Amazon is using drones to deliver packages in North America, and the company came to Germany to talk about it. Speaking to Inside Unmanned Systems in Dusseldorf, at the first Xponential show ever in Europe, Michael Fariello, Amazon Head of Product Marketing said, “The public reaction to our MK30 drone deliveries has been overwhelmingly good. When you get a package to customers fast, it sets you up for success. In Texas, I believe our fastest delivery is less than 20 minutes from the moment you place the order to the moment delivered.”
Amazon announced drone-based package delivery last November (2024) and is now operating in College Station, Texas, and in the West Valley area outside of Phoenix, Arizona. The MK30 is a vertical take-off drone that can transition to horizontal flight, the latest in a series of Amazon drones, succeeding the MK27, which was used in Amazon Prime’s early drone delivery trials. The MK30 can fly twice as far as the previous model, and it’s quieter, with newly designed propellers that reduce perceived noise by almost half. It can fly in light rain and handle more extreme temperatures, and it has advanced safety-critical systems, including obstacle detection and avoidance.
“We operate in about a 12-kilometer radius from our site,” said Fariello. “When the drone gets to a customer’s house, it descends to about three and a half meters off the ground and releases the package, which drops to the ground. Then it flies off. So it actually never lands during the delivery.” Making sure the goods remain in one piece requires special packaging, and the Amazon drone doesn’t ship fragile items. “So, you know, grandma’s fine china is not something we would deliver like this,” Fariello said.
No fuss
The online shopping experience remains essentially the same. “The first time you’re using drone delivery, when you’re ready to check-out, there’s an aerial photo that you see of your home”, said Fariello, “and that’s where you can choose the exact location for the drop. Customers can choose the backyard, the side of the house, right in their front driveway, or somewhere else.
“On the back-end, our tool has flight paths it will take to your house, with a couple of different alts just in case there isn’t a clear path. It uses your coordinates and, as its descending, it’s confirming that the area’s clear of obstacles. So, for example, if you have a small child standing there or a dog running around.”
It turns out dogs are especially interested in hovering drones. Amazon sends a message telling the customer the MK30 is on its way so they can keep the pooch or the peanut indoors. The aircraft carries a 2.3kg payload that fits in a box about the size of an shoebox. “We can sell tens of thousands of different items in this way,” Fariello said, “anything that can fit in our box, each one delivered in less than an hour.” As for the drone, Amazon builds it, all in-house, in Seattle, Washington. “We do it end-to-end,” Fariello said, “so every part is put together, tested and goes through quality assurance before it sees service.
“Our drone is certified through the FAA”, he said, “so we follow all the protocols in order to operate a drone commercially in the United States. As someone who doesn’t like having to leave the house to go buy things, I can personally advocate for this experience, and our customers seem to agree. When you solve a real problem, people are usually pretty excited to have it.”
