Watch how Amazon is preparing for safe drone delivery

[Jagerbomb52]

 

[bmwbob]

Amazons drone test facility is outside of Hollister, CA.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Like one of those empire fighters out of Star Wars.

Now this is more the size needed for more meaningful drone deliveries.

At 0:50 it looks like that body is at 45o or so when in hover, so the angled parcel ’shoot’ might allow for parcel deployment by hovering just off the ground (almost like parcel pooping !)

 

[Trippp]

What happens when a motor stops. Look out below. It's fine to program intelligence into the drone, but the main issue is safety of flight. Will it continue to fly with the loss of a motor? I would hope so

 

[db4476]

Not holding my breath for deliveries by drone.

Cheers!

 

[Macinfo]

Probably will never happen in an urban environment, might prove somewhat useful for some rural deliveries.

 

[Ty Pilot]

What happens when a motor stops. Look out below. It's fine to program intelligence into the drone, but the main issue is safety of flight. Will it continue to fly with the loss of a motor? I would hope so

The answer is: Yes, it will continue to fly after loss of a single motor. One of the benefits of a Hexicopter is that upon loss of a motor, the engine opposite can be dropped offline and essentially the remaining four engines operate as a quad, albeit with a single outrigger.

Yuneec built this into their Hexicopters starting in 2016 and we saw many instances of it working just fine. I am pretty sure Amazon has built in so much redundancy and safety features that this was a top priority, indeed it is probably why they chose the hex platform.

 

[dart106]

What happens when a motor stops. Look out below. It's fine to program intelligence into the drone, but the main issue is safety of flight. Will it continue to fly with the loss of a motor? I would hope so

I would imagine they have tested that obvious contingency backward and forward.

 

[D-Wreck BXNY]

Surprised at the size of those drones. But amazing concept. Clearly can't see them pulling it off in dense cities though.

This looks like a rural America implementation only.

 

[RJCRNA]

Anyone know if Amazon’s drones are equipped with ADS-B so other UAS operators will be able to detect them?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Surprised at the size of those drones. But amazing concept. Clearly can't see them pulling it off in dense cities though.

This looks like a rural America implementation only.

From what I have read is the drones will be used from a delivery truck of sorts. The truck will act like a base station so it does not have to drive everywhere to deliver packages. It will be for more rural America from what has been reported on. So basically the truck is loaded in the morning with packages going to the same general places and sets off on its way to rural America where it finds a location to send off the drone.

 

[wardtom084]

Anyone know if Amazon’s drones are equipped with ADS-B so other UAS operators will be able to detect them?

Drones not allowed ADS-B

 

[RJCRNA]

From what I have read is the drones will be used from a delivery truck of sorts. The truck will act like a base station so it does not have to drive everywhere to deliver packages. It will be for more rural America from what has been reported on. So basically the truck is loaded in the morning with packages going to the same general places and sets off on its way to rural America where it finds a location to send off the drone.

Amazon will be beginning their drone service in College Station, Texas soon. The Amazon Prime Air Drone Facility is a hub from which the drones will fly in what is claimed to be a 4 mile radius.

College Station City Council agrees to house Amazon Prime Air Drone Facility

After much back-and-forth discussion stretched from late Thursday into early Friday, the College Station City Council unanimously approved a zoning proposal to allow an Amazon Prime Air Drone Facility within

theeagle.com

 

[Barbara]

My personal opinion, this is something that is not really necessary. Also, how loud are these things? More noise pollution.

Lastly, maybe we could just train the local mossies to do the job.

 

[MA2 317]

(almost like parcel pooping !)

Pretty good shot too.

It looked liked it landed on a QR code type "landing pad" that may be printed on paper by the customer and staked outside in a clear area for the drone to zero in on.

I wonder how many poops parcels it can carry in it's cargo hold?

The future is coming on every day that passes.
.

 

[RJCRNA]

My concern is how I will be able to detect and avoid these characters when I'm flying myself.

 

[Macinfo]

My concern is how I will be able to detect and avoid these characters when I'm flying myself.

I suspect the chances of encountering one while your flying are pretty high, you might have a better chance of being struck by lightning while flying before you run into an Amazon drone..

 

[Firejay27]

I live about an hour from College Station where one of the test markets is. There has been some discussion on who has the right of way when you're flying and one of these comes by. I've been tempted to fly around out there just to see what happens. You may not hear these coming like you would a manned aircraft and be able to move. I'm almost 100% sure this is why there is a push for remote ID so the commercial guys can take over the airspace.

 

[RJCRNA]

I suspect the chances of encountering one while your flying are pretty high, you might have a better chance of being struck by lightning while flying before you run into an Amazon drone..

Living and flying within a mile of the facility probably raises the odds to a bit higher than "lightning strike"

 

[Macinfo]

Living and flying within a mile of the facility probably raises the odds to a bit higher than "lightning strike"

They’d be easier to spot if one were that close.