AMAZON has revealed a close-up look at its new Prime Air delivery drone that could one-day delivery your packages.
Prime Air drones can travel at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour and can reach heights of 400 feet.
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Amazon showed off its new drone to journalists at its Delivering the Future event this week.
They’re testing it out in two places in Northern Carolina and Texas.
The tech giant said in a recent blog post: “The promise of drone delivery has often felt like science fiction, and we’ve been working for almost a decade to make it a reality.
“To date, we’ve built fully electric drones that can deliver packages under 5 pounds to customers in less than an hour from click to delivery.
“Earlier this year, we announced that customers who live in Lockeford, California and College Station, Texas will be among the first to receive Prime Air deliveries later this year.”
Amazon has been working on several drones and used its recent event to show off its shiny MK30 version.
It explained: “Today, we’re introducing our next-generation delivery drone -the MK30.
“Due to come into service in 2024, this drone will be lighter and smaller than the MK27-2–the drone that will be making our first deliveries in Lockeford and College Station.
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“The MK30’sincreased range, expanded temperature tolerance, safety-critical features, and its new capability to fly in light rain will enable customers to choose drone delivery more often.”
One catch to the drones at the moment is that they can only deliver packages weighing 5lb or less.
However, this still covers a large range of popular Amazon products including books and a lot of everyday home essentials.
The MK30 drone has cameras on its nose and rear so it can see where it’s flying.
It drops packages out of its rear end and shouldn’t be too noisy when flying around.
Amazon has been working to reduce the noise of its drone and says the new drone design “will reduce the MK30’sperceived noise by a further 25%.”
The safety of the drone has also been stressed.
Amazon said: “We know our customers will only feel comfortable receiving drone deliveries if they know the system is safe and reliable. Our drone can encounter new, unexpected situations and still make safe decisions—autonomously and safely.
“We’ve created a sophisticated and industry-leading sense-and-avoid system that will allow our drone to operate at greater distances while safely and reliably avoiding other aircraft, people, pets, and obstacles.”
The tech giant did note that it would be impossible to “eliminate all risks” from flying the drones in neighborhood areas.
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