Drone delivery service

What do you do – go to work stinky, or make a phone call to have a drone drop off a bar of soap onto your doorway in a few minutes? From technology feasibility standpoint, you may soon be able to opt for the latter: have a drone deliver your goods to your front porch. […]

What do you do – go to work stinky, or make a phone call to have a drone drop off a bar of soap onto your doorway in a few minutes? From technology feasibility standpoint, you may soon be able to opt for the latter: have a drone deliver your goods to your front porch. This prospect appears far-fetched obviously, and sounds like something out of Hollywood movies. But if certain U.S. companies have their way, this is precisely what the world will start getting: delivery of ordinary goods to ordinary households by drones, which, in this case, are small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). The companies at the forefront of this initiative include Amazon, Domino’s Pizza, and now, Google. (Google unveiled its clandestine two-year old project on merchandise delivery by drones on 28 August 2014.)
It’s probably not just the three companies mentioned above. I can imagine scores, or even hundreds, of enterprises worldwide who would love to fly drones – for example, for delivering packages, inspecting power lines, taking photographs, or “just for the fun of it.” However, there are issues awaiting resolution in the courts of law. The issues include whether or not it is legal for drones to take to the sky, which borders on the question: Who owns the airspace? The ownership of airspace is an age-old matter that an ancient Latin phrase translating to “He who owns the soil owns up to the heavens” seemed to have resolved. The essence of this Latin phrase was in fact the law of the land for centuries in England. However, things got a lot more complicated once airplanes and hot air balloons arrived. In 1926, the U.S. Congress created what is presently called the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and declared that the air above 500 feet is in the public domain. This would seem to mean that you own the airspace 500 feet above your (low rise) building.
To be sure, there are federal guidelines on altitude restriction for recreational drone flight: 500 feet or higher for safe operation of an unmanned air vehicle in the jungle, and a minimum of 10,000 feet in cities.
Obviously, sending an army of drones all over the sky will cause confusion, with the high probability of collision of these drones, which will arise from the inordinately arduous task of synching their motions and avoiding trees, birds, other drones, and aircraft. The issue of who can fly drones will also have to be resolved. Is the sky going to be large enough for all those who might want to fly drones?
Amazon and Google are interested in the potential economic benefits of drone deployment. Drones are also environmentally-friendly and cleaner, in relation to the emissions by your automobiles, they will be battery-powered, and some say they could even be safer.
The Amazon drone system is referred to as the “Amazon Prime Air.” In its website, Amazon says that “the goal of this new delivery system is to get packages into customers’ hands in 30 minutes or less using sUAS.” “Putting Prime Air into service will take some time, but we will be ready as soon as the FAA grants permission.”
In a petition letter written by Amazon to the U.S. FAA on 9 July 2014, the company states that its proposed sUAS “will travel faster than 50 miles per hour, and will carry 5‐pound payloads, which cover 86% of products sold on Amazon…” In the letter, Amazon is quite optimistic that it could start deploying soon: “We believe customers will love it, and we are committed to making Prime Air available to customers worldwide as soon as we are permitted to do so.” In the letter, Amazon also implies a discriminatory treatment: “current FAA rules allow hobbyists and manufacturers of model aircraft wide latitude in flying their sUAS outdoors.” “Because Amazon is a commercial enterprise we have been limited to conducting R&D flights indoors or in other countries.” Amazon expects to have FAA approval to deploy by 2015.
Aside from the navigational capability to avoid trees, power lines, birds, other drones, etc., the government is asking prospective drone launchers to develop smaller, more powerful batteries that can power drones carrying packages over tens of miles. Currently, lightweight batteries tend to die quickly, while heavier, longer-lasting batteries require more power to keep the drone airborne. FAA plans to propose rules for small drones in November of this year, with the rules likely finalized a couple of years later. The FAA has stated it would prohibit fully autonomous drone flights for the foreseeable future – even if the general ban is removed. Thus, a “pilot” will be required to fly each drone, or at least have “override authority to assume control at all times.” This requirement will be very costly for commercial drone launchers.
Google’s drone project is dubbed “Project Wing,” and a prototype is being tested by delivering candy bars, dog treats, cattle vaccines, water and other supplies to two farmers in Queensland, Australia. If the companies can’t fly over cities and their densely populated suburbs, the economic feasibility of the projects may be jeopardized. Amazon, specifically, has said its drone-delivery service would be focused on getting packages from its warehouses to areas within a 30-minute flight.
The take-away from this article is that several U.S. companies are asking their country’s FAA to lift the regulations preventing them from launching the commercial drones that the companies have been developing for the purpose of delivering goods to customers. So far, FAA is not ready.