Think about ordering a digital camera or an electric guitar on Amazon and 30 minutes later you are already able to use it. It seems quite unrealistic, but Amazon is busy these days testing its new Prime Air initiative, which service promise a half hour delivery by specially designed drones. Prime Air is likely to take four to five years to become a mainstream service, as public acceptance and demand evolves alongside the business model.
This potential delivery service is not the only thing where drones can be used for. It could even replace some roles and systems in your own street, like speed cameras, traffic wardens and other forms of policing. Also monitoring structures such as wind turbines and to keep an eye on crops in the agriculture sector are different applications for this technology.
However, the technology still faces a great deal of resistance, especially when it comes to safety issues. There is no mandated training for basic drone models so the possibilities of unintended consequences are endless. Only basic rules like “Avoid flying over private property”, or “Keep your drone in sight, where you can see it with your own eyes” exist, but even these rules people often do not respect. One of the many examples, which had luckily no dramatic consequences, was the drone incident at Schiphol Airport, where pilots saw a drone passing by from thirty meters.
To tackle these issues, the government has to create a safer urban environment for this technology through legislation and supervision. Regulators already have worked on formulating rules how to incorporate commercial drone operations into U.S. airspace and trying to educate hobbyists about staying out of the way of airliners. In this state of the technology, all governments have to focus on putting in place more laws that get the balance right between protecting civilians from harm and allowing this technology the chance to grow.
I think we need high-profile trailblazers such as Prime Air for the technology to realise the drone market’s potential. And looking at all the attention and resources being devoted to drones the past years, it seems inevitable that more and more companies will follow.
References:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-04/drones-are-the-new-threat-to-airline-safety
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/02/amazon-drone-testing-poses-a-threat-to-british-wildlife/
http://theconversation.com/heres-how-drones-will-change-cities-65385
http://nos.nl/artikel/2104838-opnieuw-incident-met-drone-bij-schiphol.html
Hi Robin,
Thank you for your interesting blog. I also think that drones will have a major role in the future. Especially, watching the delivery service of big e-commerce companies. This will lead to a huge cost reduction. To make a comparison, premium ground delivery of UPS or FedEx cost between $6 and $6.50, whereas the drone costs will be less than $0.05 per mile delivery! And like you said, the delivery time will also be a lot shorter. Furthermore it will be a great solution for locations with a bad infrastructure.
However, the delivery service will be more difficult to achieve when the packages are heavy or big. Than it will be necessary to get bigger or stronger drones and this can lead to an increase in costs. At the end it will still be a cheaper alternative compared with the traditional way of delivering.
I think the safety issues you mentioned are the biggest problem. Conflicts with airplanes happened a several times. For now it is mainly the responsibility of the drone owner itself to have respect for the rules. Moreover, I had read that the accidents between birds and planes is much higher than between the drones and planes, so I think it is a little exaggerated. At the end, I think drones will be a must-have device in the future.