With one of the busiest shopping weekends behind us and an even busier gift giving season to come, Amazon has updated its progress on Prime Air, a proposed drone delivery system from the online retailer giant. First unveiled in 2013, Amazon hasn't backed off its not-so-science-fiction dream of making Prime Air a reality. The delivery system will be deployed "when and where we have the regulatory support needed," according to a new FAQ on their website.
For now, Amazon has been testing different designs and delivery mechanisms in a variety of environments. The latest design, which is featured in a recent video narrated by former Top Gear TV star Jeremy Clarkson, shows a much larger UAV "weighing less than 55 pounds" and able to deliver packages "up to five pounds in 30 minutes or less."
The biggest question that still remains is how Amazon will integrate these UAVs into the airspace. Back in July, Amazon released a proposal for a high-speed drone zone separated from most manned aircraft traffic, which is presented again in its latest FAQ. Their airspace model would allow drones to fly up to 200 feet at low speeds and from 200 to 400 feet at high speeds. Manned aircraft could fly as low as 500 feet providing a 100-foot "no fly zone."
"One day, seeing Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road," Amazon says on its website.
See the new Prime Air drone fly and how the future delivery system would work in the video here.
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