- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
- Messages
- 13,000
Some say it looks like a flying bed.
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I bet they charge some $$$ for that.
An accident waiting to happen.
Great concept. I like that it wasn't simulated footage. They really thought this out so I hope it expands. UPS and other delivery mediums are going to hate this.
This concept would be great for isolated areas where standard delivery options are not practical given cost, location, etc.
I imagine the FAA will have plenty to say about it though. Hopefully they don't ground it!
Something tells me their obstacle avoidence code is no match for the neighborhood dogs. Rufus is just going to just love these things. Especially if the land in a consistent location.
An accident waiting to happen.
Can I drop a similar marker in my yard and scoop the drone from landing in the neighbors yard?
More like theft waiting to happen. All you have to do is follow to the drone till it's destination; grab the loot, and scoot.
Worse than that; down it with a shotgun; recover loot and take off.
An accident waiting to happen.
As far as the rules go currently, Amazon is probably using the regulations that the FAA has towards RC aircraft ( https://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/ ). In addition, this isn't gonna hit anywhere rural with the limited range of 15 miles or anywhere with a high proportion of apartment dwellers. I imagine, as with pretty much all aircraft, you're gonna need a pretty big area for the drone to land in. If the drone has a 5 ft wingspan, it's probably gonna require a 15ft diameter area centered on the 'landing pad' that you put out. I'd also imagine you're going to be signing a form saying that you'll be liable for any damages incurred to the drone by animals on your property or intentional damage done to the drone itself. Finally, with mail being protected under federal laws, I'd be willing to bet these drones will have cameras covering just about every angle so as to properly prosecute anybody who attempts to bring one down.
Some people seem to think Amazon is going at this a bit half assed but, Amazon is jumping into a service that is highly regulated by the FAA....whatever agency governs mail delivery, and probably some involvement from the NTSB. There really isn't a way for them to half ass this without incurring some serious penalties if they screw up once the program is under way.
Found this after making my post, it appears Amazon's service could fall under these requirements which, the weight limitation alone, would definitely limit the size of packages to...about 10-15 pounds I'm guessing. I guess if you think this service is coming to your area you could grab an operator's license and try to get in the gate. Only pilot one of them at a time with a requirement that the vehicle is always operating with humans eyes watching one at a time.
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/media/021515_sUAS_Summary.pdf