Octocopter From Amazon Isn’t The First Delivery Drones Idea In The United States [Video]

The Octocopter will be the first of the Amazon drones, but this idea actually isn’t the first delivery drone in the works.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, a Chinese stealth fighter jet drone was just announced, while the USS Chancellorsville suffered a crash of its own drone during testing of its equipment.

In general, most drones are “flying” low to the ground and are short range. Unlike the Octocopter, the majority of drones are operated by military and US border patrols. So the FAA recently released updated plans for unmanned drones in America, saying that privately owned unmanned drones may be openly allowed to fly high into the American skies.

The usage of drones in America has been controversial. For example, PETA drones have been spying on big game hunters in hopes of catching them breaking any hunting rules. Possibly in response, one city in Colorado passed an ordinance encouraging hunters to shoot down any drones they spotted, although the FAA wasn’t exactly pleased with this idea. But most people are more afraid of government surveillance and the Predator drones that are often featured in movies (as seen above in the photo).

But announcements like the Amazon drones called the Octocopter were actually beat to the punch by Dominos pizza, who released their DomiCopter pizza delivery drone. The Domino’s pizza drone heavily resembles the design of the Octocopter since it has eight little struts with helicopter blades as well. In early tests, this competitor to the Octocopter was able to deliver two pizzas in 10 minutes and they were still piping hot:

“If anything it went quicker than a pizza boy … We were amazed at how easy it was going to be … Let’s make a pizza fly. I mean, how ridiculous? But that’s what we did.”

Maybe not so ridiculous as Domino’s plans to deliver pizza on the moon. Unfortunately, this pizza delivery drone wasn’t immediately planned to start working in the United States, although the announcement of the Amazon drones might change Domino’s minds.

Around the same time as the DomiCopter announcement, another company launched their iTray restaurant delivery drone. This design was significantly smaller than the Octocopter, and is intended to be short range only and operated by a waitress behind the scenes. While intended mostly as a novelty, the iTray is already being used in multiple restaurants while the Octocopter is just an announcement.

But both of these competitors to Amazon drones like the Octocopter were also being tested in England. So what about the United States? It turns out a dry cleaning delivery drone is already being operated out of Philadelphia. Unlike the Octocopter, the DJI Phantom is a four-bladed quadracopter and is capable of carrying up to two pounds of laundry.

What do you think about the Amazon drones like the Octocopter being operated in United States skies?