Commercial Drone Research Continues to Develop

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Amazon Prime Air’s drone prototype is about to take flight. Original image found here and used under fair use.

John Gillis
January 24, 2014

Drones are the way of the future. While they are typically recognized as being weaponized for military use, drones have much more potential in the commercial sector. Currently, commercial drone use is illegal in the United States, but that will soon change as companies and civilians pressure the government for change.

Amazon Prime Air's drone prototype is about to take flight. Original image found here and used under fair use.
Amazon Prime Air drone prototype is about to take flight. Original image found here and used under fair use.
Typically classified as unmanned aerial vehicles, drone can be flown by either remote control or complete autonomy. They fly above our heads and would allow for point to point transportation of goods. This would mean companies like Dominos could fly your pizza straight to your house without worrying about traffic delays. Dominos has already started working on this project called the DomiCopter.
Domino’s isn’t the only company noticing the potential of drones. Many shipping companies such as FedEx and UPS have started their own drone research programs. The most recent development in drone research come from online retailer, Amazon.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on 60 minutes that the company was working on a drone based delivery system called Amazon Prime Air. Amazon Prime Air is supposed to be the future of Amazon’s smaller product shipments promising 30 minute or less deliveries of five pounds or fewer items. A demonstration video of Amazon Prime Air in action can be found here.
All of these companies developing drone programs still have a long way to go. Many issues still to be resolved are proper legislation for drone usage over residential areas, systems for traffic coordination between drones, and how well they will integrate in all typical use scenarios. The FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, has begun testing in six distinct drone test sites in order to help discover solutions to these problems.
The United States is still years away from commercial drones flying over head; however, many companies are have already started to anticipate the future of drone usage.
By John Gillis
What do you think of getting a package delivered by drone to your house? How would you feel about having drones fly overhead when driving or walking around town? Leave a comment below and continue the conversation.