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Amazon's Delivery Drones Will Be Able To Track Your Location 99

Posted by samzenpus from the wherever-you-go dept.
stowie writes: According to the filing with the USPTO, the e-commerce giant's delivery drones will be able to communicate with each other, find the best flight path available, and update the delivery location as a customer changes location. Package delivery locations will be updated as customers move around, so a package can come to you at work or home, depending on where you are when your shipment is ready — including pulling location data from a smartphone. There will also be relay locations, allowing drones to drop off packages for further transport, or to recharge or swap batteries. Amazon even supplies a mockup of what its delivery drone could look like, including eight propellers, two removable power modules and much more.
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Amazon's Delivery Drones Will Be Able To Track Your Location More

Amazon's Delivery Drones Will Be Able To Track Your Location

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  • Ok, I'll stick my neck on the chopping block (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rockout ( 1039072 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:14PM (#49644083)
    I know 90% of the Slashdot audience is going to talk about shooting down Amazon's drones and shit like that, but seriously - isn't there anyone besides me that can't wait for this? I think it's going to be great, and the "sky is falling" predictions about all the downsides to this seem like nonsense to me, for the most part. Am I alone in this?
    • While it might be cool to get something ASAP, there will be people building net launchers with a fishing line recoil setup. This could revitalize the fishing equipment industry with auto-tracking "casting" devices... you know, for fishing.
      Sky Fishing...

      • Are you implying theft of goods and the drones by people with nets, or that the drones are purely for tracking people.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Nonesuch ( 90847 )
      I suspect that the "drone delivery zone" will be similar to the "same day" delivery zone, which means neither my home nor my office will ever be within operating range. So no, I am not excited about this.

    • I came to say the same thing. How awesome would it be to be at the beach, realize you forgot a towel, and have one drop in within a half hour...

      It's totally like all those care package drops in FPS games are coming to reality.

      After all, it would only be tracking your location with your permission, after you had ordered something... there's a clear benefit to giving up some temporary privacy for a little temporary convenience.

      The only thing is, I don't see how this service works if it's very windy, or there

      • Re:I agree (Score:5, Funny)

        by viperidaenz ( 2515578 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:53PM (#49644239)

        What if you're in a car, constantly moving playing a game of "lead the drone on a wild goose chase" for fun?

        It would be pretty funny if there was a swarm of these following cars on the motorway or around and around a city block or something.

      • Re:I agree (Score:5, Funny)

        by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @11:49PM (#49644631)
        I came to say the same thing. How awesome would it be to be at the beach, realize you forgot a towel, and have one drop in within a half hour...

        If you are at some remote beach and you forget your towel...you are outside of the delivery zone. And you are a dumbass, and the ghost of Douglas Adams will smite you.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rei ( 128717 )

        I didn't see how fast the drones fly, but if it can fly say 60mph then it can hold position in gusts up to 60mph. They generally have quite fast response times to varying windspeeds.

        That said, they will have a fixed operating envelope, and if the weather is outside that envelope, just like with any other aircraft, they won't be allowed to fly. Even if Amazon wanted them too, the FAA would never permit that.

        As for "leaving it outside", I imagine the drone would follow whatever delivery instructions you gave

      • I came to say the same thing. How awesome would it be to be at the beach, realize you forgot a towel, and have one drop in within a half hour...

        If I'm relaxing on the beach and a bunch of drones keep flying over me to deliver crap I'm not going to think its very awesome at all. In fact, I propose that we go ahead and ban beach drones before this crap gets out of hand.

        • If I'm relaxing on the beach and a bunch of drones keep flying over me to deliver crap I'm not going to think its very awesome at all.

          Even if they are bringing you drinks?

          But really there's not a problem, you simply augment your trip to the beach with a Hololens and headphones. The Hololens literally can erase the drones from your by painting over it with sky, while the headphones cancel out all noise from the drones leaving only pleasing ocean waves and the sound of the 4000 other people around you on the

          • Even if they are bringing you drinks?

            I'd prefer them delivered by a bikini clad human being. (specificity avoided to preclude charges of sexism)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Agripa ( 139780 )

        I came to say the same thing. How awesome would it be to be at the beach, realize you forgot a towel, and have one drop in within a half hour...

        Fast Times at Fairmont High - Vernor Vinge

        Juan hesitated. “That's strange.”
        “What?”
        “I've got mail.” He set a pointer in the sky for the others to see: a ballistic FedEx package with a Cambridge return address. It was coming straight down, and rom very high up.
        At about a thousand feet, the mailer slowed dramatically, and a sexy voic

    • Re:Ok, I'll stick my neck on the chopping block (Score:5, Insightful)

      by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:46PM (#49644209)
      Track my location? Pretty sure my house doesn't actually move around much.

