Amazon has started delivering orders by drone

Amazon gained authority from the US Federal Aviation Administration to deploy drones to deliver items in August 2022. The maximum load for an Amazon Prime Air shipment is 5 pounds (approximately 2.25 kilograms), which should be plenty for most items because Amazon claims that more than 85 percent of its deliveries are lighter than that weight.

The drone package delivery service began in two smaller distribution locations in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, with a limited trial run of goods delivered just in time for Christmas present delivery. Residents of both locations can join up for the service, and Amazon will certify whether the drone can securely deliver the delivery to the customer's address when they sign up.

If the order "can go through," the customer will receive an estimated delivery time and tracking information by e-mail or a mobile application. The shipping process should take "less than 60 minutes", according to announcements from Amazon.

Amazon describes the delivery process as follows: “The drone will fly to the designated delivery location, land in the customer's yard, and hover at a low, safe altitude. Then they will release the package and rise again, and return to the distribution center".

Lockeford, California, is a small, rural town of roughly 3,500 people located about 50 miles southeast of Sacramento and northwest of Stockton. College Station, about 100 miles northwest of Houston, is the home of Texas A&M University.

"Our goal is to introduce the presence of Amazon drones in a safe way. For now, we are starting in these cities and their surroundings, and over time we will gradually expand deliveries to an increasing number of customers," said Natalie Banke, spokeswoman for Amazon Air.

For package delivery, Amazon Prime Air employs the MK27-2, a hexagonal drone with six propellers designed to minimize high-frequency sound waves, with a top speed of 80 km/h and a range of around 8 km. The drone has a visual, thermal, and sonar camera.

To recognize objects or persons in the drone's path, visual and thermal cameras cooperate with computer vision algorithms. If the drone detects a person in the package delivery zone, the fall will be instantly terminated. Computer vision software can recognize thin clotheslines and detect items in the air.

As previously indicated, the company's primary goal remains safe urban transit. Therefore, although the drones fly autonomously, using algorithms to avoid obstacles such as power lines and chimneys, in the first months of the introduction of "flying delivery", Amazon plans to monitor deliveries visually, through controllers who will follow the course of the delivery and return of the drone to the headquarters from the ground "with their own eyes".

Post by Bryan C.