Amazon Prime Air

#1

Post by wyclif » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:22 AM UTC

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#2

Post by spydum » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:30 AM UTC

I can't tell, would the delivery drones be Autonomous or human piloted? This definitely sounds too sci-fi to be true. Hard to imagine the cost associated here too..

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#3

Post by bryanl » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:32 AM UTC

spydum wrote: post #2

I can't tell, would the delivery drones be Autonomous or human piloted? This definitely sounds too sci-fi to be true. Hard to imagine the cost associated here too..

The drones would be autonomous. According to the 60 Minutes piece, it sounds like it is five years out. With a 10 mile radius, this could be an interesting proposition.

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#4

Post by seiji » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:34 AM UTC

UAV quadcopters are kinda amazing and getting amazing-er by the year. (I spent too long looking over http://www.helipal.com this weekend.)

You can buy one for under $400 with auto-hover, GPS return-to-home, and built in cameras (or a gopro gimble attachment). Sadly, they only get about 5 to 10 minutes of flight time.

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#5

Post by evan_ » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:34 AM UTC

bryanl wrote: post #3

spydum wrote: post #2

I can't tell, would the delivery drones be Autonomous or human piloted? This definitely sounds too sci-fi to be true. Hard to imagine the cost associated here too..

The drones would be autonomous. According to the 60 Minutes piece, it sounds like it is five years out. With a 10 mile radius, this could be an interesting proposition.

According to the FAQ below the video, Amazon thinks it could be up and operational "sometime in 2015": http://amzn.to/1jZz62w

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#6

Post by maxmcd » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:34 AM UTC

spydum wrote: post #2

I can't tell, would the delivery drones be Autonomous or human piloted? This definitely sounds too sci-fi to be true. Hard to imagine the cost associated here too..

If a human is spending the time to pilot the package back and forth would this really provide much of a benefit?

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#7

Post by trustfundbaby » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:34 AM UTC

bryanl wrote: post #3

spydum wrote: post #2

I can't tell, would the delivery drones be Autonomous or human piloted? This definitely sounds too sci-fi to be true. Hard to imagine the cost associated here too..

The drones would be autonomous. According to the 60 Minutes piece, it sounds like it is five years out. With a 10 mile radius, this could be an interesting proposition.

Actually I think he said the "earliest" we could expect them was 2015 because that was as soon as the FAA could approve them, thats jut a year or two away.

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#8

Post by tokenadult » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:34 AM UTC

Good job on finding that URL. This is really cool to share with my Facebook friends, and I have to like the tone of the ad copy that Amazon is preparing on this page, which is still in testing, as it would appear.

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#9

Post by spydum » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:35 AM UTC

bryanl wrote: post #3

spydum wrote: post #2

I can't tell, would the delivery drones be Autonomous or human piloted? This definitely sounds too sci-fi to be true. Hard to imagine the cost associated here too..

The drones would be autonomous. According to the 60 Minutes piece, it sounds like it is five years out. With a 10 mile radius, this could be an interesting proposition.

10 mile radius? Where are you getting that figure? Also, I thought the distribution centers were usually a bit farther out than most metro areas, making that less practical?

Re: Amazon Prime Air

#10

Post by TillE » Mon, Dec 02, 2013, 1:35 AM UTC

Cool tech, but I question the practicality of it. This seems fraught with problems that a human on a bike wouldn't have. They're also entirely unsuitable for urban areas.