Google, Amazon and Facebook Battle It Out For Air Superiority With Delivery Drones
There is a race to the skies going on with Google, Amazon and Facebook looking to use air drones for various purposes including scheduled deliveries. What may have been seen as a publicity stunt, a Tech industry “mine's bigger than yours,” or as a practical alternative delivery system for hard to reach locations, these guys with billions to spend are keen on giving it a try.
Google fairly recently acquired drone maker Titan Aerospace which is a US startup that develops drones that fly near the Earth's atmosphere and has named their endeavor Google Project Wing. Facebook was also looking at the company at the time, but when it was snapped up by Google it opted to buy Ascenta based in the UK. Ascenta design high altitude drones powered by solar energy which it is expected will be able to fly under their own power for weeks at a time.
The complete purpose of buying the drone companies is not yet clear. Both Google and Facebook are getting more and more into big data and number crunching. Beyond satellite businesses, drones give both companies the ability to see things as they happen from not so far away and without relying on available satellite communications to do so. However, Google is also interested in making deliveries using drones, as is Amazon.
Amazon Theatrics?
With Amazon, the aim seems to be more a case of enabling delivery to rural areas rather than for observation of customers. Whilst the drones have been in the testing phase and the idea received a significant jolt following the Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announcement near last year's holiday season, the idea has yet to be taken particularly seriously because more details have not been forthcoming.
A Trip To Australia
The necessary testing of drones on US soil has run into problems though due to businesses needing approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before their drones can take to the air. Currently lacking the necessary FAA approvals, Google actually took a trip out to Queensland, Australia recently to test their delivery drones outside of the purview of the FAA. A parcel of consumables were successfully delivered by their drone to two Australian farmers.
The quadcopters that are sometimes used are not always the most convenient for human deliveries because people can tend to not pay attention to the rotating blades (as they might do more with a landing helicopter) and can injure themselves when trying to collect their parcel. Google has been playing with alternative ideas for delivery like using fishing lines to lower goods to the ground to avoid the rotating blades being too close to humans. Certainly something that Amazon will need to concern themselves with if their drone idea ever gets any altitude. After all, Amazon don't want to be fielding customer service requests for them to cover the cost of replacement prosthetic limbs.
Google Lobbying For Change
Google has retained Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to represent their legal interest and lobby government about civilian access to drones. Several other companies with skin in the game like Amazon and 3D Robotics have also hired the same law firm.
FAA Busy With Drone Approval Requests
The FAA received 31 separate requests through to June 2014 from companies looking to operate drones on US soil. This covered industries such as pipelines, agriculture, movie production and surveyors. BP did receive approval in June to use drones in Alaska where it is more desolate. We might also see cartoon characters flying around as the Walt Disney company has also applied for three drone patents so they're clearly involved too. Outside of the FAA, there are a number of unmanned drones flying within US borders without permission too.
Whilst drones are still several years away from commercial use to solve the problem of delivery to the “last mile” when that last mile is in a remote location, a drone can get it done. It is nice to see drones being put to a potentially positive use for a change.
