has been foretold that it will require a sufficient amount of years to reach the technological advancement, which is needed to implement the concept into reality. Furthermore, there are issues related to insurance and necessary rules and regulations, which needs to be dealt with before the world can witness this amazing technological innovation. The project also requires adequate clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration.
These 8-propeller drones are christened as Amazon Prime Air or “octocopters”, and will be used to transport small packages weighing about five pounds within a ten mile radius. These drones, about the size of small remote controlled airplane, can act, as a conveyance, to deliver packages from the Amazon fulfillment centers to the consumers’ homes. According to the CEO of Amazon, the packages weighing around five pounds make up almost 86 percent of the delivery packages. Still in the experimental stage, this innovative delivery system in still at least five years away from being implemented.
Based in Seattle, Amazon has been experimenting, with new and efficient ways, to improve the delivery system so as to retain and attract shoppers to its online store. The video published by the company seeks to explain the procedure of how this unique delivery system works. The product is placed into a custom plastic delivery box, which is positioned on the conveyer belt. The octocopters will pick up the plastic box from the end of the conveyer belt. These drones can deliver the package efficiently to their destination by making use of the integrated GPS navigation system, which will be installed within the drones.
On the other hand, the plans for using drones for commercial purposes has hastened the Senator Edward Markey to issue a quote stating that the machines should be vetted before they can be used for any commercial purposes, including deliveries. He further claimed, in his statement, to have the concerned federal body to delineate rules to ensure privacy protection of the American citizens. The Senate has applauded Amazon’s plans for using drones to perfect the existing delivery system by deeming it as a reflection of the ingenuity practiced by the American businesses. However, before integrating these technological devices into the civilian life, the Senate plans to hold a hearing to ascertain whether the drones meet definite standards of safety and privacy.