Delivery by drones: Amazon has patented a tower for copters-couriers

Amazon is trying to minimize the delivery time of the package using a variety of methods. These are high-speed cars, and agreements with transport companies, and trucks with 3D printers on board, which leave for local orders, creating spare parts and parts necessary for the customer.



Amazon makes a big bet on drones, believing that the delivery of goods by air is the fastest and most efficient way from point A to point B. which allows the use of mini air transport for delivery. In addition, new models of such devices are being developed, as well as infrastructure elements. It has now become known that the company has filed a patent application for a courier courier tower, from where drones will fly with the goods.





As for the method of delivery with the help of the drone, this is not necessarily the "courier to the door." Delivery location may vary, for example, if the recipient of the parcel moves. Drones will receive information about the place of delivery, receiving data from the customer's smartphone. In total, there are four types of delivery: “Bring me”, “Home”, “To work” and to “My boat”.



Drones will create a variety of sizes, the size will depend on the planned capacity. Now, the typical “flying courier” from Amazon is a copter with eight propellers and a computer control system, which is installed in the middle and top of the frame. The maximum flight altitude for drones developed by the company is 120 meters. The speed of the device in the air reaches 80 kilometers per hour.



The final design of the copter is not ready yet . The company explains this as follows: "We are testing several types of aircraft and delivery mechanisms in order to determine the best way in different environments." In addition, after the design of the drones is approved, and they go into production, the design of the UAVs may change over time.







As for the tower for drones, it will be a multi-level building, with entrances for people, entrances and exits for cars (including trucks) and multiple “trays” for departure and return of drones. According to the company, the towers will be installed in the largest populated centers, where delivery by any other means is difficult. Such centers can be New York, London, Tokyo and other megalopolises.



True, there are several difficult moments of a legal nature. The fact is that in large cities in most countries flying drones is prohibited. The fact is that the authorities fear their damage during the flight. After all, even a small drone can be a significant danger if it falls on the heads of people below from a height of 200-300 meters and above. So, before building towers, companies will have to settle all these points.







The company's patent application states the following: "A multi-level center was created to ensure the take-off and landing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), probably within the city, including densely populated regions."



Several levels in such a center are needed so that several copters could work at once simultaneously. It will look like an airfield in miniature - some vehicles take off, some come back and sit on their site. The company claims that patents like this do not just look like sketches from the future, such documents make the future a reality.





Number of patent applications filed by a company that are related to logistics using UAVs and other autonomous systems



Amazon is testing its systems at a secret test site in Cambridge, tests are also being conducted at several sites in other places, including Israel and Canada.



The company uses other methods for quick delivery of goods. For example, the semi-automatic Amazon Locker service. It can be used as a delivery point. One such is located in Granada, where I live.