Amazon Develops Drone Traffic Control
This week Amazon wrapped up her secret retreat into a Parisian lab with results that will change how you shop forever. The outcome; an air-traffic control system for drones. Automated delivery units are now able to detect and avoid trees, birds, buildings, wires, poles and most importantly, each other. This miracle of machine learning promises a thinking, decision making android with greater independence from the human touch than ever before. This is why it matters.
Unlike conventional air traffic, these drones operate at lower heights. Units are vulnerable to everything from trees and to confused wildlife, until now. Amazon’s new system allows drone to detect danger, to learn from encounters and store these moments as memories. Then, these memories are communicated with other drones for future decisions on routes and encounter response. We’re seeing the first in a singular intelligence which blends detailed maps, weather information, and observations on temporary changes (like the presence of cranes, and which neighborhood’s kids throw rocks the highest). This mix of operations and research opens the window to a bigger vision; here’s what we know.
Amazon is currently working with NASA and the European Union to develop a drone traffic system for all unmanned flying devices. The kick off of this ambitious project tells us this. The US Federal Government is more than ready to relent on its restrictions on drone integration. This reluctance has been the single biggest roadblock to seeing drone technology in everyday business operations. This is our prediction.
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Soon after the completion of Amazon’s grander project, the floodgates will open. Lack of regulation was the original setback to integration in that past. A standardized, self-teaching system linking all drone operations is exactly what the Federal Government needs to see before it’s comfortable liberalize our skies. Amazon’s system could be a functional beta-test for what’s to come. Most importantly, Amazon creating a system that it’s competitors need to operate, as opposed to competing directly with anyone, is right in line with their strategic pattern. We’re witnessing a best of both world’s marriage for a company eager to move into the future, and a government unsure of it’s grasp on it.
