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Amazon secures patent for delivery van-controlled drone technology

Vans could be equipped with drones that deliver packages

Amazon delivery vans might soon send a drone to your door instead of a delivery person (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Amazon made an announcement of its acquisition of the patent. Amazon did not make an announcement; rather, the patent was made publicly available via the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) on Wednesday secured a patent for drone technology that can be paired directly with delivery vans. The system, if it comes to fruition, could enable Amazon to optimize its last-mile delivery services by outsourcing much of the work to its automated drones.

As described in the text of the patent, “Primary vehicles having cameras or other sensors generate or transmit instructions for causing secondary vehicles, such as personal delivery devices, to travel on selected courses and speeds.” 

In other words, recipients of Amazon packages could one day see delivery vans directly deploying and controlling drones that drop off orders. What’s more, these drones wouldn’t have to be decked out with expensive sensors and cameras. Rather, all of that information-gathering technology would be centralized in the van, able to be transmitted to a fleet of drones via a WiFi or other network.

An Amazon spokesperson cautioned FreightWaves, “Like many companies, we file a number of forward-looking patent applications that explore the full possibilities of new technology. Patents take multiple years to receive and do not necessarily reflect current developments to products and services.” So while it’s best to take the new patent with a grain of salt, Amazon filed for it just 18 months ago, signaling that the company has had the new drone technology on the docket fairly recently.

A van with a plan

Plenty of other companies, including Amazon itself, have been tinkering with drone technology that can fly and drive deliveries of goods ranging from coffee to COVID tests, but few have attempted to launch and control them directly from vans themselves. Truck manufacturer Workhorse Group (NASDAQ: WKHS) is one of them, but its model, which attaches mounted drones atop delivery vehicles, has borne little fruit, with several buyers reporting serious malfunctions.


Enter Amazon. With this new patent, the hope is that the company can transform an inefficient delivery vessel into a supplementary piece that can boost its vans’ efficiency in the same way that a cabinet might benefit a president. The van would delegate much of the legwork to its drone underlings while presiding over the entire operation from behind closed doors.


Read: Hellmann Logistics to offer pan-European drone delivery in 2022

Read: Walmart invests in DroneUp, plans drone deliveries from Bentonville store this summer


Soon, instead of seeing a fleet of Amazon delivery vans in your town, you might see a single delivery van with its own mini-fleet of drones. It sounds a little dystopian, sure. But if Amazon does decide to pursue its newly patented tech, the possibilities are endless. 

Drones flying out of vans sounds cool, but imagine if a freighter could unload its cargo without stopping to dock, or if a city train could whiz by apartments releasing parcel-carrying drones as it goes. By having a crew of secondary drones linked with a primary delivery vehicle, all of these are on the table.

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One Comment

  1. Babe Ruth

    Workhorse hasn’t had one issue in like 90 test flights since they’ve been seeking FAA approval. And the Amazon vessel isn’t even the same as it more like R2D2 and won’t save money as it still has to stop at each and every door and not a real drone that can fly to multiple locations and come back to its port. Apples and oranges.

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Jack Daleo

Jack Daleo is a staff writer for Flying Magazine covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel — and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.