DISCUSSION
Will parachutes provide drones with a soft landing for home deliveries?
Written by RetailWire Staff
Photo: NUAIR
Of the numerous kinks in the process of drone delivery that the tech industry is working out, safety is one of the biggest. A new technological development aims to make delivery drones less likely to plummet and therefore more palatable to the general public.
Drone package delivery company Flytrex has been testing on-drone parachutes, according to a report by sUAS News. The FAA currently prohibits drones from flying directly over people, in most instances. Those drone operators who can demonstrate and validate reliable safety features such as parachutes, however, can apply for permission to fly commercial drones in such scenarios.
Since delivering packages to individual homes, especially in more dense urban areas, would mean flying above people, this FAA demand represents a big sticking point for retail drone delivery.
Other big players in the industry have been working to make drones a practical reality. Amazon for instance has managed to get limited FAA approval for drone delivery tests but, as Business Insider reports, only has its license to do so for a year, and must submit each new iteration of its delivery drone technology for certification. In June, the tech giant announced that its long touted drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, would go live "within months." The Amazon drones are purportedly able to carry packages up to five pounds and can only deliver within a 15-mile radius from a hub.
While parachutes and other safety enhancements may limit the number of potentially harmful or fatal drone crashes, other factors may still render drone delivery unacceptable.
Depending on how many vendors are managing last-mile logistics through drones in a given municipality, quality of life issues like cluttered skies and noise pollution could become big problems.
Concerns over drones being hacked, hijacked and used for purposes of surveillance, mischief or malice could also become issues. Other safety hazards could also arise, such as dropped packages, which would not be mitigated by technology that prevents the drone from crashing.