Roger Fingas
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.
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50 Comments
Special delivery instructions: - Drop package into the yellow net in my front yard.
This whole idea is so full of holes...its ridiculous!
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!
This is the type of tech that gets me hyped. And that is saying a lot.
It is only a matter of time before the ISIS-types take advantage of this technology to wreak havoc....