      Downsides? Sure, Amazon...I'll let you track my every move, all day every day.
      Not.
      • That's a bit silly - you can turn off location services you know. What if you really do want the delivery and you're away from home? Presumably all you'd need to do is turn on the service, and once you've got it, turn it back off again.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Rei ( 128717 )

          Indeed. I really don't understand why people freak out about companies making optional features that people who aren't "Google Is Plotting With The NSA To Have My Teeth Removed In My Sleep" nutters generally appreciate. Don't like it? Don't use it.

    • Re:Ok, I'll stick my neck on the chopping block (Score:5, Insightful)

      by pushing-robot ( 1037830 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:55PM (#49644245)

      I think it's going to be great, and the "sky is falling" predictions about all the downsides to this seem like nonsense to me

      To be fair, that's not what I'm worried about falling.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rei ( 128717 )

        I'd be more worried about a 10 tonne delivery truck crashing through my wall than a 10 kilogram drone crashing through my roof.

    • Seriously? I want my delivery to go to where I tell the vendor to send it, period. I don't need deliveries interrupting me when I am working. Send it to my home.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by EzInKy ( 115248 )

      "...all the downsides to this seem like nonsense to me..."

      That's probably because you don't want to think critically about how some of those downsides will effect others. Besides all the safety concerns, there simple nuisance and property right issues to examine. Look, I want flying cars as much as the next guy, but I don't want them or delivery drones buzzing over my house.

    • To me the cool thing is that they will have a small battery powered drone providing you with your goods, without using a car with a driver to deliver it over many miles. Think of the energy savings, that's efficient, responsible, and affordable. Two years ago I was thinking this is a hoax, but I'll eat crow and say it may work.

    • I know 90% of the Slashdot audience is going to talk about ...............

      I think what surprises me about /.ers is that they pick and choose where they want their energy efficiency rules to apply. Seems like this is a very inefficient way to deliver from an energy standpoint. Copter type craft require a lot of energy to maintain flight.

      Someone will use a drone to deliver their LED light bulbs. Responsibly inefficient.

      I personally just don't want a lot of drones flying around. Maybe we'll all get used to it, but it seems like it would be annoying.

  • Cutting their losses (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Nonesuch ( 90847 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:14PM (#49644087) Homepage Journal

    How will Amazon handle the theft problem? Why just steal a package of unknown value when you can stuff the drone into a steel box and get a pile of expensive parts along with whatever bonus you find in the package being delivered.

    Will Amazon be forced to redline neighborhoods that have a high attrition rate?

    • Re:Cutting their losses (Score:5, Funny)

      by rockout ( 1039072 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:20PM (#49644109)
      Wow, you're right! Jeff Bezos is probably canceling the whole project right now, because no one at Amazon ever thought about any of the points you've brought up, and your post just turned the entire idea of drone delivery into a no-go. It's a little amazing to me than a lowly Slashdot poster outwitted the entire engineering division at Amazon, but it just goes to show, the best ideas always come from naysayers that have no idea what's going on at the company they're tearing down in their heads.

      • It's a little amazing to me than a lowly Slashdot poster outwitted the entire engineering division at Amazon...

        Instead of answering the question, you are just talking around it.

        It wouldn't be the first time that the geek has relied on sarcasm as a substitute for brain-work.

        The courier drone will be perfectly safe so long as it serves only the middle class suburbs and grander estate homes --- quiet side streets, fenced in back yards, no strangers about.

        • Right, because no middle-class suburban residents ever commit theft or larceny.

          I can why you didn't get my point - you're suffering from the same disease as the OP; that is, you think that the people proposing drone delivery haven't given any more thought to it than you have, and the 5 seconds you've invested in thinking about it is the final word.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by marciot ( 598356 )

      How will Amazon handle the theft problem??

      Lasers. Big lasers.

    • Why just steal a package of unknown value when you can stuff the drone into a steel box and get a pile of expensive parts along with whatever bonus you find in the package being delivered.

      Perhaps it will stream video live back to the Amazon Cloud, and after a few people are busted doing this, everyone else will get the memo that it is a bad idea.

      They may also embed a small GPS/cellular transponder into a rather small part of the drone, so unless you systematically pulverize every part of it inside of a Faraday cage, your location will be pinged to law enforcement.

      Finally, the whole point of this is that you're paying extra to get the stuff RIGHT NOW instead of tomorrow or later today. The ch

      • As a bonus, these drones will cost more per unit than the threshold for a felony in practically every state. Getting caught will pretty much get you a felony rap sheet and time in the big house - either for theft of destruction of property or both. And there's a very high likelihood you will, given the monitoring which will be required to fly under FAA guidelines.

        It will be a non-issue I suspect.

        Plus, Amazon will know immediately if there's a loss of a drone and can dispatch a replacement to keep the end us

  • If Amazon drones can communicate with each other and hopefully perform collision avoidance, how will they do the same with drones from the random Drones'R'Us startup companies that will be popping up all over the place in the next X years?

