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Amazon Drone: How Long Till it Gets Here?

The capability to deliver packages by drone technically exists, but a host of logistical and mechanical problems lie in Amazon's way.

(TNS) -- Amazon owner Jeff Bezos set the world on fire when he launched a Super Bowl advertisement suggesting that his company could begin delivering packages via tiny quadcopters.

Jeff Lemasters, a partner in consulting firm enerGies, said that the capability for such a service technically exists, but the legislation does not allow it. In addition, a host of logistical, mechanical and legislative problems lie in Amazon’s way.

“There are a lot of complexities to figure out before Amazon will deliver a package to your front door,” Lemasters said.

Staffing

Right now, online retailers use the enormous United States Postal Service infrastructure — about 600,000 workers and 200,000 vehicles — to deliver its packages. For Amazon Drone, tentatively dubbed Amazon Prime Air, to work, the company would need to duplicate at least a portion of that.

Technology

Technology has a long way to go before it can make deliveries efficient. Current military-grade hardware has — at best — a 45-minute battery life. A UAV would have about 20 minutes to reach its drop-off destination, find the delivery point, then return to base before it falls out of the sky.

The Federal Aviation Administration limits unmanned aerial flights to a half-mile, and demands the pilot have line-of-sight on the vehicle. Look outside. How many trees, telephone lines and buildings are within a half-mile? Could you pilot a UAV to someone’s door?

Airwave capacity

Controllers also fight for spectrum; every cellphone that comes on line crowds the airwaves. There’s only so much frequency available — and the farther away from base — the weaker the signal — again creating a danger of the UAV and the DVD of “The Avengers” you ordered falling onto someone’s head.

So, why all the fuss? In a word, “publicity.”

“Bezos set the seed to desensitize,” Lemasters theorized. “It was a fantastic marketing event worth every penny.”

©2014 the Naples Daily News (Naples, Fla.)