Amazon Prime Air

[flyNfrank]

I found out not long ago that Amazon is back in the game for their UAS program. They currently have several Top paying jobs for all aspects of the UAS in the Prime Air. Their main facilities for the PA is in Seattle, WA and Cambridge, UK.

I live 30 minutes from a huge amazon warehouse and I sent them a message just to see if they had anything planned at the one closer to me. That was the end of this work week so I haven't been responded to yet. I thought I would share this info with you guys because they have a big wish list on what they want for UAS operators. Btw, they refer to them as dro..s and I don't like using that to describe them, so I don't.

But if you search the Amazon Prime Air you can find all kinds of info.

I'm not sure how they will plan on using this technology but none the less they are extremely determined to dump a shipload of money into getting it accomplished. And right now I don't think they know how they're going to use the tech either. But I thought maybe they would have a driver/flier that drove a large delivery truck to an assigned zone and setup a mini ground control station where he/she flew packages out to a particular radius that consist of X number of customers. Say the driver pulled into a Walmart parking area and began using way points to send the UAS...... Anyway that is what I came up with and not a lot of thinking in great detail or anything.

If anyone does get a position with the Prime Air let us know how you are doing. And good luck!

 

[jdoejdoe76]

I really don't see this happening. There are just too many obstacles to making drone delivery reliable and cost-effective for Amazon. IBT did a great article on the weaknesses of an Amazon drone delivery program...nothing has changed since they wrote that article.

http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-prime-air ... ce-1491978

 

[MapMaker53]

I'm guessing the program is mainly being used as a huge R&D tax write-off for them for now while they play around with the idea.

 

[msinger]

I don't see this one happening anytime soon. As it is right now, it's near impossible to even get the FAA to allow you to use a quadcopter to do something as simple as shoot photos on private property for commercial use.

 

[Deathcode]

this will certainly happen, give it two more years and they will launch it in selected cities that meet the requirements.

 

[Khudson7]

Hey, you keep mentioning the FAA restrictions, but remember, Amazon is global, there are a number of countries out there where they can operate legally. Amazon, Google ,Facebook and others do have large markets in other countries ya know! Their world does not revolve around the FAA restrictions.

 

[jdoejdoe76]

Hey, you keep mentioning the FAA restrictions, but remember, Amazon is global, there are a number of countries out there where they can operate legally. Amazon, Google ,Facebook and others do have large markets in other countries ya know! Their world does not revolve around the FAA restrictions.

Each country actually has its own regulations which Amazon would have to navigate and overcome to operate in...Even less likely to happen in my opinion. This link put together an informal list of rules for quad operation in various countries.

http://www.pylo.si/news/265/list-laws-a ... -countries

 

[Khudson7]

Hey, you keep mentioning the FAA restrictions, but remember, Amazon is global, there are a number of countries out there where they can operate legally. Amazon, Google ,Facebook and others do have large markets in other countries ya know! Their world does not revolve around the FAA restrictions.

Each country actually has its own regulations which Amazon would have to navigate and overcome to operate in...Even less likely to happen in my opinion. This link put together an informal list of rules for quad operation in various countries.

http://www.pylo.si/news/265/list-laws-a ... -countries

This chart seems to be geared toward us amateur flyers. Yes every country has a certain amount restrictions requiring authorization. It seems the FAA is preventing everyone including there large companies but as mentioned there are other countries out there that these companies have large markets in, that are more progressive and with an approval process in place to allow companies like Amazon and Google, countries like Austrailia and Germany where testing by these companies have been going on for years now.

http://www.newsweek.com/will-wind-be-end-commercial-drone-delivery-amazon-and-google-275999

(And forgive me if I seem to be rubbing it in, but, even Canada, for us small flyers, now allows us small drone flyers to do commercial work without permit)

 

[Koz]

I see a few possible scenarios:

Oooh - there's an octocopter landing in my neighborhood. I'll just power down the battery, take it home, and put my own receiver in it.

Little 4 year old Johnny sees the aircraft land, runs over to it and gets a few nasty cuts from the props.

After his 12th can of Budweiser, Bubba sees lights in the sky and hears a swarm of bees descending in his neighborhood. He grabs his trusty 12 gauge and starts blasting away.

I don't see this becoming a reality for residential delivery. MAYBE commercial delivery but even that's a stretch. And unless you have the mobile base station described above flight time and distance is limited with current technology - especially carrying a payload. In most cases it would be easier to drive the two miles than it would to fly there. And you can bet that almost anywhere Amazon wanted to try this their insurance costs would be HUGE.

