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The online retail giant Amazon’s intention to start a drone delivery revolution is already well-known, but now new patent details indicate that the tech merchant is actually thinking about building a drone mothership where it can launch drones from. The vessel will also function as a portable, floating storage warehouse in order to expedite the delivery process. Oh, and there’s also the drone Borg proposition.
The main idea behind the patent for the flying warehouse is so that deliveries will no longer be constrained by the limits of location. This is meant to serve situations such as delivery to remote areas or providing huge crowds with the option to buy food, drinks or whatever else, CNBC reports.
According to the patent, Amazon is calling this drone mothership the Airborne Fulfilment Center or AFC. It’s meant to hover at an altitude of about 45,000 feet up in the earth’s atmosphere and will ascend or descend as necessary. Based on the details on the patent, it would seem that the aircraft is also meant to stay in the air for extended periods of time, only to be refueled on regular intervals by a shuttle.
In related news, it would also seem that Amazon is taking inspiration from the hit sci-fi TV show Star Trek, in that it also filed a patent for what’s called “collective UAVs,” Geekwire reports. This is basically where multiple drones fused together much like Legos would fuse in order to create a unified, gigantic body that’s capable of carrying a heavier payload.
“A collective UAV may be used to aerially transport virtually any size, weight, or quantity of items, travel longer distances, etc.,” the patent reads.
Anyone who watched the adventures of the Enterprise under Captain Picard will know about these robotic beings called the Borg and will instantly understand what Amazon is trying to accomplish. Only, instead of trying to assimilate all organic life forms, it would seem that the retail giant wants to assimilate huge burrito deliveries.
