Future delivery system: Amazon unveils mini-drone plan

WASHINGTON:

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed Sunday that his company is looking to the future with plans to use “octocopter” mini-drones to fly small packages to consumers in just 30 minutes.

The US retail giant’s ambitious project still requires additional safety testing and federal approval, but Bezos estimated that Amazon “Prime Air” would be up and running within four to five years.

A demo video posted on the company’s website showed the tiny robotic devices picking up packages in small yellow buckets from Amazon’s fulfilment centres and then whizzing through the air to deliver the items to customers just 30 minutes after they made their purchase on Amazon.com.

“I know this looks like science fiction. It’s not,” Bezos told CBS television’s “60 Minutes” program. “We can do half-hour delivery... and we can carry objects, we think, up to 2.3kg, which covers 86% of the items that we deliver.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2013.