Amazon has Filed a Patent For a ‘Bee-Hive’ Like Drone Delivery Home

Amazon has filed for a patent for a potential new autonomous delivery solution involving drones. The patent involves a concept for a ‘beehive’ like tower which will act as a fulfilment centre and refuelling station for delivery drones in cities. The company has filed for a patent for “multi-level fulfilment centres” that would accommodate the landing and take-off of drones in dense urban settings, the latest example of Amazon’s futuristic vision of reshaping the way people receive packages. The application filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, which was written in 2015 and published last week, included a number of drawings of drones flying in and out of tall cylinder-shaped buildings that Amazon wants to locate in central metropolitan areas. The centres would allow Amazon to shift away from the traditional model of large single-story warehouses that temporarily store packages before they are shipped to customers. Those buildings are typically located on the outskirts of urban areas and are not convenient for deliveries into cities where populations continue to swell, the company noted. The centres could be used to fulfil hundreds of thousands of orders a day, in part relying on a large volume of drones that continually pick up deliveries and can recharge their batteries at the site. The drone centres could also have a “central command” to control flight operations, which would be similar to a flight controller at an airport according to the company.