    • If Amazon drones can communicate with each other and hopefully perform collision avoidance, how will they do the same with drones from the random Drones'R'Us startup companies that will be popping up all over the place in the next X years?

      They will have to be coordinated by Air Traffic Control and piloted by a certificated commercial pilot.

    • If Amazon drones can communicate with each other and hopefully perform collision avoidance, how will they do the same with drones from the random Drones'R'Us startup companies that will be popping up all over the place in the next X years?

      Simple.

      The whole point of Amazon's current guff about drone deliveries is (a) P.R., and (b) grabbing patents to cover all aspects of drone delivery technology.

      Because of (b) there simply won't be any "random Drones'R'Us startup companies" to interfere. At least, not ones

  • Having something delivered to where you are is often the least useful place for it to be. If you cycle to work, you don't want your car exhaust to be delivered there. Ideally, you'd probably want it to be delivered to the garage you're going to get it fitted at.

    Some people also don't like some stuff being delivered at work.

    • It might be useful sometimes. I just hope it's optional.

      • yeah really, why read the article?

        "A mockup shows an Amazon order screen with four options for delivery: “Bring It to Me,” “Home,” “Work,” and “My Boat.”

  • Smartphone for landing beacon? (Score:3)

    by zamboni1138 ( 308944 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:41PM (#49644191)

    In the last diagram the drone (object 200) is shown directly over what appears to be a smartphone (objects 600 and 602).

    Looks like in addition to tracking your location for the "Bring it to me" function, they plan to use your smartphone as the "landing beacon" for the final part of approach and landing. Didn't see that mentioned in either article. Looks very interesting.

    • Looks like in addition to tracking your location for the "Bring it to me" function, they plan to use your smartphone as the "landing beacon" for the final part of approach and landing. Didn't see that mentioned in either article. Looks very interesting.

      Sounds painful.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rei ( 128717 )

        It's only painful if you check the option for "Release my package at flight altitude on an intercept course to me."

        You laugh, but while it's maybe a bad idea if you're ordering a cell phone, it's a heck of a lot of fun if you're ordering a football.

  • Makes me want to buy someone a ton of bricks. (Score:3)

    by tlambert ( 566799 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @09:48PM (#49644215)

    Makes me want to buy someone a ton of bricks. Then the drone can drop it on them, no matter where they are.

  • Makes Skynet's job (Score:3)

    by l0n3s0m3phr34k ( 2613107 ) on Thursday May 07, 2015 @10:16PM (#49644321)
    far easier! "I didn't order a 'Grenade with pre-pulled pin' from Amazon!"

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Rei ( 128717 )

      Hahaha... you know, this gives the term "going postal" a new meaning. Imagine a world where an Amazon delivery center worker who can't take it anymore starts duct taping cats into the package slot... turning the drones into flying, clawing machines that chase after their horrified, fleeing targets.

      Bonus points if they could get their hands on bobcats, honey badgers, etc.

  • The drones will also be able to track the recipient even while walking or running down the street and launch the package with a trajectory aimed to the recipients head. Upon successful impact the drone will produce a *Boom! Headshot!!* sound effect. Amazon officials refused to comment on the necessity of this delivery mode.

  • When I want a fresh souvlaki I want it delivered warm.

  • I do not want Amazon delivering my order to me at work.

    http://www.amazon.com/Silicage... [amazon.com]

  • if they would just forget it once the delivery was made.

  • Does this mean that my new inflatable doll is going to show up at the office, or church, if I happen to be there at the time of delivery?

    And yes, I know the answer, but it would be fun to see someone having to explain their way out of that.

  • if you are fast enough ... get a free drone ... sorry no controller but you get free parts

  • By contracting with Amazon for package drops from "special warehouse" supply points directly to Aziz al-Jihadi in the war zone.

  • Here is Claim 1 from the patent application [uspto.gov]:

    1. A system for aerial delivery of items to a destination location, comprising: a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, each of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles configured to aerially transport items; an unmanned aerial vehicle management system, including: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor and storing program instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processors to at least: receive a request to deliver an item to a destination location; and send to an unmanned aerial vehicle of the plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles, delivery parameters identifying a source location that includes the item and a destination location; wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle, in response to receiving the delivery parameters, is further configured to at least: navigate to the source location; engage the item located at the source location; navigate a navigation route to the destination location; and disengage the item.

    There is absolutely nothing there that hasn't been discussed thousands of times before and been a staple of science fiction for decades. But if this gets approved, no one but Amazon will be allowed to do this, just as it's becoming technologically feasible.

    Remember, every claim in a patent is like a little patent in itself. Whatever else is contained in the patent, anything that matches all the features of any single claim is infringing. And there's nothing in

  • Wow, that solution is completely non-obvious, and isn't simply a restatement of the problem! What an incredibly valid patent!

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