How Amazon plans to protect its delivery drones from being shot at

Attention drone haters: Amazon’s delivery drones will not go down easily. The electronic commerce and cloud computing company just filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office documenting a technology for the protection of unmanned Amazon drones. 

Image source: Amazon.

According to Amazon, its idea is to create a mesh network of drones that can communicate location data with each other for delivery and safety purposes. If proper data isn’t received from a drone, it’s assumed that there are issues, and required actions can be taken. For example, “fail-safe mode” can help a drone land in a safe location while other drones provide surveillance. If something is thrown at the drone, the fail-safe mode allows it to take evasive maneuvers and navigate to a safe landing or parking zone for inspection.

Because they’re equipped with proximity sensors, these smart drones can detect foreign objects. The sensors use all kinds of detection, including sonar, radio frequencies, optical, and acoustic. The drones aren’t bullet-proof, but if you’re thinking about knocking them out with a bullet, you shouldn’t. The technology allows Amazon to keep an eye on perpetrators, with other drones keeping track of it. The location data can allow an Amazon employee to retrieve the drone. In case of such an incident, the local authorities will be alerted and small crash-landing airbags will be deployed.

Although the idea of having your packages delivered by drone is exciting, knowing the sky is full of drones carrying your personal information isn’t. In the future, drones such as Amazon’s may even be able to predict our shopping choices. In conclusion, shooting a drone out of the sky isn’t the best way to keep private information safe.