Chinese E-Commerce Giant Builds The World's Biggest Delivery Drone

China has once again done it. While others are still simply talking about it, China’s JD.com, also called Jingdong, is soon going to have super-sized delivery drones at the service of its customers. Considered China's largest online retailer, JD.com has a national distribution network that matches the coverage of global ecommerce giant Amazon.

Being pitched as world's largest civilian delivery drone, JD.com's robots are going to be three-engine, autonomous, vertical-takeoff drones that will be capable of carrying a payload of over 1 ton up to 186 miles. Considering it will be delivering retail packages, the weight bracket seems practical.

[caption id="attachment_122155" align="aligncenter" width="700"] JD.com is planning to test its giant tri-copter drones in a 11,500-square-mile testing zone in Shaanxi to serve farmers.[/caption]

One of the things that made JD.com’s delivery drone dream possible was the support it received from Shaanxi provincial government. The government allowed the company to operate hundreds of low-altitude routes within a 300km radius, an area of more than 11,500 square miles. On the other side, American ecommerce giant Amazon is still fighting out with its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about where and when it can fly its parcel-carrying drones.

[caption id="attachment_122157" align="aligncenter" width="655"] JD.com's 1-ton drone can be used for Shaanxi's farmers to quickly bypass rural roads when distributing produce.
[/caption]

With its drones, JD.coms’s intends to target Shaanxi farmers, who can use the quadcopters to distribute their perishable vegetables, fruits and meat without breaking out a sweat about rural roads and traffic snarls.

While China might emerge first in the race, other countries aren’t that behind in the race either.

Zipline, a California-based startup which uses drones to deliver medicine and blood to remote areas in Rwanda, Africa, has also started its delivery program in the United States. On the commercial side, Amazon, which first announced its plans of using drones for delivering packages in 2013, in a special telecast of US TV show 60 Minutes and promised humanity their service by 2018. Amazon completed its first public demonstration of a Prime Air drone delivery in the U.S. in March this year, when it carried sunscreen to attendees at an Amazon-hosted conference in Palm Springs, California.

However, the 2018 target set by Amazon might or might not be met as the company has to wait for the Federal Aviation Administration to craft rules about how to fly over populated areas and beyond the line of sight of the operator. And that could take years.

Coming to India, in 2015, India’s e-commerce giant Flipkart announced its plans to use drones to deliver goods to rural areas. However, there hasn’t been any update on the project yet. Coming to Amazon India, the American giant this week filed patent for exclusive rights on multi-scale fiducials, black and white marks on any object for the unmanned aerial vehicles to identify them from different distances in the Indian subcontinent. This is Amazon’s second patent application in India surrounding drones. Prior to this, the company had filed a patent in India for drone technology with respect to propeller safety.

[caption id="attachment_122159" align="aligncenter" width="655"] JD.com's robots will be autonomous, three-engine, vertical-takeoff drones that can carry a payload of over 1 ton up to 186 miles.[/caption]

For now, it seems China’s JD.com will win the race as it not only has the technology, but also its government’s support, which other companies are currently lacking at this point from their respective governments.

This development was first reported in Popular Science.


[Image: Runnymede Blog]

Chinese E-Commerce Giant Builds The World's Biggest Delivery Drone

China has once again done it. While others are still simply talking about it, China’s JD.com, also called Jingdong, is soon going to have super-sized delivery drones at the service of its customers. Considered China's largest online retailer, JD.com has a national distribution network that matches the coverage of global ecommerce giant Amazon.

Being pitched as world's largest civilian delivery drone, JD.com's robots are going to be three-engine, autonomous, vertical-takeoff drones that will be capable of carrying a payload of over 1 ton up to 186 miles. Considering it will be delivering retail packages, the weight bracket seems practical.

[caption id="attachment_122155" align="aligncenter" width="700"] JD.com is planning to test its giant tri-copter drones in a 11,500-square-mile testing zone in Shaanxi to serve farmers.[/caption]

One of the things that made JD.com’s delivery drone dream possible was the support it received from Shaanxi provincial government. The government allowed the company to operate hundreds of low-altitude routes within a 300km radius, an area of more than 11,500 square miles. On the other side, American ecommerce giant Amazon is still fighting out with its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about where and when it can fly its parcel-carrying drones.

[caption id="attachment_122157" align="aligncenter" width="655"] JD.com's 1-ton drone can be used for Shaanxi's farmers to quickly bypass rural roads when distributing produce.
[/caption]

With its drones, JD.coms’s intends to target Shaanxi farmers, who can use the quadcopters to distribute their perishable vegetables, fruits and meat without breaking out a sweat about rural roads and traffic snarls.

While China might emerge first in the race, other countries aren’t that behind in the race either.

Zipline, a California-based startup which uses drones to deliver medicine and blood to remote areas in Rwanda, Africa, has also started its delivery program in the United States. On the commercial side, Amazon, which first announced its plans of using drones for delivering packages in 2013, in a special telecast of US TV show 60 Minutes and promised humanity their service by 2018. Amazon completed its first public demonstration of a Prime Air drone delivery in the U.S. in March this year, when it carried sunscreen to attendees at an Amazon-hosted conference in Palm Springs, California.

