Amazon has been talking about its plans to use drones to deliver packages for years – but given the obvious public liability issues that come with it, the execution of those ambitions has been a long time coming.
However, the company now believes it is finally at a point where it can start to use drones as part of its service, with confidence that it has created an accident-proof machine.
Unveiling its latest iteration at a conference in Las Vegas, Amazon executive Jeff Wilke said its drone is “independently safe” and able to react to a changing environment.
"Some drones are autonomous but not able to react to the unexpected, relying simply on communications systems for situational awareness,” Wilke is reported to have said by BBC News.
"If our drone’s flight environment changes, or the drone‘s mission commands it to come into contact with an object that wasn’t there previously, it will refuse to do so – it is independently safe.”
Amazon’s machine uses six rotors, and ‘sees’ what’s around it using a combination of data from visual, thermal and ultrasonic sensors.
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