Amazon said in the video that it plans different drone types for different environments.
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Amazon has made a number of changes to the quadcopter since first announcing the project in 2013. Their new show will debut on Amazon sometime next year.
Amazon today released new photos and a video showing off a redesigned version of its delivery drone.
It’s nearly like this ad is looking to get Amazon customers excited (Clarkson uses phrases like “amazing innovation”) about unmanned aerial vehicles and deliveries that arrive “in 30 minutes or less”.
Once approved for a landing (via a tap on the tablet) the drone “goes back to vertical mode and scans the landing area for potential hazards”.
In a video posted to YouTube on Sunday, Amazon showed off a new prototype drone it hopes to use to deliver small packages to customers in fewer than 30 minutes.
“Prime Air vehicles will take advantage of sophisticated “sense and avoid” technology, as well as a high degree of automation, to safely operate beyond the line of sight to distances of 10 miles or more”, Amazon noted in the FAQ. PrimeAir isn’t something that the company is going to roll out yet: Amazon still needs to figure out the regulatory environment.
The one the thing the ad neglects to mention is just when we can expect to see Amazon’s delivery drones in the air, but that may partly be because Amazon itself has no idea.
Even as the FAA enforces its ban on unlicensed commercial drone operations, the agency is working on rules to permit drones without business having to secure specific permission.
The design sure has changed over the past two years (Amazon says it has developed “more than a dozen” prototypes in its research and development labs).
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As for when the drones could start flying over your head, Amazon remains noncommittal about any specific date.
