Amazon has filed a patent for drone delivery centres, perhaps in preparation for the expansion of the “Prime Air” drone delivery service which sends small packages in under 30 minutes.
And because this is Amazon, you can be sure plans for the new centres are far from your bog-standard warehouse. Instead, Amazon has patented plans for depots that resemble beehives.
These fulfilment centres are designed to be different to normal, single floor warehouses. Instead, they will have nine storeys to house and recharge drones, and are therefore designed to be built in densely populated city centres. This means Amazon would be able to deliver goods to a huge number of people quickly.
These plans could become a reality sooner than you might think. Last year, Amazon trialled its first drone delivery – successfully getting a package to a house in Cambridge in 13 minutes.
First-ever #AmazonPrimeAir customer delivery is in the books. 13 min—click to delivery. Check out the video: https://t.co/Xl8HiQMA1S pic.twitter.com/5HGsmHvPlE
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 14, 2016
However, it’s also not the first time Amazon has filed patents for something that seems like it could be out of a sci-fi film. It has also proposed “airborne fulfilment centres” – which are warehouses hanging from zeppelin-style airships.The plan would be for drones to live on the blimp 45,000ft above the ground and then fly down to make deliveries.
