{"id":1036,"date":"2019-11-25T15:56:05","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T15:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/?p=1036"},"modified":"2021-12-08T16:06:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T16:06:33","slug":"amazon-delivery-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/amazon-delivery-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know About Amazon’s Delivery Drones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Amazon announced that making product deliveries within 30 minutes by drone could soon be a reality \u2014 according to the announcement, \u201cwithin months\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement, which was made during the re:MARS\nconference in Las Vegas<\/a>, failed to offer a specific date. But it did give a\nglimpse at the UAV model that would serve as the Amazon delivery drone if all\ngoes as planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, a drone that is capable of\nsupporting such a lofty project must be loaded with special features to tackle\nthe many challenges that come with drone delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Delivery Drones Do Amazon Use?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t expect to find the Amazon delivery drone at your local retail outlet, or available for purchase on their website. The hopes and lofty ambitions of Amazon Air Prime is placed in a custom model dubbed the Prime Air Delivery Drone<\/em>. Catchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the re: MARS conference in Las\nVegas, Amazon unveiled the latest design of this UAV, and also released a video\nshowcasing the drone in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This video didn\u2019t show the drone\nactually delivering anything, though. All we get from the video is a glimpse of\nthe UAV flying over an open field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s unlikely to alarm anybody, however. Amazon has been testing the Prime Air delivery drones for years now. And in some areas like the UK, Amazon delivery drones have already been deployed in actual deliveries<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team behind at Amazon no doubt took all that experience and a host of other factors into account to arrive at a working prototype of their delivery drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’re not the first to try this either. Companies have been testing drone food delivery<\/a> and a variety of other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the optimism from the re: MARS conference is anything to go by, the results have left stakeholders confident enough to expect full deployment within a few months\u2019 time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are the Features of the Prime Air Delivery Drone?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The latest Amazon Prime Air delivery drone is a multi-rotor UAV that comes with a lot of advanced features to support efficiency, stability, and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hybrid Design<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First of all, it is unique enough in\nits design to be considered an advance in the state of the art. That\u2019s because\nit is a hybrid design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s considered hybrid because it borrows\nfrom two distinct aerial machines. It can do vertical takeoffs and landings\n(just like a helicopter), and it is also efficient and aerodynamic (just like\nan airplane).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whenever conditions demand, it can easily transition between these two modes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shrouded Rotors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In order to ensure the safety of people that the drone comes across, the rotors are fully covered. These covers also serve as wings for the delivery drone, making the device efficient in flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six Degrees of Freedom<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another feature that propels Amazon\u2019s\ndelivery drone beyond the usual commercial drone is that it is controlled with\nsix degrees of freedom, instead of the standard four degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movement of your typical consumer drone is controlled by four degrees: pitch, yaw, roll<\/a>, and lift. But the design of the Amazon delivery drone endows its movement with an additional two degrees of movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only does this mean that the Amazon Prime Air is more stable, it also means that it has more stamina in the air, capable of flying safely in gusty conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advanced AI Technology<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Amazon has come to the understanding\nthat their entire drone delivery operation hinges on the assurance which they\ncan give customers about the safety of their drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their drones have to be safe even when\nthe encounter the unexpected as they operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To deliver on this promise, the design\nteam invested in the latest artificial intelligence technology to create a\ndrone that is not only safe, but independently\nsafe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better understand this concept,\nthink of some autonomous drones you know of. While they are programmed to fly\non their own, they are not equipped with the capabilities to react appropriately\nunexpected happenings. They simply rely on communications systems for\nsituational awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Amazon delivery drone goes beyond\nall this. Not only does it fly autonomously, it can also react to unexpected\nchanges in its environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if the delivery drone\u2019s\nflight plan or mission commands it to come in contact with an object that was\nnot there previously, the drone will refuse to comply with the order. This\nmakes it independently safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To illustrate how this works, one can\nlook at two of the drone\u2019s main delivery stages: in transit to a destination,\nand when approaching the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Transit<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Amazon delivery drone is able to identify static and moving objects coming from any direction. The UAV uses a diverse range of sensors including thermal cameras, depth cameras, and sonar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These sensors feed the advanced\nalgorithms and machine learning capabilities so that onboard computers can\nautomatically identify obstacles and navigate around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the delivery drone uses\nmulti-view stereo vision to detect static objects like a chimney. For moving\nobjects, like a paraglider or helicopter, the drone uses proprietary\ncomputer-vision technology and machine learning algorithms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approaching the Ground for a Landing<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For the drone to descend, it needs to\ndetect a small area around the delivery location that is clear of people,\nanimals, and other obstacles. How this is accomplished requires stereo vision\nand sophisticated AI algorithms trained to detect people and animals from\nabove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A yard where a delivery is meant to be\ndelivered may have clotheslines, telephone wires, and other electrical wires.\nAnd avoiding these are among the toughest challenges for low-altitude flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However Amazon\u2019s delivery drone excels\neven in this case with the use of proprietary computer-vision techniques. These\nallow the drone to recognize and avoid wires as they descend into and out of a\ncustomer\u2019s yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmentally Friendly<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Amazon Prime Air is one of many sustainable initiatives aimed at achieving \u2018Shipment Zero<\/a>\u2019. Shipment Zero is Amazon\u2019s vision of making all their shipments net zero carbon, with 50% of all shipments net zero by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the Amazon delivery drone runs on electricity, and is rechargeable. Amazon considers this a step up from deliveries done by automobile, and a big step towards reducing fuel usage and carbon emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Will Delivery Drones Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Amazon delivery drones will be used\nto autonomously fly and deliver individual packages to customers within 30\nminutes of ordering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drone delivery will be used only for\nproducts that can be described as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n