Amazon is looking into technology that would let it drop packages from its delivery drones to customer’s houses using parachutes. Amazon’s much-awaited drone deliveries might technically be happening, which the company simply won a patent that gives a chance to drop a package from flying drones.
The bizarre patents of Amazon’s drone programme keep on coming. Hot on the heels of the company’s proposal for a floating airship warehouse, it is now a patent for parachute-aided delivery of packages.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Amazon a patent for a method to guide packages released from drones safely to the ground.In the future, once the patent is implemented, Amazon’s delivery drones will simply release parcels from on high, deploying parachutes to slow their descent and ensure the valuables inside remain intact.
As per the patent rights the e-commerce giant can use the system that can be implemented to forcefully propel a package from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), while the UAV is in motion.
Under the proposals, the patent also describes how Amazon’s drones would use magnets, parachutes or spring coils to release the delivery while in mid-flight. Once the package is released, the drone would then monitor the descending box to make sure it’s dropping properly onto the desired landing patch.
Of course, a strong gust of wind could result in the the Blu-Ray box set ending up on the roof,so a second aspect of the patent contains the real innovation. The drone will carry on hovering nearby, monitoring the package as it falls: if it moves off course, the drone can instruct it to deploy one of a number of methods to correct its descent, from bursts of compressed air to sticking out flaps.
The package can be equipped with one or more control surfaces, Amazon wrote in the patent filing. ‘Instructions can be transmitted from the UAV via an RF module that cause the one or more controls surfaces to alter the vertical descent path of the package to avoid obstructions or to regain a stable orientation.’
Previously the e-commerce giant had publicly released demo videos of its drones landing in yards to drop off packages. The company has testing for several years to determine the best method to deliver to customers in the future.
Amazon first announced plans to develop drone deliveries back in 2013, with CEO Jeff Bezos giving an approximate timeline of five years, so we might have to wait another year, or at least until regulations catch up.
