Prime Air, an option for Amazon delivery by drone, is set to expand to Matteson and Markham this summer.
The drones will operate out of hubs based in Matteson and Markham’s Amazon fulfillment centers, said Josh Brundage, Prime Air’s senior manager of commercial operations. They will be able to deliver up to an 8-mile radius from those hubs.
Matteson’s Amazon center is at 7001 Vollmer Road, while Markham’s is at 2201 W. 159th St. About 6,000 people work in the two centers, Brundage said, and he expects the drone programs to add about 100 more jobs.
“Right now, we’re creating a service that doesn’t exist, so all we’re really doing is adding on to existing Amazon infrastructure,” Brundage said. “We’re certainly not replacing anything.”
Drone delivery will be a faster option with extra cost for people living within the 8-mile radius, Brundage said. He doesn’t expect it to substantially displace regular delivery.
Each hub is planned to start with 15 drones. Brundage said the plan is to launch in early summer, though a firm date is not set.
There are limitations: The drones can only deliver packages up to 5 pounds and can only operate in mild inclement weather. If weather is too severe, Brundage said, the option won’t be available when ordering.
The drones are large, with six propellers. Matteson resident Marilyn Stewart expressed concern about the size of a drone displayed Monday in Tinley Park.
“That’s too big to be hovering over my house,” Stewart said. “That’s crazy. It’s so big.”
Amazon senior manager Sam Bailey said the drones will fly to more than 200 feet while on deliveries, and then fly higher, about 300 to 400 feet, while returning to the hub.
“The size and scale reflect our investment in redundancy and safety,” Bailey said. “When people see it, they also think of a recreational drone that fits on this table, but then they see this, this is an FAA-certified vehicle transporting goods.”
The drones are powered by lithium ion batteries that will be fully charged before every delivery, Bailey said. If a drone’s battery ever falls below 30%, it will conduct what he called a “safe contingent landing” rather than attempt to return to the hub.
“We have safety technology where we can put the drone on the ground as fast as possible and we can go out and retrieve it,” Bailey said.
Amazon is proceeding through planning and zoning processes in both Markham and Matteson, Bailey said.
“They’ve been fantastic partners,” he said.
Stewart was also concerned about where packages would be dropped off. She prefers packages left at her front door rather than in her lawn, since she has her lawn serviced, she said.
Bailey said drones would descend to 12 feet before dropping the package at a designated delivery point, such as the front yard or driveway. Amazon plans use aerial photography of the delivery areas around both hubs to identify possible drop-off points for each property ahead of time, he said.
“We look at things like trees, overhanging power lines, other things that may come into conflict,” Bailey said. “We create a world model that takes into account a variety of different factors including infrastructure, airspace, utilities, and then we build a flight plan around each of those single delivery points.”
By the time an order is placed to a house, Amazon will already have flight plans with viable drop-off points for the property.
Brundage said Amazon heard some privacy concerns from the public regarding the technology.
The drones do have cameras and will record all the time, Brundage said, so they can avoid obstructions and find clear drop-off points. The footage won’t typically be taken off the machine, but Amazon does have the ability to do that, he said.
“I think once we explain how things work and what the video does in the drone, usually that gets rid of those fears pretty quickly,” Brundage said. “Once people understand that there’s nobody sitting back at a computer screen watching. I think hobby drones and misconceptions in general hurt us a lot.”
Ring, which is also owned by Amazon, recently suffered major backlash over privacy concerns after a controversial Super Bowl ad showcased a search party feature that would network its doorbell cameras to find lost pets.
elewis@chicagotribune.com
