Best known for its world-class university, bicycles and punting, the English city of Cambridge is set to become one of the homes of Amazon’s drone delivery pilot programme. Amazon is also advertising jobs for drone pilots to join the programme in both the UK and US, putting to rest suggestions that the whole thing was just an elaborate, attention-seeking hoax.
The online retailer announced plans for a drone-based delivery service, called Amazon Prime Air, last year. The service is intended for same-day deliveries of small items. At the time it was unclear whether the company was serious or whether Amazon Prime Air was simply a marketing stunt. Now it looks like Amazon was very serious indeed.
Two years ago Amazon bought a Cambridge-based start up called Evi Technologies that works with drones, making the English city a natural choice for testing the project. Cambridge is also a small town with little to no air traffic, making it an ideal testing ground for working out the programme’s kinks. That said, it’s also full of students – and students with resources, at that – which could make its drones the target of pranksters and aspiring marksmen alike.
Nevertheless, Amazon also has a research and development lab working on Prime Air in the US city of Seattle and seem to be trying to ramp up the project on both sides of the Atlantic. If there was any doubt about how serious the company is about its new venture it’s been allayed by the fact that the retailer is actually advertising positions for Prime Air “Flight Operations Engineers” in both Cambridge and Seattle.
The company already offers a same-day collection service in the UK where Amazon Prime customers (who pay an annual subscription for expedited delivery and access to Amazon’s streaming video content) can collect parcels from supermarkets and corner cafes, and it’s experimented with using taxis for rapid deliveries in various US cities.
Google has also been playing around with delivering items with drones as has courier company DHL. Though using drones to deliver the latest video game or romance novel might seem excessive, it’s easy to see the potential for getting essential medical supplies or other time-sensitive items to outlying areas, assuming of course the drone has the requisite range.
Any airborne delivery system is going to face enormous challenges from regulators and the public, but that doesn’t appear to be putting Amazon – or its rivals – off in the slightest. We’ll be keeping our eyes on the skies.
