Drone Delivery

Recently and for the first time, Amazon's drone delivery program has been approved for operation in the US, according to company CEO Jeff Bezos.

Amazon has recently received FAA approval for drone delivery and will soon launch its own pilot program in the US. The drone delivery program, which will be based in Christiansburg, Virginia, is designed to prove that winged drones are capable of delivering health products, meeting last-mile delivery needs and boosting local retailers. AEON is conducting drone delivery tests, in which a bottle of wine is delivered to a local grocery store in the US city of Richmond, VA, just outside Washington DC.

Alphabet (Google) was the first drone delivery service to receive approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) for the use of its drones but now Amazon has received the same approval from the Federal Aviation Authority to test its drone delivery service. It has received FAA approval to operate a fleet of drones for an airline.

Amazon is working on a future delivery system that will deliver packages to customers by drone. UPS is also working with drones - making a test case of a drone that can climb off the roof of a truck to perform last-minute autonomous delivery. The drone uses software developed by Autonodyne. It is predicted that the drone will launch from the roof of a delivery vehicle and would fly at speeds of up to 1,000 miles per hour (2,500 km / h) before landing, delivering and then flying back to its local base (a drone station).

While many questions about a drone delivery remain unanswered, security of the drone, public reception, safety procedures just to name a few, we should be prepared for drone delivery’s in the near future.

There is much to be learned from drones - delivery pilots will help determine the role drones will play in the future of delivery, not only for delivery companies, but also for consumers.

When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled his plans for a drone delivery in 2013, he famously predicted drone deliveries would be standard within five years, and went on "60 Minutes" to show a Prime Air drone successfully delivering a package. While Google and UPS have since beaten Amazon to the milestone, the success of drone delivery has been a testament to how drones can be and will be used. As companies expand their drone delivery program, we are seeing the costs for drones becoming cheaper and more economically viable.

In far-flung areas where it is not cost-effective to deliver smaller, cheaper like items for $10 or less, a drone delivery services can be used to keep delivery costs down.

Obviously, companies like Amazon, Google, and USPS all think very similarly about their drone projects, and getting medicines, prescriptions and other important items to consumers is driving drone technology forwards. It’s expected “delivered by drone” will likely become the norm. These companies have a lot of money to make drone delivery work, and have much less to lose, Amazon has no significant brick and mortar business, and next day delivery is a big part of their business model. The fact that Amazon is focusing on this invention, rather than its traditional retail business, should help it succeed. We know that drone delivery can be a sustainable technology, so perhaps it should be used without restrictions, but antiquated laws are really slowing down the progress, and its an uphill struggle to get these laws updated.

While the debate about commercial drone delivery tends to focus on consumer deliveries, the widespread use of drones could change the whole supply chain. The growth of drone deliveries could also create new jobs and replace certain types of jobs.

As giant companies like Google and Amazon work to launch delivery drone projects for public use, the skies could soon be filled with thousands of drones flying faster than you think. Amazon is continuing to make headlines with its drones, but other organisations are developing their own drone delivery programs. In late 2019, for example, Google’s parent company Alphabet, which owns its own drone delivery service, began delivering packages by drone for the first time in the rural town of Christiansburg, VA.

The development of drone delivery services will soon have drones in the air as soon as orders are received, a drone delivery station allowing for fully autonomous point-to-point delivery by a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) delivering you your burrito in less time than it took you to customise it.