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Amazon's future delivery drone will self-destruct in case of an emergency
It's been about two years since Amazon released a weird video detailing plans to conquer the skies with a fleet of parcel delivery drones. We continue to wait for the day when these automated aircraft will replace trucks and delivery employees, but Amazon makes it clear that it has not let go of the idea. This week, the company received the patent for the technology that allows, in the event of an emergency, its future drones to self-destruct to protect those on the ground.According to the patent, if a drone is already in free fall "the direct fragmentation of unmanned vehicles" would allow it to split into multiple lighter parts that would hit the ground in a safer way than a single heavy object.Other patent details describe the fragmentation and flight controls that would analyze the drone's fall path while systematically using explosive force to dismantle the aircraft in the air, based on terrain conditions, flight, among others.Strange as this may seem, you have to keep in mind that this is just one of Amazon's many crazy ideas, including entire buoys loaded by airships and a skyscraper of drones.But it seems Amazon's patent has excluded one great detail: yes, the drone may explode, but what about the order he carried? Even if the aircraft explodes into thousands of pieces, those on the ground still need to be careful what the drone was delivering. But it seems that Amazon also thought about it and answer to this question is ... parachute? It seems to be only a matter of time until the invasion of drones delivering parcels arrives.


Gizmodo