Amazon has revealed that customers in Lockeford, California, will be among the first to receive Prime Air drone deliveries in the US.
The company has been working on drone delivery for almost a decade and says the first deliveries will take place later this year. It will then evaluate the feedback of the Lockeford residents to help define the future of drone delivery for the company.
Amazon is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and local officials in Lockeford to obtain permission to conduct the deliveries.
Amazon’s drones will include what they claims is “a sophisticated and industry-leading sense-and-avoid system that will enable operations without visual observers and allow our drone to operate at greater distances while safely and reliably avoiding other aircraft, people, pets, and obstacles.”
This means the drones will be safer in transit and when approaching the ground. If obstacles are identified, the drone will automatically change course to safely avoid them. Amazon has created more than two dozen prototype drones since the inception of Prime Air, the company said.
Once onboarded, customers in Lockeford will see Prime Air-eligible items on Amazon. They will place an order as they normally would and receive an estimated arrival time with a status tracker for their order. The drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer’s backyard, and hover at a safe height before releasing the package and rising back up to altitude.
