Amazon Files Patent For Driverless Delivery Fleet Led By A Car ‘Commander’
Image via Julie Clopper / Shutterstock.com
Amazon has filed a patent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for “directing secondary delivery vehicles using primary delivery vehicles,” indicating—or rather, reconfirming—an interest in incorporating Automated Driving (AD) into its delivery services.
Around this time last year, Forbes reported that Amazon had acquired AD startup Zoox, which started with the goal to develop an autonomous ride-hailing service. Another report just last month from Insider indicates that Amazon had apparently ordered 1,000 autonomous truck-driving systems from another startup, Plus. Amazon was also offered the opportunity to buy the company’s shares.
The patent, featured by Protocol, shows the thought process behind this idea: one car, the primary vehicle, contains all the equipment necessary for driverless delivery.
Things like sensors, navigation, processors wouldn’t fit into smaller secondary cars, which are more suited to door-to-door delivery. The primary car would therefore be able to send commands and “manage” the smaller cars, which take the customers’ goods right up to their doorstep.
However, it’s important to note that big tech companies often file wacky patents without turning them into reality. And although some might come into fruition, there is no confirming this until the companies themselves reveal the news.
As demand for delivery soared last year during the pandemic, it makes sense for Amazon to venture into innovative ways to meet that demand. But, potentially being met with a fleet of fully automated cars, with a larger one commanding the others almost akin to minions while out on your morning walk, is both an amusing and eerie visual to behold.
[via Protocol, image via Julie Clopper / Shutterstock.com]
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