Amazon Makes First Successful Drone Delivery

The first delivery run using highly automated drone commenced on December 7 – the first order was an Amazon Fire TV video-streaming device and bag of popcorn.

United Kingdom regulators had reportedly signed an agreement with Amazon in July to allow the testing of drones in rural and suburban areas.

“Richard B”, a Cambridgeshire man, has become the first customer to receive an Amazon delivery by drone.

Delivering via a drone might sound so fictional, but the company admits that it is real and the system will be regularly operating deliveries up to five pounds in maximum 30 minutes by late 2017.

After receiving an electronic order for a package, an Amazon staffer packs the item into a specially sized parcel. The drones are created to fly below 400 feet, and are autonomously guided by Global Positioning System.

The company added that the current trial was only permitted to operate during daylight hours with low winds and good visibility, and not in rain, snow or icy conditions. According to the Verge, customers will need to place a specialized QR signage on their lawn so that the drone will know where it can land.

The drone lands on that symbol, deposits the package and then lifts off again. Even though Amazon hasn’t said what the distance was between the fulfillment center and the customer’s residence, that’s still very impressive.

The craft is described as fully autonomous with no human pilots involved. Depending on the demands of customers for more premium content, it charges Rs. 500, Rs. 600 and Rs. 800 a month. Until companies can prove to the Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators around the world that radio links, collision-avoidance technology and guidance systems are reliable and safe, widespread deliveries won’t be feasible.

Amazon Prime Video has the potential to completely disrupt the Indian streaming market – it’s about one-fourth the cost of Hotstar, perhaps the most popular local offering, and less than a tenth of what you have to pay for Netflix.

While the program now only includes two customers, Amazon says it plans to expand to “dozens of customers” located within several miles of the Amazon Prime Air fulfillment facility. They can also stream hundreds of other films and TV series in the Prime Video library.