Originally an online bookseller, Amazon has expanded its reach by selling a larger variety of products, including its own Kindle tablet, and introducing more aspects of the organization with Amazon Fresh (grocery delivery in Seattle and Los Angeles), Amazon Fashion (one-stop apparel shopping)and Amazon Web Services (Cloud computing that provides a variety of Web needs to organizations, including Netflix and the CIA).
Last week Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced his latest project to Charlie Rose on “60 Minutes.”
“I know this looks like science fiction. It’s not,” Bezos said as he revealed two octocopters.
The devices, also referred to as “drones” or “unmanned aerial vehicles,” are the next form of Amazon delivery, called Amazon Prime Air. The package-carrying drone will arrive within 30 minutes of the purchase, Bezos said. He expects each drone to be able to carry up to five pounds, which accounts for 86 percent of Amazon’s deliveries, and travel by GPS coordinates to a destination within a 10-mile radius of an Amazon fulfillment, aka distribution, center, allowing this form of delivery to be more prominent in urban areas.
“And so, it won’t work for everything,” he said on the TV program. “You know, we’re not gonna deliver kayaks or table saws this way.”
While this technology isn’t legal yet, Bezos hopes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will have new regulations in place by 2015. He plans to have his drones in the air in four to five years after the company conducts more safety testing.
“It will work, and it will happen, and it’s gonna be a lot of fun,” he said.
And Amazon isn’t alone. UPS is experimenting with the technology, according to The Verge, and CNN cites the use of drones overseas, such as Domino’s Pizza in the United Kingdom and an Australian book company.
However, safety seems to be the biggest hurdle.
CNN spoke to drone expert Mary (Missy) Cummings, an associate professor at MIT and one of the Navy’s first female fighter pilots. She pointed out that some might aim at the drones for sport or in an effort to steal the goods.
Amazon did not address that aspect on its website, stating that ”Safety will be our top priority, and our vehicles will be built with multiple redundancies and designed to commercial aviation standards.”
Also deeming safety as its No. 1 mission, the FAA currently only allows private companies to conduct testing of drones after receiving clearance to do so.
Used for military operations previously, unmanned aerial vehicles have been used in the public sector since their National Airspace System debut in 1990 to assist in missions in the public interest, such as firefighting, disaster relief, search and rescue, law enforcement and boarder patrol. Operations are permitted up to 50,000 feet, but are prohibited over major urban areas due to an increase in manned aircraft in those areas.
Last year, the FAA established the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office and received congressional push to integrate these aircraft into the National Airspace System by 2015, and Cummings, who also wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe, believes Amazon’s involvement will help the process.
“With Amazon’s entry into the commercial drone market, innovations will now happen much more rapidly,” she said. “The commercial drone market is a much-needed shot in the arm for an ailing aerospace industry, and will likely leapfrog military drone development, especially in software advances.
However, she does not feel FAA will meet the 2015 deadline, resulting in Amazon taking its business overseas.
“Unless we address the regulatory aspects soon, we will watch the imminent commercial drone revolution happen overseas. Congress needs to hold the FAA’s feet to the fire before this technology takes flight and leaves the U.S. commercial market behind.”
