The drone introduced today is quite a departure from Amazon's earlier models / prototypes.
Also more prominent was that the drone is chock-full of sensors and a suite of compute modules that run a variety of AI machine learning models to keep the drone safely afloat. It is also the first time Amazon is publicly spoke about those visual, thermal and ultrasonic sensors, which were designed in-house, and how the drone’s autonomous flight systems maneuver it to its landing spot. The focus of Amazon was to build a drone that is as safe and able to be operationally safe independently on it's own. Even when it’s not connected to a network and it encounters a new situation, it’ll be able to react appropriately and safely.
When the drone has taken off vertically and when switch to airplane mode, it looks a little bit like a TIE fighter, where the core holds all the sensors and navigation technology, as well as the package. The new drone can fly up to 15 miles and carry packages that weigh up to five pounds.
It remains to be seen where the new drone will make its first deliveries. That’s a secret Amazon also isn’t quite ready to reveal yet. That will happen within the next few months, though. Amazon started drone deliveries in England a while back, so that’s an obvious choice, but there’s no reason the company could opt for another country as well. The U.S. seems like an unlikely candidate, given that the regulations there are still in flux, but maybe that’s a problem that will be solved by then, too. Either way, what once looked like a bit of a Black Friday stunt may just land in your backyard sooner than you think.
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