Amazon announced last year that it would soon launch drones to get packages weight up to five pounds to customers in 30 minutes.
Yahoo Tech reported new details about the online retail giant's drone delivery program from Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy.
The drones Amazon is using are not like the ones consumers can buy at the store. "these are quite different than the drones that you can buy in a store and fly around," Misener said. "These are highly automated drones. They have what is called sense-and-avoid technology. That means, basically, seeing and then avoiding obstacles."
The cost of the delivery hasn't been set yet, but the delivery will essentially function just as a UPS delivery would. If a customer is not at home, the package will be left at their doorstep or wherever the customer would like in their yard.
To avoid interference with air travel, Misener said the company has "proposed to regulators around the world, including the FAA, a certain kind of an airspace design that would keep the drones separated from the aircraft.
"Manned aircraft above 500 feet. Between 400 and 500 feet there'd be a no-fly zone, a safety buffer. Between 200 and 400 feet would be a transit zone, where drones could fly fairly quickly, horizontally. And then below 200 feet, that would be limited to certain operations. For us, it would be takeoff and landing. For others, it might be aerial photography."
And it shouldn't be noisy to have the drones making deliveries. Misener hopes to design the drones well enough that noise won't be an issue, although he admitted it will be a challenge.
As for concern that someone may shoot down a drone, Misener said, "We want to make the deliveries. And we believe that these Prime Air drones will be as normal as seeing a delivery truck driving down the street someday. So the novelty will wear off."
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