I'm inclined to believe that this is just a proof of concept and PR stunt by Amazon.

 

[Khudson7]

I see a few possible scenarios:

Oooh - there's an octocopter landing in my neighborhood. I'll just power down the battery, take it home, and put my own receiver in it.

Little 4 year old Johnny sees the aircraft land, runs over to it and gets a few nasty cuts from the props.

After his 12th can of Budweiser, Bubba sees lights in the sky and hears a swarm of bees descending in his neighborhood. He grabs his trusty 12 gauge and starts blasting away.

I don't see this becoming a reality for residential delivery. MAYBE commercial delivery but even that's a stretch. And unless you have the mobile base station described above flight time and distance is limited with current technology - especially carrying a payload. In most cases it would be easier to drive the two miles than it would to fly there. And you can bet that almost anywhere Amazon wanted to try this their insurance costs would be HUGE.

I'm inclined to believe that this is just a proof of concept and PR stunt by Amazon.

No question the technology has a way to go. (Yes probably years). My only point here was because of the global nature of these companies, they CAN continue developing these technologies despite FAA limitations in U.S. And yes, I had a laugh at your examples, your point is well taken, they do seem to have many obstacles yet to overcome(including all the Johnnies and Bubbas out there). Amazon does seem to be taking it a bit far now since they are looking to hire pilots, if it is just a publicity stunt.

 

[jdoejdoe76]

No pilots are being hired. There are some other positions open:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/jobs/?jobSearc ... &category=

As far as other countries and their regulations go, all of them tend to follow the FAA's lead in these matters unless they happen to be even more restrictive. Just getting permission to start a new aspect of business, especially one that could potentially affect foreign jobs, public safety, noise abatement, wireless transmissions, etc. is going to be difficult in and of itself. All this along with weather, obstacles, and the other technical hurdles will sink this fledgling enterprise.

 

[derrickduff]

Where do you fit in?

 

[ianwood]

I too was surprised when I learned Amazon wasn't just playing around. It has a high risk of failure but you have to give them respect for seeing how far they can take it. That's where real innovation happens. Dare mighty things.

 

[Khudson7]

Where do you fit in?

May be off topic but...Hey, TopDownAerial...VERY nice website! Website design, pictures and video...very impressive.

 

[ianwood]

Where do you fit in?

I'll see your adoption curve and raise you a hype curve:

 

[Khudson7]

I too was surprised when I learned Amazon wasn't just playing around. It has a high risk of failure but you have to give them respect for seeing how far they can take it. That's where real innovation happens. Dare mighty things.

Maybe they have some inside info that we are not aware of yet like perhaps some verbal discussion direct with FAA that they may be getting an exception soon to test in Seattle similar to the motion picture studios exceptions. Guess we have to wait to see how it plays out.

From that list of job openings though, they are definitely NOT kidding around!

 

[derrickduff]

Where do you fit in?

I'll see your adoption curve and raise you a hype curve:

That made me laugh, thanks. I can see how "drones" fit into every stage of this curve depending on the application.

 

[jdoejdoe76]

Where do you fit in?

Somewhere on this list probably...

http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-wo ... n-history/

 

[Meta4]

As far as other countries and their regulations go, all of them tend to follow the FAA's lead in these matters unless they happen to be even more restrictive.

Really??
It's been possible to legally do drone work in Britain, Canada and Australia for quite some time.
Canada now allows sub 2kg drones to work without regulation and Australia looks like doing the same in a few months.
So how are these countries following the FAA?
If the FAA had been around in 1903 Wilbur and Orville wouldn't have got off the ground (legally).

 

[jdoejdoe76]

As far as other countries and their regulations go, all of them tend to follow the FAA's lead in these matters unless they happen to be even more restrictive.

Really??
It's been possible to legally do drone work in Britain, Canada and Australia for quite some time.
Canada now allows sub 2kg drones to work without regulation and Australia looks like doing the same in a few months.
So how are these countries following the FAA?
If the FAA had been around in 1903 Wilbur and Orville wouldn't have got off the ground (legally).

You can legally do drone work in the U.S.A. as well...You just need to be licensed for it if you do it for commercial purposes. The FAA and ICAO have been coordinating flight regulations for years now. Of course the FAA is a bureaucracy, and as such is most often a hindrance when it comes to expediting said regulations.

None of this debate will get Amazon in the air though...There are mightier obstacles to overcome than playing lawyer-ball on PhantomPilots.com.