Amazon Prime’s Drone Delivery System

Amazon Prime Air’s delivery system’s technology offers extremely fast delivery time for emergencies like bringing medicine to a parent who has a sick child late at night. Drone delivery is also better for the environment. A single, battery-powered drone traveling to bring your order versus a large delivery truck is a vast improvement when it comes to emissions and energy efficiency. The drone also wins out when comparing it to you driving your car to the store for the same items. Small aerial drones can also be used for many different things like instead of delivery it can assist in a search mission for a lost hiker for example. So overall, this technology is important because it’s creating a faster, more energy-efficient, and more convenient mode of delivery.

Customers choose from a selection of thousands of items. They receive the order in a prime air fulfillment center. Your order is placed into a box then an electrically powered amazon drone makes its way down an automated track then rises into the sky with the customer’s package on board. Once in the air, the buyer will get a notification on their phone, tablet or another device, and a timer will count down to their delivery. They’ll know exactly when their purchase leaves the warehouse, when it approaches, and when it lands. Within 30 minutes of placing their order, the customer receives their package. The drones are autonomous, so they operate completely on their own. They will also have what Amazon dubs “sense-and-avoid” technology, which will ensure the drones don’t hit birds, trees or other obstacles along the way. They cruise below an altitude of 400 ft carrying packages up to 5 pounds (which is 80% to 90% of all products that Amazon sells) and guided by GPS. The drones reach speeds up to 60 miles per hour in order for the deliveries to be in 30 minutes or less. 

There are some ethical considerations for this technology. One major concern society may have is the loss of numerous jobs due to the use of more drones than delivery trucks. This will leave a lot of people unemployed and looking for another job which will be a huge problem for those who need to supply for their families and other situations. Also, privacy will become a major concern with the use of drones because they use a GPS to locate a customer’s house. People may not feel comfortable about these potential issues, and they may strongly consider the negative aspects of this technology.

Treacy, Megan. “Amazon Drones: a Look at the Pros and Cons.” TreeHugger,  Treehugger, 11 Oct. 2018, www.treehugger.com/gadgets/amazon-drones.html.

 

3 thoughts on “Amazon Prime’s Drone Delivery System

  1. I feel like I, along with my family, have been a Prime members since the beginning. Amazon Prime offers benefits including speedy one-day delivery, Prime Video, Whole Foods Market, a music offering and other products and services. As you mentioned Amazon is always looking for the next best way on fast delivery, their newest idea being Amazon Air. Along with Amazon Air, Amazon is now delivery same day groceries. The service gives members free two-hour grocery delivery on orders of $35 or more and one-hour delivery for $4.99. However, Amazon Fresh is only offered in certain regions much like Amazon Air. Both Amazon Air and Fresh are not offered here in State College (sad). With both of these technologies being new and still in the testing phase we might not get to experience the luxuries or a while.

  2. It is difficult to imagine a world with hundreds of drones in the sky. Some may think faster delivery is worth the drone transition but we need to look at other aspects. They will have to think about how high and low they can fly, considering buildings, planes, people and so on. Also, the issue of the number of drones in the sky will need to be addressed, considering the weather. What happens when they malfunction? Can’t they be reprogrammed to cause damage? There are even potential problems for the environment on how disposable the drones are. Audi actually mocks Amazon Prime drones in the ad below. The ad may be far fetched but it paints a picture as to how a drone future could look. It’s not pretty.

    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLSmkkw0v8I

  3. The thought of drones being the more efficient way of delivery nowadays is a bit surreal, but it makes sense since they can run on rechargable batteries. Yes, this means its way more likely for people to lose jobs, but drones also have capabilites that can mitigate danger for humans. Drones in the shipping business would be much less costly in a lot of ways than workers, yet can be utilized in much more scenarios. Wildfires have been causing many ecosystems to be diminished, but to make it worse small shrubs will take trees places, disabling the regrowth of trees. I’ve come across a video that shows the potential of drones in repopulating forests, especially in more dangerous terrain. The drones map out the terrain and then choose an optimal path to spread seeds. The seeds are coated with ghost pepper oil, which deters animals like squirrels from eating them.

    Source: https://youtu.be/U7nJBFjKqAY

Leave a Reply