How Amazon's Drone Deliveries Will Work (yahoo.com) 177
An anonymous reader writes: In a new interview, Amazon has revealed details of the drone delivery program they're building out. VP Paul Misener said, "Prime Air is a future delivery service that will get packages to customers within 30 minutes of them ordering it online at Amazon.com. The goals we've set for ourselves are: The range has to be over 10 miles. These things will weigh about 55 pounds each, but they'll be able to deliver parcels that weigh up to five pounds. It turns out that the vast majority of the things we sell at Amazon weigh less than five pounds." They haven't set pricing yet, but deliveries will follow the same protocols that trucks do now — if you're not home, it'll be left on your doorstep or in your yard. The company is developing different kinds of drones to service different climates. They also expect the regulatory issues to dissipate once they can demonstrate how safe the drones are. Amazon anticipates the vast majority of drone flying to be done between altitudes of 200ft and 400ft.
Why send these from a central location? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why send these from a central location? (Score:4, Insightful)
or here's a even better one, why not load the packages up on a truck which then gets distributed from a central hub like thing direct to your door along with other packages going to the same area?
Re:Why send these from a central location? (Score:5, Insightful)
The standard distribution is good for overnight deliveries. But anything past that gets increasingly expensive.
A Hub, is designed to handle deliveries within a days travel, they will load up the trucks with a day's worth of goods. And the Driver will spend the full day driving to each location. Going to the Hub in the Morning and at the end of the shift with preferable an empty truck or filled with packages to be delivered elsewhere.
To give direct delivery from the Hub to your home, and back to the hub, would make delivery extremely expensive. The Drones (50 lbs), being electrical, flying, and automated makes it much cheaper to get an individual package from hub/warehouse to home. Then it would take for a Person (200lbs), a gasoline vehicle (1000+lbs) and driving to drop off you 5 lbs of goods.
Now the Current system isn't going to go away if you can fill up your truck then you can still be cheaper than a drone/per lbs of material shipped. But if you need it right away drone can be cheaper.
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A Hub, is designed to handle deliveries within a days travel, they will load up the trucks with a day's worth of goods.
Depends on the hub and the delivery area. Some trucks can go back to the hub multiple times per day.
To give direct delivery from the Hub to your home, and back to the hub, would make delivery extremely expensive.
Which is the reason it's next to impossible for me to order same-day local delivery of flowers from a national floral service. And why it costs a ridiculous sum to get a pizza within 30 minutes from a national chain to arrive at my home.
Oh wait... those business models have successfully existed for years. It's just that they actually built the local infrastructure for delivery of goods, since those goods
Re:Why send these from a central location? (Score:4, Funny)
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You gonna put all the support infrastructure on that truck? You have to swap battery packs after every run, load up new packages, make inspections and repairs of the drones, etc. And you need a pretty large area to stage all the takeoffs and landings.
Re: Why send these from a central location? (Score:2)
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To load the truck with 50 deliveries means you wouldn't be able to keep the drones in the air. Because the truck will need to drive back and refill with new goods from the warehouse anyways.
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How ca
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While I don't think the idea makes a lot of sense (Pinkdot anyone?), it is pretty cool.
Serious question: why send these from a warehouse? Why not load a flat bed truck up with 50 or so, and drive it to the closest point that all 50 deliveries share and then release them from the back of the flat bed all at the same time. The video linked in the post shows a drone being launched from a warehouse; not too many people live near amazon warehouses.
Because, at least for now driving requires a human and Amazon probably wants to eliminate humans from the equation - excepting the customer of course.
Will they use shells like contractors / subcontrac (Score:1)
Will they use shells like contractors / subcontractors to cover there ass if some thing goes wrong?
Never (Score:1)
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There is no such thing as "zero risk" technology. It's a good thing safety zealots weren't around 100 years ago, otherwise we would have never developed automobiles or air travel.
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really?
So you think that if automobiles weren't invented, we would have gone strait for the multi-passenger mass transit vehicle and nobody would have thought to make these vehicles smaller?
