Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, February 2 (Xinhua) it has been nearly a decade since Amazon founder Jeff Bezos promised to deliver goods using drones. Amazon Prime Air drones, which began shipping in California and Texas about a month ago, have so far served fewer than 10 families and have laid off more than half of their employees.

The news comes from the latest reports from The Information and Business Insider, and Amazon spokesman Maria Boschetti did not dispute the figures in an email to The Verge. But she also said that Prime Air is actually working to expand its drone delivery services in California and Texas and has been approved by the FAA.

The Information points out that Amazon's drones are rarely delivered to customers for a reason: Amazon's drones are not allowed to fly over the road on their own. In order to comply with FAA regulations, Amazon drones must have Amazon staff there to act as scouts when flying over the road to ensure that there are no vehicles passing when the drones cross the road.

It sounds ridiculous. Amazon's drones are like a child who needs to be led across the road, which is not in line with the original intention of using drones to deliver goods.

It is reported that the FAA will not issue licenses to operate autonomous drones and drone delivery services, but has specific exemptions for strict airspace regulations in the United States, each with a long list of conditions that companies must comply with.

Amazon is in a slow-moving partnership with the FAA. Until November last year, Amazon could not even fly its drones outside "sparsely populated areas", could not fly over or within 30 meters of buildings, and had to fly over real estate under Amazon's full control. The FAA also requires Amazon drone pilots to have that kind of private pilot license to fly planes, not just drones. This requires that Amazon drones need as many as six people per flight, including observers and ground station operators.

Although these requirements are very strict, there is a reason. Amazon's test facility in Oregon has had five drone crashes in four months, including one that triggered a 10.13-hectare bush fire that is thought to weigh about 40kg.

But the rules were also in the experimental stage at the time, and Amazon successfully argued in November last year that its experience and the new, safer and more autonomous MK27-2 drone did not require as many people or safeguards, and that the drone also had an enhanced perception system that allowed detection of people or obstacles below during delivery or landing, as well as automatic suspension and remote alarms. And it could fly even if one of its six motors failed, and eventually the FAA lifted these restrictions.

But not all restrictions have been lifted. Here are some restrictions that still exist:

i. It is forbidden to work above a person unless otherwise approved by the administrator.

ii. Flying over the power plant is prohibited.

iii. It is prohibited to fly over schools (such as primary school, junior high school, senior high school, preschool and day-care facilities) during school operation.

iv. It is forbidden to work above or horizontally within 76 meters of a moving vehicle unless otherwise approved by the administrator.

v. It is forbidden to fly over any area that the operator considers to be high-risk in the process of flight route design.

vi. It is forbidden to fly continuously within 76 meters of the road, and it is forbidden to fly over the road unless otherwise approved by the administrator.

vii. At all stages of flight, drones must maintain a lateral distance of at least 30 meters from anyone, unless otherwise approved by the administrator.

In other words, Amazon drones still cannot fly over the road by themselves, nor can they approach or fly over people. This means that Amazon customers cannot stand in their backyard when the package is left behind unless their backyard is huge and the FAA requires Amazon to explicitly inform them when they register.

In addition, its California and Texas operations are restricted to flying within 4.8-6.4km of its drones, limiting the number of potential customers.

However, now that Amazon drones no longer need so many people per flight, and the FAA no longer requires these employees to receive the same flight or medical training, it is not surprising that Amazon will lay off many employees.

"recent layoffs do not affect our plans for delivery in these places," said Maria Boschetti, an Amazon spokesman. "We remain committed to our delivery business at Rockfield and Academy stations, and will continue to provide secure and excellent drone delivery services to our customers in these two places. Over time, we will gradually expand our delivery services to more customers in these areas."

Boschetti also said that the FAA last week approved more drone delivery services to more customers at college stations in Rockfield, Calif., and that Amazon is continuing to develop its next-generation drone, the MK30.

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