Some
call it flying robots because it flies just like an aircraft but through
software-controlled flight plans in their embedded systems working in
conjunction with GPS. Drones are more formally known as unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAV). UAVs have most often been
associated with the military but they are also used for search and rescue,
surveillance, traffic monitoring, weather monitoring and firefighting, among
other things.
Recently,
Drones have come into consideration for a number of commercial applications. In
late 2013, Amazon announced a plan to use drones for delivery in the
not-too-distant future. The service,
known as Amazon Prime Air,
is expected to deliver orders inside a 10-mile radius of a fulfillment center
within 30 minutes.
Amazon
announced yesterday that it would roll out free shipping to its customers on
items that weigh 8 grams or less with no minimum order size. This seems like
yet another move by Amazon to keep its position on the $304 billion online
shopping industry at the expense of the bottom line, but that might not be the
case soon: if the company can manage to make its Prime Air drone delivery
program a reality, delivering lightweight goods could actually become a weirdly
profitable part of the business.
There
are still many technological and regulatory hurdles Amazon will need to
surmount before Prime Air takes flight, even taking into consideration the
progress we’ve seen in the industry and from the FAA over the last year. An
analysis from Tasha Keeney at investment firm Ark offers a compelling argument
that drone delivery could provide a path to substantial profits.
credit:amazon/verge