Amazon has unveiled plans for what it calls, a drone fulfillment centre, structured in the form of a beehive.
The plans from the retail giant appeared in a patent filing which reveals its plan to enable drones to be spread to different locations around the world. The move follows from the company’s previous Prime Air service that was designed to send out drone deliveries in under 30 minutes.
If that wasn’t the answer, Amazon will be hoping that this is. In the patent application, the company explained that the multi-level fulfillment centre is designed to handle the landing and take-off of the drones (unmanned aerial vehicles).
Compared to traditional fulfillment centres, Amazon’s plan for the latest fulfillment centre will include many different levels. The drones will be spread across a large footprint of one or more landing locations and deployment locations to accommodate the drones.
Currently, Amazon’s depots are built as traditional single-floor warehouses which are located near city centres. However, to prevent disturbance of drone noise the company has planned to develop rotor designs to enable the drones to fly more quietly.
Read more: Machine learning and drones to drive Amazon’s UK expansion
For this, it will include features such as “trailing edge fringes,” “leading edge serrations,” “sound dampening treatments,” and “blade indentations for sound control.”
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Amazon’s plan to take drone delivery to the next level is all well and good, but will the company bringing the futuristic beehive drone delivery towers to the UK as well based on the strict US regulations- this remains unknown.
The company has made significant efforts in expanding its drone service, just last year it began testing its drone service in the UK.
In competition with companies like Google which is also working to deploy drone services, Amazon managed to get the permission of the Civil Aviation Authority before it began testing in the UK.
According to Bloomberg, the Federal Aviation Administration, which currently restricts drone flights, is now working on loosening rules to make them possible.
The Commercial Alliance said it was “pleased that provisions intended to expand commercial drone operations have been included,” in a statement on its website. This could give Amazon the go-ahead to explore locations outside of the UK as well.
