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While flying drones are often associated with military missions or espionage, the ability to send small payloads through the air under remote control opens up possibilities for all kinds of other interesting applications. In fact, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could change everything from the way we provide emergency services in disasters to how your pizza is delivered. Here are just a few technologies in the works that could send tiny aircraft into our skies in the not-too-distant future.
Perhaps the most well publicized recent story about flying drones is that of Amazon’s Prime Air service. This outlandish sounding package delivery service would use flying drones to deliver small packages at ranges up to 10 miles from Amazon’s warehouses. The drones would autonomously navigate to their destination using GPS coordinates, and could deliver payloads up to five pounds, which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says would cover 86% of the individual items they sell. Such a service could substantially reduce delivery and fuel costs, since the flying drones operate on electricity, and fewer drivers would be required for delivery.
In addition, the service could enable deliveries in as little as 30 minutes to homes within range of Amazon’s widespread shipping facilities. There are certainly questions about the viability of such a service, ranging from theft to air and consumer safety, but it sure seems like a cool idea. And Amazon is one of the few companies with the resources and logistical expertise to pull something like this off.
