[thunderbrick]

Business analysts say the two most popular delivery items will be pizzas and condoms.  Wonder if they'll pack them in the same boxes?

[rodge827]

Garlic scented?

[charmerci]

There was a video of it on the Craig Ferguson show and he said - "It looks like a robot taking a dump on your front porch!"

[Bob in St. Louis]

Interesting "next step" for a company. Seems like too much liability though.
I did watch a video and it's neat, but.... 

[thunderbrick]

Just think.  Quick delivery and skeet shooting for the return leg!  How can you lose?

PULL!

[WireNut]

Just think.  Quick delivery and skeet shooting for the return leg!  How can you lose?

PULL!

That's a good one. Probably WILL happen 

[srb]

Although Amazon and Jeff Bezos are quite serious, it's hard to imagine that the FAA would ever approve it.  Aside from sure-to-happen vandalism ("Look - a Pizza Hut delivery drone - I'm gonna bag me a double pepperoni!"), there are just too many possible libelous scenarios for accidents.  Imagine one dropping into busy traffic in town or on the highway and causing a multi-car accident.

And if by some chance Amazon was actually able to open the doors, it would only be fair to allow other vendors to have delivery drones as well, and it's hard to imagine eventually having thousands of these in the air.

I did see the 60 Minutes segment but I don't recall whether the rotors were completely enclosed.  I imagine they would be to avoid slicing your forehead when you open the front door or shredding your pet pigeon or parrot! (I do know of some people with birds that are let outside to exercise and they never leave the property). 

Steve

[TomS]

Personal drones/quad/hex/octocopters are everywhere these days. Responsible hobbyists fly them quite safely in open spaces, over water, etc., but it's only a matter of time before our gubmint decides we need to be saved from them.

One example, the DJI Phantom quad ($430 on Amazon), has sold like hotcakes since its introduction http://www.dji.com/product/phantom/. I have a friend who has a customized one, and is very skilled with it, using his GoPro with a gimbal mount and real time video feed to do aerial shoots of wakeboarders and various boats in motion. It's very cool to fly it, but it takes some serious time to master it. In his case, he's been flying RC for many years. Around people, buildings, and houses, not a good idea at all.

[thunderbrick]

This will never happen, but it was a brilliant way of getting people talking about Amazon.  No way it could pay for itself, liabilities notwithstanding.

Give it a few more years and the octocopter will be a fad past its time.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I live in an area where they'd be considered targets.

The bonus being, if you down the craft and don't damage the package, you've got yourself a bonus gift from Amazon.


Bob

[srb]

I did see the 60 Minutes segment but I don't recall whether the rotors were completely enclosed.  I imagine they would be to avoid slicing your forehead when you open the front door or shredding your pet pigeon or parrot!

Actually, it looks like the rotors are exposed.  And the payload is in some kind of Pelican-type box.  Wonder how that's supposed to get returned?

Steve

 

[WireNut]

Maybe there's weed in the box   

[SlushPuppy]

Although Amazon and Jeff Bezos are quite serious, it's hard to imagine that the FAA would ever approve it.

The FAA is going to approve them sooner than you think. They've been discussing the subject since 2007. As long as they remain in Class G airspace there should be no problem using them for small deliveries.

http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/uas_faq/

[srb]

The FAA is going to approve them sooner than you think. They've been discussing the subject since 2007. As long as they remain in Class G airspace there should be no problem using them for small deliveries.

I don't see a problem as far as airspace and airplanes, but they're unmanned electro-mechanical gizmos that will have some amount of failure rate, and some of them will drop out of the sky and some of those will cause problems.

They will also need sophisticated avoidance systems to avoid power lines, phone lines and other drones once there are so many of them airborne it will be like a swarm of locusts!  You'll have your Amazon drones, Buy.com drones, Newegg drones, Target drones, KMart drones, Walgreens drones, CVS drones, Costco drones ......

But if it happens the sophisticated evolving robotic technology will be very interesting.

Steve

[Bob in St. Louis]

You'll have your Amazon drones, Buy.com drones, Newegg drones, Target drones, KMart drones, Walgreens drones, CVS drones, Costco drones ......

Indeed. I was thinking about this as well. Even the Post Office. Could you imagine if all that was flown to its destination instead of that old fat gal driving the little white truck?
That's a BUNCH of mini-craft!
Interesting tech though, as much as I like it, it also scares the hell out of me.

[SlushPuppy]

The FAA will require some type of certification to pilot them. Probably something similar to what the military requires it's enlisted drone pilots to have (A set amount of hands-on training hours and a written/oral board). Liability should be about what the commercial trucking industry pays. The technology is there. Rear-view cameras, collision-avoidance technology - already in most high-end cars and getting cheaper/better every year. Nobody will risk flying these things beyond their capabilities. If they do they'll get sued. The fastest delivery option is always going to be the most expensive, but it's going to be in the drop-down menu very soon.

[srb]

What about the drones that might get molested by birds looking for a mate?

The FAA will require some type of certification to pilot them. Probably something similar to what the military requires it's enlisted drone pilots to have

Amazon's plan is they will be unmanned - no pilots - totally autonomous guided only by GPS, satellite images, Google images and other automatic systems.

Steve

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yea, paying a certified "pilot" to fly your box to your home sounds expensive.

[SlushPuppy]

What about the drones that might get molested by birds looking for a mate?

Amazon's plan is they will be unmanned - no pilots - totally autonomous guided only by GPS, satellite images, Google images and other automatic systems.

Steve

That's their plan - and it may eventually happen, but it's not going to start off that way. Autonomous drones are at least 10 years away in my opinion. They'll have to prove the technology first THEN get approval for unmanned drones. There will be a human behind every drone for quite some time. I deal with the FAA every day. Two steps forward, one step back.

[SlushPuppy]

Yea, paying a certified "pilot" to fly your box to your home sounds expensive.

It will never be the cheapest option, but for those who can afford it