The Amazon drones are back! Did you miss them? The Ridesharing Forum team missed them, too. After a two-month break, the drones have returned to the skies to bring your favorite items and cravings to your doorsteps. Read on for the scoop.
Amazon Prime’s drones are back in action
It felt odd without these drones in the skies or without hearing them pass by alongside airplanes, at least for those who don’t find them irritating. After repairs were carried out over damages, the drones are now back flying over Arizona’s Tolleson and College Station in Texas.
Amazon released an official statement at the start of this week, saying that the hiatus was due to safety concerns involving the weirdest of sources: specks of dust that meddled with the drones’ altitude sensors. These components are vital because, without them, the drones won’t fly or function efficiently.
The company further explained that they stumbled upon the dust while flying a drone in the skies of Arizona, though specks of dust were also found in drones flown over Texas.
Luckily, the Amazon delivery drones did not experience a safety breakdown during flight, as Amazon has made enhancements to the aircraft and did over 5,000 test flights.
Timeline of damages
However, those were not the only instances that caused Amazon to mull over continuing its drone delivery services. According to the media, there were previous crashes involving the drone at a test site in Oregon.
There were also two previous incidents when, not dust, but light rain, interfered with the drones’ software, and the other involving a mid-air collision with another drone. That’s a series of unfortunate events, indeed.
Then, there was this drone that crashed as well and suffered “substantial” damage, also in Oregon.
Advantages of drone delivery services
Now that the drones are in action again, Amazon’s drone delivery service, known as Amazon Prime Air, can stay head-on with their goal to deliver 500 million drone packages by 2030. The advantages of those drone delivery services are as follows:
- Incredibly fast - There’s no road traffic to beat.
- Efficient - Because they are faster than car deliveries just as plane travel is faster than road travel, you can get your item in no time.
- Cheaper - There’s no need for a driver, so human labor is reduced, as well as the costs.
- Sustainable - If you are conscious about the environment, then choose drone delivery.
- Accessible - Not that the traditional deliveries are not, but drones can reach far-flung areas such as remote locations and provinces.
“As a result of that testing…we have complete confidence in the underlying safety of the drone,” Amazon stated.