Delivery drones are the latest buzz in the rapidly advancing world of technology. With Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos trying to get his way in to the future of shopping; you might receive your order within 30 minutes.
Amazon finally unveils its Prime Air, a service that promises to deliver your small packages via autonomous drones with the help of octocopter, directed by GPS to the delivery address. The drones will be built to carry packages below five pounds (2.3 kg) and deliver them up to 10 miles from the distribution centers. After watching the demo video posted on the Amazon's website you might get excited but what makes us think is the practicality of this expensive procedure in erratic weather conditions across the world. Let’s try to analyse our scepticism regarding the operation of Amazon’s latest shipping innovation.
Here we do not mean to rule out the fact that the vehicles will be designed to meet basic redundant factors and address commercial aviation standards. Like for instance, the octocopter will have eight blades and even if one breaks the drone will still be able to make safe deliveries. The quadcopters might come with built-in collision avoidance algorithms; however, in the absence of underground wiring system in India, the electric poles could still pose major threat to them.
Considering the various shades of weather in India, it seems an impractical feat to achieve. The question now arises, is it worth investing billions of dollars in a drone delivery system? And will people be able to trust an unmanned delivery system with their expensive smartphone, PS4 or may be an engagement ring! And what if some unruly kids throw stones at the drones and make a game of it?
The future will however, not be here anytime soon and one of the biggest hurdles in its path will be to abide by the safety standards of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The US retail giant still awaits federal approval for unmanned aerial vehicles. Nevertheless, Bezos believes “it will work, it will happen, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
picture courtesy- digitaltrends.com