Online giant and drone fan, Amazon has been granted a patent for a futuristic drone concept. This concept is for a ‘multilevel fulfilment centre’ that looks very like a giant drone hive.

The patent for the ‘drone hive’ was filed with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) in December 2015 and was published late last week.

There is a school of thought in the delivery industry that drones may well be useful for rural deliveries where roads are an issue and that there is a lower safety risk with regards people.

Amazon however said it its filing to the USPTO that the multilevel (ML) fulfilment centre would be used in an urban or densely populated area. Amazon argued that the drone hive would be very suited to tackling the inner city delivery challenge.

“Fulfillment centers are typically large-volume single-floor warehouse buildings used to temporarily store items prior to shipment to customers. Often, due to their large footprint, these buildings are located on the outskirts of cities where space is available to accommodate these large buildings. These locations are not convenience for deliveries into cities where an ever-increasing number of people live. Thus, there is a growing need and desire to locate fulfillment centers within cities, such as in downtown districts and densely populated parts of the cities,” according to the Amazon patent.

“By locating the fulfillment centers within the cities, items may be more quickly delivered to the growing population of people that live in the cities, as well as the large population of people who work in the cities.”  
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