{"id":17610,"date":"2017-02-20T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T16:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/eagle\/blog\/?p=426"},"modified":"2023-09-27T11:59:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T18:59:37","slug":"drones-taking-like-not-1984-excited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/drones-taking-like-not-1984-excited\/","title":{"rendered":"Drones Are Taking Over Like It\u2019s (Not) 1984 – And We\u2019re Excited"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drones Are Taking Over Like It\u2019s (Not) 1984 – And We\u2019re Excited<\/span><\/h1>\n

Drones get a bad rap, and we get it. If you\u2019ve spent any time in your life reading about the Orwellian dystopia <\/span>1984<\/span><\/a>, then you\u2019re probably paranoid like the rest of us about the \u2018Thought Police\u2019 spying on your every move with their intimidating telescreens and loudspeakers. But like all things in life, every new technology can have both its negatives and positives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, drones have allowed us to do some rather questionable things in times of war, but what about all of the remarkable ways that we can use drones to improve the human experience?<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re not here to talk about <\/span>another doomsday situation of drones taking over the world<\/span><\/a>. They already are, and we\u2019re excited for what the future holds with more drones in it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s Prime Air Leads the Way<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you missed the news, back on <\/span>December 7th, 2016 Amazon Prime Air successfully completed their first test run of Prime Air<\/span><\/a>, their new drone delivery service. This all took place in the vast, open fields of Cambridge, England, where Amazon is currently testing their service with a small group of customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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No wonder Amazon started Prime Air in Cambridge, look at all of those wide, open fields. (Source: Amazon via AP)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Here\u2019s the cool thing, it only took 13 minutes from when the customer placed their order until it was delivered by the first Prime Air drone. Keep in mind, all Prime Air drones only have a carrying capacity of 5 lbs, so this lucky Amazon customer made out with a sweet Amazon Fire TV stick and a bag of popcorn. Sounds like a movie night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, there are some limitations to Amazon\u2019s Prime Air delivery service at the moment, including:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • UK customers only. <\/b>Only a whopping two Amazon customers in the UK can use Prime Air, and they just so happen to live the closest to Amazon\u2019s UK warehouse. <\/span><\/li>\n
  • Weather permitting.<\/b> Weather is a huge factor for these drones, and Prime Air can only operate in the best of conditions. <\/span><\/li>\n
  • Daylight hours. <\/b>While Prime Air can deliver seven days a week, regulations only permit the flight of drones during daylight hours.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Amazon made a video to show off its first delivery, check it out below. One thing we noticed while watching is that the drone requires some sort of marker to know where to drop off a package. How this might work in a dense, urban setting is another matter altogether. But maybe drone\u2019s will only be needed for rural areas?<\/span><\/p>\n