Perhaps you meant trains.... well, we had those long before cars and even used them in cities... but the cities weren't better off for it.
As a matter of fact, the green areas in cities we have today is mostly from rail properties being converted back to natural spaces again.
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We ride around in metal cages with flammable gasoline and electric wiring on roads that may be wet or even ice covered, all throughout populated areas.
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You mean sort of like 10,000 lb brown steel vans with whirring metal parts and a large payload of flammable fuel piloted by a rushed/distracted operator speeding through populated areas while looking for addresses, backing out of driveways and turning rapidly?
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I am sure that you are wrong.
There is a big market for inexpensive, fast curb-side delivery.
I suppose you also think that self driving cars will not ever (within 25 years) come to fruition either...
Weights (Score:1)
It turns out that the vast majority of the things we sell at Amazon weigh less than five pounds.
Sure, but surely the average customer buys several things at a time? They should be looking at the weight of the average basket/delivery instead of the average item.
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If you buy all your groceries from Amazon Pantry, the sky will blacken with a swarm of drones, each loaded with a single can of baked beans.
American South (Score:1)
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Forget the gubmint spahs stuff, they've already established they can shoot anything out of the sky over their property ( http://www.cnet.com/news/judge... [cnet.com] ), _and_ that it's also ok for the drone owner to be TTFO at gunpoint...
Now there's going to be free stuff flying through the air, and it's legal to shoot it down and keep it. That's gonna be redneck heaven, a fairground tin can shoot but free to play, real guns and real prizes...
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Now Amazon just needs to start selling ammo and have your friend order it.
Recharge on the go.... (Score:2)
The plan is probably to eventually have a small fleet of drones attached to a self-driving (probably electric drive) vehicle where they can return to recharge after making the delivery hop locally. The drone fleet could also hop to a new vehicle that was dispatched from the local warehouse with new deliveries. I would not be surprised if the vehicles will also be able to recharge themselves at their own charging ports at the warehouse or somewhere on the delivery route.
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I would not be surprised if the vehicles will also be able to recharge themselves at their own charging ports at the warehouse or somewhere on the delivery route.
I would be quite surprised if this happens. LiPO batteries take ages to charge, for their flight time. My Chroma has a 6300mAh battery that offers (at most) 25 min of flight time. It takes somewhere between three and five hours to recharge the battery. The logistics don't work out; you would need someone on the truck swapping over the flight packs.
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If car companies can come up with the idea of automated battery swapping, you can be sure the people at Amazon also thought about it.
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Because people could figure out how to get an automated vehicle driving around streets, and an automated vehicle flying from the first vehicle to various properties and delivering packages, but they couldn't figure out how to automate the changing of batteries. Really?
Cool but silly idea (Score:4, Interesting)
The idea sounds cool enough, but how does it benefit the customer? I am struggling to figure out what issue is solved by drone delivery. Drones are not faster than cars so it is not a speed issue. The drones require pilots so it is not a labor issue. Drones are expensive compared to a scooter or a used car so it is not a cost issue. Drones can't fly in bad weather so it is not a reliability issue...
If you are only 10 miles from your customer, you might as well open a retail store. Order on-line and pick up at the counter.
Pizza delivery has been 30 minutes or less for decades and they do not need drones.
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Or you can just let them leave the package on your porch, like most of us do already.
Re:Cool but silly idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Drones won't be slowed down by streets, traffic lights and traffic itself. It's going to be pretty much a straight line from start to finish.
We have multiple car companies announcing self-driving cars along regular human drivers within 5 to 10 years and you think Amazon's going to need people piloting drones that fly in the air?
It depends on the components required to build the drone. Also, I don't see UPS using scooters or used cars to make deliveries.
Cars can't really drive in bad weather either, they both have their limits. Cars when there's too much wind (up to a point)? Not a problem. Drones when the roads are icy? Not a problem.
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Drones won't be slowed down by streets, traffic lights and traffic itself. It's going to be pretty much a straight line from start to finish.
If you get enough drones flying at the same time there will be traffic issues.
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This won't be like in movies, drones won't be flying in only two dimensions.