However, the 2018 target set by Amazon might or might not be met as the company has to wait for the Federal Aviation Administration to craft rules about how to fly over populated areas and beyond the line of sight of the operator. And that could take years.

Coming to India, in 2015, India’s e-commerce giant Flipkart announced its plans to use drones to deliver goods to rural areas. However, there hasn’t been any update on the project yet. Coming to Amazon India, the American giant this week filed patent for exclusive rights on multi-scale fiducials, black and white marks on any object for the unmanned aerial vehicles to identify them from different distances in the Indian subcontinent. This is Amazon’s second patent application in India surrounding drones. Prior to this, the company had filed a patent in India for drone technology with respect to propeller safety.

[caption id="attachment_122159" align="aligncenter" width="655"] JD.com's robots will be autonomous, three-engine, vertical-takeoff drones that can carry a payload of over 1 ton up to 186 miles.[/caption]

For now, it seems China’s JD.com will win the race as it not only has the technology, but also its government’s support, which other companies are currently lacking at this point from their respective governments.

This development was first reported in Popular Science.


[Image: Runnymede Blog]

Amazon Files Patent For Deploying Delivery Drones in India

Global ecommerce player Amazon is certain on firming its ground in Indian subcontinent as just after months of filing a patent in India for drone technology with respect to propeller safety, the American company has now filed papers for another patent application in India.

This time Amazon has filed patent for exclusive rights on multi-scale fiducials, black and white marks on any object for the unmanned aerial vehicles to identify them from different distances, according to a media report.

As per the patent application, the aerial vehicles would also be capable of identifying aircrafts and other objects flying in the Indian skies.

For the uninitiated, fiducials are features that can be optically recognisable. They are usually used on computer vision applications. Generally, they can be found in corners or edge-centers, or both, of an aerial photographic image. Some of the common types of fiducials are grids of black and white blocks of fixed size, which are generated randomly.

If the patent comes through, the America ecommerce biggie will be able to use the drones for localisation, tracking and detecting orientation of objects, identifying the target. Another usage could be identifying other drones and UAVs.

Amazon first announced its plans of using drones for delivering packages in 2013, in a special telecast of US TV show 60 Minutes. While unveiling his company’s plan, Bezos revealed that the company would start delivering in 2018. At that time, the tech experts considered the time target to be “hugely optimistic” as there were a number of concerns like safety, theft and liability that needed to be still worked out.

However, if the latest limited trials are taken into consideration, Amazon might still be able to achieve that target.



In a video posted by the company on its website, Amazon showcased the use of drones for the safe delivery of packages to its customers. The video showed the drone delivering the package at a specific landing marked with grids of black and white blocks, fixed at the customer premises. Amazon Prime Air is a delivery system designed to deliver packages to customers within 30 minutes or earlier using unmanned aerial vehicles.

Prior to this patent, Amazon Technologies had filed another patent application in India for seeking approval for a technology that would ensure a quick response from the propellers of a drone, in case it detects an object on its way.

In 2015, Indian homegrown ecommerce company Flipkart expressed its interest in using drones to deliver goods to rural areas. However, there’s no update on the progress of the project yet.

While patent application doesn’t guarantee Amazon an approval, but it does show the firm’s interest in introducing such technology in India.

Amazon Files Patent For Deploying Delivery Drones in India

Global ecommerce player Amazon is certain on firming its ground in Indian subcontinent as just after months of filing a patent in India for drone technology with respect to propeller safety, the American company has now filed papers for another patent application in India.

This time Amazon has filed patent for exclusive rights on multi-scale fiducials, black and white marks on any object for the unmanned aerial vehicles to identify them from different distances, according to a media report.

As per the patent application, the aerial vehicles would also be capable of identifying aircrafts and other objects flying in the Indian skies.

For the uninitiated, fiducials are features that can be optically recognisable. They are usually used on computer vision applications. Generally, they can be found in corners or edge-centers, or both, of an aerial photographic image. Some of the common types of fiducials are grids of black and white blocks of fixed size, which are generated randomly.

If the patent comes through, the America ecommerce biggie will be able to use the drones for localisation, tracking and detecting orientation of objects, identifying the target. Another usage could be identifying other drones and UAVs.

Amazon first announced its plans of using drones for delivering packages in 2013, in a special telecast of US TV show 60 Minutes. While unveiling his company’s plan, Bezos revealed that the company would start delivering in 2018. At that time, the tech experts considered the time target to be “hugely optimistic” as there were a number of concerns like safety, theft and liability that needed to be still worked out.

However, if the latest limited trials are taken into consideration, Amazon might still be able to achieve that target.



In a video posted by the company on its website, Amazon showcased the use of drones for the safe delivery of packages to its customers. The video showed the drone delivering the package at a specific landing marked with grids of black and white blocks, fixed at the customer premises. Amazon Prime Air is a delivery system designed to deliver packages to customers within 30 minutes or earlier using unmanned aerial vehicles.

Prior to this patent, Amazon Technologies had filed another patent application in India for seeking approval for a technology that would ensure a quick response from the propellers of a drone, in case it detects an object on its way.

In 2015, Indian homegrown ecommerce company Flipkart expressed its interest in using drones to deliver goods to rural areas. However, there’s no update on the progress of the project yet.

While patent application doesn’t guarantee Amazon an approval, but it does show the firm’s interest in introducing such technology in India.