The way Amazon operates in the desert may highlight the natural barriers to building a solid business in drone delivery, at least without advances in technology. “We will not accept orders if the temperature is above 104 degrees,” Kalsi Hendrickson, director of product and program management for Amazon Prime Air, said in a broadcast interview with Phoenix’s 12 News late last month. “We understand that this will limit some of our afternoon operations during the summer, but we will still be able to pick up packages in the morning.”
Asked for comment for this article, Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson told WIRED, “Tolleson’s plans include regular summer deliveries to allow customers to shop year-round with drone delivery. It’s included,” he said. Any claims to the contrary are false. ” Stevenson did not dispute that Arizona’s summer climate limits the delivery window.
unique climate
A year ago, Amazon met virtually with Tolleson city officials to begin the process of vetting the city as a possible site for a drone base. Tolleson’s economic development director signed a non-disclosure agreement in March of last year barring the city from discussing the discussions, according to a copy obtained by WIRED through a public records request.
At last month’s City Council meeting after Amazon announced its plans, Tolleson Mayor Juan Rodriguez said the company chose West Valley City out of 1,000 options, according to city minutes. Amazon representatives at the meeting donated $12,500 to local nonprofits that help fund education and basic relief efforts, along with a supersized check, Rodriguez and other local leaders. and asked for a photo.
Drone delivery proponents like Rodriguez tout the potential to remove vehicles and their associated emissions and accidents from the roads. For consumers, his hour-long delivery time from order to delivery makes it an attractive proposition for urgent needs at home or to satisfy whimsical desires.
No organized opposition to Arizona’s drone program has emerged so far. But in the Amazon and other areas where drone delivery programs are being tested, local residents are concerned about noise pollution from buzzing machines and the potential for drones to become surveillance tools, but Operators say that was not their intention.
There are also concerns that flying robots could eliminate driving jobs, as one Tolleson City Council member asked at last month’s meeting. As of now, Amazon’s project will see the company add 750 full- and part-time employees to its Tolleson location and hire someone to monitor up to four drones that may be in flight at once. A company representative told Congress. However, as technology matures and regulations ease, manual monitoring may also become necessary.
The MK30 drone, for which Amazon is seeking permission, is smaller and lighter than previous drones and has more sensors and software to move into dense areas on pre-planned routes that fly around obstacles. ing. It can fly up to 12.5 miles away from its home base, fly at speeds of up to 105 miles per hour, and fly as high as 400 feet in the air. Light rain will be no problem.
Other cities with drone deliveries have warmer climates. Weather data compiled by Time and Date shows summer daytime highs average Fahrenheit in College Station, Texas, where Amazon continues to operate drone operations, and Rockford, where Amazon announced last month that it would discontinue drone operations. It has been shown that temperatures tend to drop below 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius). Drone. The climates of the alphabet wings in Australia and Texas are similar.
Amazon has said it is considering expanding into Italy and returning to the UK this year after abruptly canceling most of its projects there in 2021. Extreme heat should not be a problem throughout the season in these countries.
Tolleson Mayor Rodriguez couldn’t be more excited about drones and the increased sales tax revenue they bring to the city by increasing shipments from the city. “Honestly, this is pretty awesome,” he told his fellow lawmakers about the drones, citing a deep dive into the technology on YouTube. Weather permitting, it looks like he might have at least one loyal customer on Amazon.
