Can you imagine getting your Amazon purchases delivered to your door by a flying drone? It sounds like a crazy idea and, well, it is a crazy idea. However, that doesn’t mean that it might not happen sometime soon.
Jeff Bezos is a man who knows about these things, as he is the Chief Executive of Amazon. He said that they are testing the used of unmanned drones as a way of delivering orders to their customers.
These Amazon drones even have a name. They are called Octocopters. They can carry packages which weigh up to 2.3 kg and they could get orders out to clients within half an hour of the order being made. 86% of the Amazon deliveries fit into this weight category and the new service will be called Prime Air once it gets started.
Not Going to Happen in the Next 5 Years
There is some bad news for anyone who quite likes the idea of opening their front door and finding the latest Harry Potter book dangling off an airborne robot. It seems as though this won’t be happening any time soon. In fact, it is estimated that it will be at least 5 years before this service gets underway.
So who are the spoilsports who are stopping our skies from being filled with hundreds of delivery drones? Well, for a start the US Federal Aviation Administration would need to give their approval to this scheme in the US. Drones have been approved in the past for police and governmental work but none have ever been approved for the delivery of books, gadgets and stuff. It appears that Australia is where we might see unmanned drone delivery happen first, as the country’s regulations are somewhat looser.
