San Francisco: In a California town, Amazon will begin using drone delivery to deliver some purchases later this year, the e-commerce giant announced Monday.
Walmart already offers drone delivery, and in May it announced it would expand the service to six states by the end of the year, able to deliver one million packages annually.
A post on Amazon’s website said that customers in Lockeford, California, can sign up for free drone delivery via “Prime Air.”
According to Amazon, ordered items that are eligible for shipping by air will be put into drones that fly to the delivery addresses, drop packages off outside from a safe height, and fly away.
Amazon said it has created a sophisticated system to enable its drones to detect and avoid aircraft, people, pets and other obstacles.
“We designed our sense-and-avoid system for two main scenarios: to be safe when in transit, and to be safe when approaching the ground,” the company said.
Feedback from the service in California will be used to expand the drone service.
A variety of companies ranging from new startups to major tech firms such as Google-parent Alphabet are working on autonomous drone delivery.
In 2014, Google’s drone project Wing made its first real-world deliveries in rural Australia, delivering first-aid supplies, candy bars, dogs treats, and water to farmers, according to the company’s website.
Two years after that, Wing drones were used to deliver burritos to students at a university in Virginia.
“The logistics industry is abuzz with all-things drones,” the Amazon team said.