This is the new transforming Prime Air parcel drone from Amazon

Amazon has unveiled the latest version of its Prime Air parcel delivery drone, a hybrid UAV that is able to take off and land vertically, and can fly horizontally over longer distances. The company says it wants to launch a delivery service with the drone over the coming months, but has not said where this could take place or how many customers it could cover. 

Amazon’s global CEO, Jeff Wilke, emphasized the aircraft’s safety features. “We know that customers will only feel comfortable to receive drone deliveries if the system is incredibly safe,” says Wilke. Amazon says the drone’s safety features “make it as robust and stable as commercial aircrafts” – a major claim for technology that is still in its infancy. 

The new drone uses a combination of thermal cameras, depth cameras and sonars to detect hazards. With the help of machine learning models, on-board computers can automatically identify obstacles and navigate around them. 

For safety reasons, the rotors of the drone are completely covered. The drone also has six props, which according to Amazon makes a more dynamic and agile flight compared to a classic quadcopter. A tiltable design ensures that the drone can use the same six props to fly forward as for takeoff and landing. Packages for delivery are then included in the center of the hull. 

The company accompanied the announcement of the new drone with a test flight video, which shows how the spacecraft transforms into the sky. Amazon claims that the purpose of the finished Prime Air service is to “make fully electric drones that can fly up to 25 km and deliver packages of less than 2,5 kg to customers in less than 30 minutes.” This may sound like a small payload, but Amazon says up to 90 percent of purchased items are below that weight limit. 

However, more important than the specifications was Amazon’s lack of clarity about when, where and how this technology will become available to customers. Wilke: “You will notice that it will perform package deliveries to customers within a few months.” But the company has not yet chosen a location for this early service. 

“Our goal is to have a certified commercial program that we can deliver to customers, and we will be working on that in the coming months,” Wilke told reporters at the press conference. 

Amazon hopes to get FAA approval for the design. As Wilke told Bloomberg, the entire drone is built from FAA approved components or designed with the approval in mind. 

It is worth remembering that Amazon does not have a great track record when it comes to meeting deadlines in this area. The company first announced plans for Prime Air in 2013, but soon ran into issues with logistics and regulations. 

In 2016, the company said it had done its first successful drone delivery to a customer in Cambridge, England. But that turned out to be a one-off stunt instead of the start of a regular service. Google’s rival Project Wing has meanwhile slowly expanded a number of test services at locations including Finland and Australia. 

If we have learned one thing in recent years about drone delivery, it is that implementing these systems is much more difficult than just building the aircraft. What Amazon has done today reveals a drone and has given itself a new deadline. 

Source: The Verge