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If they're only flying between 200 and 400 feet AGL it's pretty close to 2 dimensions.
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These are drones, not airliners. That's plenty of room for four layers of flights.
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Maybe. It depends on how well the drones are able to hold altitude.
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Not to mention the altitude all the drones will have to hit: 0. If I order some food that comes in glass containers, I really don't want the Amazon drone dropping it from 200 feet.
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Cars can't really drive in bad weather either,
Have you ever been in a car? I have and they handle weather a lot better than a small drone.
they are looking for CHEAPER shipping (Score:2)
Drone laws (Score:4, Interesting)
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If I am not mistaken Amazon could do this since anyone can write a bill; it's just a matter of finding a congressman or a senator willing to take a big enough campaign "donation" to sponsor the bill and introduce it to their respective legislative body.
Delivery to your BACK yard. (Score:5, Interesting)
One thing aerial drones can do that delivery guys can't is access a fenced back yard. Instead of dropping it off on the front porch, they can drop it off on your back patio.
The 'not at home' delivery is the most confusing to me. I can't imagine they'd get very close too the door. They definitely can't 'hide it inconspicuously' behind something. I guess even when you are at home, they can't really knock on the door. So I guess it's just the middle of the yard every time.
At least the backyard would be better.
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Right.. The back yard with the bored lab puppy. Who would simply love a nice, chewy box to play with.
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If Amazon can deliver your package to your back yard, I can take it from your back yard, too.
BRB, gonna go charge my DJI :D
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This is no different than current.
I used to deliver for UPS. The policy was to "driver release" (drop off a package without signature) any package as long as it is a residence and that the package could be left somewhere out of view from the street.
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Alternatively, they can have a smaller drone trailing the delivery drone.
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I guess they expect most people to be there to get the package since it's pretty much instant.
You could place the order at work during the lunch break to have it in the evening when you come home, but in that case you might as well place the order before you leave work, and be there on time or close enough to get the package.
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One thing aerial drones can do that delivery guys can't is access a fenced back yard.
Are you kidding, have you seen how well these guys can throw even the largest of parcels? They could make a delivery into a prison without issue, no drone required. You may want to get insurance for any glass items though.
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I think the assumption is that if you want the thing delivered fast by drone you will be there to receive it. If the speed doesn't matter then just have it delivered by normal means. Also I wonder if there's going to be a surcharge for extra fast delivery by drone. That would tend to make the deliveries by drone only those that really need the speed.
Two words: (Score:2)
What if someone shoots at one? (Score:2)
For an idea of what they are trying to replace, go find your local UPS distro center. See how many Package cars (UPS calls em cars) leave between 8 and 9 am each morning. Now multiple that by say 300 and you have an idea of off peak season flights (off peak average package ca
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Or what happens when one of these things has an engine failure and crashes down on someone's head, or causes a traffic accident? Pretty bad PR and I presume Amazon will be financially liable.
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200-400' altitude is an established right-of-way.
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GPS can't find my house as it is... (Score:2)
My address is off by more than 1/4 mile in gps, google maps, google earth, and mapquest. Truly awful.
Getting regular deliveries is sometimes a problem especially since I am on a road named with a SOUTH at the end and the same road exists in my zipcode as a NORTH! My house number exists on the north too, although there is no structure there.
Now a computer is going to get this right? I am slightly skeptical.
Phil
Front yard? (Score:2)
I'm curious about the feasibility of front yards combined with the 10 mile limit.
As the population density increases, yard size decreases. Vast swathes of London do not have drone accessible front yards, for example, even in full sized houses. I presume they've crunched the numbers and found that it's feasible in some places (I don't imagine they've missed such an obvious thing). I'm curious about where it would work.
In the area I live in, even the full sized houses (with a few exceptions) have small front
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How about suction cups? The drone just lands horizontally, sticks to your window and then knocks. You open the window and take the package.
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Or just hovers outside your window.... how long before the peeping toms just attach packages to the drone with the camera to make it look legit?
