I recently had the pleasure of viewing a podcast on NPR.org about Amazon and their plans to use drones for delivery in the future. The podcast outlines how Amazon is working on technology that would allow packages to be loaded onto a drone in the warehouse, and sent out for delivery. The first thing that comes to mind is safety. They state that the plan is for the drones to fly at an average altitude of 400 feet, which would potentially would be high enough to not interfere with traffic, power lines, etc; yet low enough to be out of the way of other aircraft.
On the surface, this sounds like an intriguing idea. I agree with the ideas that freight traffic and the associated costs / carbon footprint is getting out of hand. With the constant increase of online shopping, that will continue to get worse, and drone delivery could actually become a viable option.
The downside is the potential list of problems that could occur. Would hackers or hijackers be able to find a way to tamper with the drones or their route? Would the actual drop off of product have any potential personal injury concerns? Another question to be asked is how would the cost of operating these drones compare to the costs of traditional shipping. These questions aside, the future of drone deliveries is a very interesting concept to keep an eye on in the near future. I for one, am rather excited to see how it shakes out.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/30/457884746/amazon-offers-new-glimpse-of-what-its-drone-delivery-could-look-like
No comments:
Post a Comment