Drones, Drones and More Drones...
The internet has exploded with the news of Amazon.com trialling the use of Drones to achieve a goal of delivering orders within 30 minutes of purchase.
In case you have been blissfully unaware that the world simply cannot function without Drones (or so it would seem), a Drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle. Until recently they have been reserved for use by those with a lot more money than I have, but small remote control versions have quietly progressed from fun toys to useful tools.
Amazon.com have taken this one step further with the idea of actually using them to deliver orders. Such an approach would apparently make it possible to deliver items within 30 minutes of purchase, though with Amazon.com making more than $83,000 in sales every minute, I'm struggling to see how they will manage that unless they have more Drones than an Egyptian plague of locusts...
Animal New York (https://www.animalnewyork.com/2012/our-robot-future/) wrote an article 18 months ago on the future of Drones and suggested back then that "The spread of do-it-yourself robotics could radically change the news, the police, business and politics. And it could spark a sort of drone arms race as competing robot users seek to balance out their rivals."
I'd say that change has now happened and the arms race is already on as other businesses will be watching closely to see if they too could deliver their goods in a similar way.
Animal New York go on to say "The FAA projects 15,000 robots in U.S. airspace by 2020, and 30,000 by 2030. The industry is in its infancy." It's easy to see how 15,000 could be reached a long time before 2020!
Perhaps I could buy a few and hold meetings in multiple locations from the comfort of my office, taking photos and collecting physical material.
Are there other similar applications for Drones?
Will these take over our air space and if so, how long do you think it will take?
Is it actually feasible or is Amazon.com simply getting some good exposure over an idea which may never happen?
I guess time will tell but whatever the outcome, it's certainly made waves across the planet!