Awkward interactions with the neighbors (Score:2)
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Oh, hi Steve. Yes that's the dildo I ordered, thank you. It's a gift for your wife.
Geocache (Score:2)
I look forward to following my GPS to the coordinates my package was actually delivered at, probably a nearby field. Should add an extra thrill to getting packages.
How do they fail? (Score:2)
Drones don't last forever, how do they expect them to leave service? Are they going to throw old but functional drones on the scrap heap? Wait until they don't start and are too hard to repair?
What proportion are going to end up falling from the sky over populated areas and how dangerous are those going to be?
Re:How do they fail? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm sure the same way any fleet of other vehicles is maintained. Repair it until it no longer meets serviceability standard, then part it out or scrap it. How is this any different than if a tire on a UPS truck blows out sending the truck careening into oncoming traffic? They do a reasonable amount of preventative maintenance to ensure a level of usefulness and safety, but occasionally a machine breaks and it could potentially hurt someone when it fails -- just like every other aspect of our lives. I know I'd rather be hit by a 55 pound out-of-control drone than a 10,000 pound out-of-control truck. Even still, I would imagine that a drone AI could be programmed to crash into trees or empty green space or some other reasonably safe emergency landing sites in the event of failure.
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If you think that's going to be a bad day for the drone, wait until it tries to crash into Hulk.
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I'm sure the same way any fleet of other vehicles is maintained. Repair it until it no longer meets serviceability standard, then part it out or scrap it. How is this any different than if a tire on a UPS truck blows out sending the truck careening into oncoming traffic?
The truck is already on the ground and the vast majority of failures leave it there.
Trucks are also much more expensive and contain even more valuable human drivers, this creates a much bigger incentive to keep things working safely. There's also more opportunity for the human driver to mitigate mechanical failures.
They do a reasonable amount of preventative maintenance to ensure a level of usefulness and safety, but occasionally a machine breaks and it could potentially hurt someone when it fails -- just like every other aspect of our lives. I know I'd rather be hit by a 55 pound out-of-control drone than a 10,000 pound out-of-control truck. Even still, I would imagine that a drone AI could be programmed to crash into trees or empty green space or some other reasonably safe emergency landing sites in the event of failure.
The 55 lb drone could do quite a bit of damage if it hits you in the head or falls into traffic and startles drivers.
As for maintenance a lot of businesses operate very close to the margin, somet
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The truck is already on the ground and the vast majority of failures leave it there.
Does it matter? Many, many people are also on the ground in the proximity of streets, so if it goes wild it is still likely to hit pedestrians and vehicles. Drones could feasibly avoid busy streets by taking routes over rooftops for example; trucks simply cannot thereby forcing failure modes where people, cars and trucks collide.
Trucks are also much more expensive and contain even more valuable human drivers, this creates a much bigger incentive to keep things working safely. There's also more opportunity for the human driver to mitigate mechanical failures.
Agreed on the value disparity, but it seems to be in line with the opportunity for the vehicle to cause damage. Absolute worse case is a drone hits a person on the head and kills
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The human driver also provides a significant failure mode...
And some untested, unproven pie in the sky idea doesn't? You are comparing something real with something imaginary. These things don't exist, and until they do, you can't just assume the best case scenario to make your fantasy sound more appealing.
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Keep in mind their drone prototype is a hybrid plane too... it should be able to glide on power loss.
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We pretty much know how these things will fail. Batteries are only good for so many discharge / recharge cycles, so simple counting can tell you when to dump a battery (note that disposing of LiPo batteries can be an environmental nightmare if not done properly). Motor and ESC failure is known but tends to happen on spin-up (these machines are not racing quads, so there shouldn't be the huge instantaneous current draws that a racer needs). The biggest single point of in-flight failure is propellers: you
Easy: just like flying cars (Score:2)
>> How Amazon's Drone Deliveries Will Work
Easy: just like flying cars. And just as realistic.
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>> How Amazon's Drone Deliveries Will Work
Easy: just like flying cars. And just as realistic.
Agree, and I can't understand how otherwise normal people can believe such bullshit will ever see the light of day.
