Amazon devises plan to secure drones
Amazon came with the first drone a few years ago. With PrimeAir a package was delivered successfully, within a fast time. With GPS, the drone flew straight to its target, where it delivered popcorn and an Amazon TV stick. Yet the flights of the drones do not always run smoothly. A postal delivery with drone in Russia last ended in the soup.
Amazon drones risk
But, there are hijackers on the coast. Drones can be removed from the air. You will just see that your package was in the drone. Not only the content, but also the hardware of the drone can be stolen. The communication signals between the UAVs and the controller can be hacked. These actions can create unsafe situations and cause financial loss to the operators.
Amazon has now come up against this. The UAVs receive a kind of heartbeat signal from the control tower every few seconds. When the signal stops, the UAV goes from mission mode to safety mode. When this happens, pre-programmed actions are activated, such as restoring communication and checking and safe landing.
You can compare safety mode with airplane mode on your smartphone. Signals from outside cannot affect the drone. The drones have cameras that enable them to scan the environment to land safely.
The future of Amazon PrimeAir
The UAVs are getting more and more extensions, like a parachute for a soft landing of the package. The latest version of the drones would have face and gesture recognition to communicate with customers when delivering a package.
It is conceivable that in a few years we will see nothing but drones flying when we look up. That is, of course, ultramodern, but theft and hijacking are lurking. That is why it is a good step from Amazon to anticipate on this.