Are you ready to get your packages delivered right to your home in the UK by unmanned flying drones? Amazon hopes so, and they hope to be able to convince UK regulators that the time is right, too.
The company has achieved one step in that process recently as UK regulators have given permission for Amazon to start some new tests. These tests will do mock deliveries beyond the line of sight for a human operator for the first time in the country. Under test rules, the drones will be able to fly up to 7.5 miles from their base, well beyond human visual range.
Amazon is one of a half-dozen companies participating in similar trials monitored by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which will get to make the final decision and write binding rules for the operations of drones.
Amazon earlier announced that it would be delivering retail packages by drone to UK customers this year in 2024, though it is not certain whether they will be able to complete the trials in time. These tests will include a variety of tasks for drones operated by the six companies, including flying up to wind turbines offshore to inspect them, delivering emergency medical equipment, and how to control air traffic in an environment where many drones may be operating in the same airspace. That latter exercise is one that Kirkwall airport in the Orkney islands will be participating in.
Amazon is already delivering packages by drone in a few spots in the United States, including Lockeford, California, and the town of College Station in Texas. They’re also getting ready to roll out this service in Italy.
According to the CAA, the drone trials will be using the latest flight control and tracking technologies to test how well the small craft can navigate around other aircraft and avoid them. When you consider how many small “helicopters” might end up flying around in the same busy air corridors, it is easy to see why getting air traffic control right is paramount.
Regulators and test operators will concentrate on measuring how well the drones emit tracking signals to other drones, and how well they receive these signals and alter their flight paths on the fly to avoid collisions.