There are so many unsolved issues with the concept it's not funny.
Will not work in urban areas (Score:2)
Most houses around here have four to six stories with 8 to 18 flats. A drone could only deliver to the entrance of the house. That, however, is directly on the sidewalk. Every pedestrian will be able to take it away or accidently kick it or fall over it. This is at best a solution for urban areas where no robberies take place.
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I don't see why they couldn't deliver to your balcony...
Re: Will not work in urban areas (Score:2)
Most buildings do not habe balconies. Furthermore, close to fasades there is a lot if turbulence. I find the solution with special post boxes in the neighborhood much more practical. I can walk there and pick my stuff up 24/7.
a stone's throw from (Score:2)
You don't use the drone to deliver the packages silly, you put them up to survey wind speed/direction and identify the target then fire the packages from a canon on the top of the truck or you drop the package from 10,000' and use the drone to operate the tiny cardboard control surfaces and deploy the package's parachute.
The package itself makes a doorbell noise when it lands.
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UpEx FTW!
My guess on pricing (Score:2)
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I cant imagine what shithole you live in where a kid would see a fucking flying robot and instantly try to stone it
Re:People freaking out (Score:5, Insightful)
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You must not know very many pre-teen and teen-age boys...they are pretty destructive. I know I was; I almost burned my house down a few times, we would shoot each other with BB guns, make our own "melee weapons" our of random metal pieces and fight in the back yard, toilet paper / egg people's houses, and other assorted madness. If drones had been flying around we most certainly have taken shots at them.
Ooooooh Kay.
The drone delivery market may not be successful in Bumfuck, Arkansas but that doesn't mean it wont be successful in civilised countries.
A bigger issue for Amazon is regulation. Airspace is heavily regulated, especially in major cities where an errant drone can cause a lot of chaos. Deliveries to countryside England wont be much of an issue, but central London? Where do they intend to land it, on the helmet of a bobby being urinated into by a pregnant lady?
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It won't. Same as it won't work for my house out in the sticks surrounded by tall trees. I don't think there's a clear area bigger than 20'x20' except the spot where the house sits. Oh, maybe the parking area in front of the garage would be big enough. Nevermind. I'm good. Sucks for you, tho, unless your apartment building has a flat roof that you can access.
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No he did not.
And you really need to wake up now, you are in grave danger.
Signed,
The Doctor.
Amazon has set up holding offices for universities (Score:2)
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i have been flying drones, half a geek can build drones that avoid collisions, auto land using laser range finders or sonars. And this is open source stuff that few hobbyist put together, no where near the kind of effort apache or linux put in.
So I think its fear mongering.
Further, all those news, I have always seen a commercial product from DJI etc, a bloke went and bought one from target. None were ever where hobbyist who have made there own drones. They are more responsible, know the rules and play withi
avoid hitting your kid playing on porch? (Score:2)
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Jeez, did you have to mention Trump? I get enough of him as it is...
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Maybe there will be a boom sales of fire extinguishers... a fleet of firefighting drones instead of a firetruck. Might be useful in certain circumstances.
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I'm sure exactly the same way other aircraft do: someone monitors FAA bulletins and enters no-fly zones into some sort of map software. With even the slightest bit of technology there's no reason the FAA couldn't issue no-drone-fly instructions directly to a public database that any drone could query.
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I've never had a package stolen, and they're often left at my door for a day. Just don't use the service in thief-dense areas.
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Does UPS have a problem with people following their big brown trucks around and grabbing packages? I don't think so.
Actually exactly that has been happening, according to some recent reports in my section of Philadelphia.
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If only a few thefts happen, they will re-deliver, like happens now when packages get lost (annoyingly common with their new courier service)
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They will no doubt deal with it the same way UPS does: trial and error.
UPS pretty much defaults to driver releasing packages for residences EXCEPT in areas where excessive theft occurs. In those areas, all deliveries are signed for.
I am sure Amazon will do the same thing. "Sorry, your area is not eligible for drone delivery"
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I guess you could either have a 3D printer delivered by drone or print a drone with your 3D printer.