How Amazon manages drone deliveries
Amazon is now providing drone-based delivery of more than 60,000 items to customers in eligible areas.
The online giant, which recently received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to deliver several new categories of items, including devices like Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxy cellphones, Apple AirTags, Apple AirPods, and Ring doorbells, let customers select the drone delivery option when they check out if they are in an eligible area and the item in their cart is five pounds or less.
Amazon, which initially received FAA approval for drone delivery in 2020, has spent the last two years of building and incorporating a digital map into the drone’s computer with eligible addresses. Now, the drone can accurately determine how long it will take to fly to an address and drop off the package.
While building the drone’s delivery map, Prime Air first identified “delivery zones,” or areas free of obstacles like buildings or trees. Prime Air then divided each delivery zone into “delivery areas” that would be added to an Amazon account. Finally, “delivery points” were added to each delivery area that were both clear of obstacles and reachable by a drone.
As a result, customers who are approved for drone delivery can confirm their preferred delivery spot at their address, such as in a driveway or yard. They won’t have to confirm their delivery point on their next order and can always update the delivery location or report an issue.
After the order is placed, Amazon determines a near-exact delivery time (within five minutes) of when to expect it. Amazon will also notify customers if their delivery cannot be completed and explain the reasoning.
When it reaches the delivery point, the drone verifies it’s in the right location with the right package before making the delivery. It descends to approximately 13 feet above the ground and also ensures the delivery area is clear of pets, cars, or people before delivering the package.
The Amazon MK30 drone – a primer
Amazon has been able to streamline drone delivery by using the MK30 drone. Engineers and aerospace experts on Amazon’s Prime Air team spent nearly two years building the MK30 from a blank slate.
[READ MORE: Amazon develops next-gen delivery drone from ground up]
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Amazon shopping app. -
Amazon MK30 drone. -
Amazon MK30 drone.
The development phase started with safety and reliability criteria that culminated in a perception system developed to detect and avoid obstacles, reduce noise, and provide redundant flight-critical systems that ensure no single point of failure could cause loss of control of the drone.
The development team tested the drone for basic flight functions to validate their aerodynamic and flight control models in an eight-month process that incorporated the full production hardware and software for regulatory approval.
The team also created a fully redundant system for all safety-critical features, including a separate monitoring computer that tracks the primary flight control algorithm. If the monitoring system detects anomalies midflight, it can immediately transfer control to a backup controller and trigger a safe return-to-home sequence.
To reach the Prime Air team’s standards, the drone went through 1,070 flight hours on more than 6,300 flights on the MK30: first with a tethered flight, then flying in a caged area, and finally an untethered outdoor flight.
The final outdoor phase was monitored by the FAA at Amazon’s Pendleton, Ore. drone testing site. Amazon's flight test campaign culminated in 360 hours of FAA certification flights to achieve the team's goals.
The MK30 received FAA approval to begin operations to customers in October 2024. The approval included the ability to fly beyond visual line of sight, using Prime Air's on-board detect and avoid system, from the first day of operation at a new location.
Amazon has set a goal of having drones deliver 500 million packages globally by the end of the decade.
While Amazon says the MK30 can fly well in light rain, Prime Air won’t accept deliveries in all weather conditions. The team uses a 75-minute forward-looking weather service to determine if a drone delivery should be available in the next hour. If the conditions are not right, the service won’t be available in the app and customers can still have the item delivered through a standard delivery.
"Now that we've made the process more streamlined and seamless, we are excited to continue to scale the the service to reach more customers in the months and years ahead," Amazon said in a corporate blog post.
