AutoQuad Forum

Amazon adds a motor and prop to go faster.

If you look closely you can see the package delivery drone is an X8 octo that Amazon added a extra motor and prop to increase it's cruise speed to around 60 mph.

Have to wonder if they see an increase in efficiency.

Larry

This is an inefficient Aerodyanmic design.
Frame generates no lift whatsoever. If it had a blended wing-body, the lift generated by forward speed would lessen the load on the X8 portion.

To get a multicopter to fly near 50 mph it needs to tilt near 30 degrees. Most multicopters use low pitch props and they get very inefficient at high speed because they need to spin their props very fast. The pusher motor could produce thrust efficiently because it would have a high pitch prop and that thrust would reduce the pitch angle of the octo so I would think there would an efficiency gain at higher speeds.

Amazon video shows it flying at 57 mph and Amazon says it can fly for 15 miles.

But in general, it is not really new...
See here, with a gas turbine hover on 50% throttle...

Hehe, love the turbine!

But if you're gonna have horizontal propulsion anyway, the props can be set to freewheel and used as wings (like an autogyro). Would be a neat trick to transition from VTOL to FF flight. Maybe already done? I know some full-size autos have power-assisted props to help with shorter takeoffs, but not sure about true VTOL.

The Prime machine looks a bit like one of those flying/skidding/rolling/boat things that were all the rage a bunch of years ago... wonder if theirs floats too?



-Max

They still have to overcome the biggest hurdle....legislation.

Maybe in the third world this will fly...but in the civilized world in seggregated airspace...forget it.

Its a nice concept, but without a established safetycase for operating in segreggated airspace + failsafe mechanisms, transponders, and sense/avoid capability, this is just a concept that looks good in the media.

Of course, at some point the needed underlying tech, safety case and flight procedures will be made, but that process is gonna take YEARS, and at least for europe, I think we are well past 2020, before we see the first parcels beeing delivered, and likely it will be well outside the cities.

Surely will also take some time for public acceptance:



Once Amazon is ready I will get me some of those landing pads the drones will be scanning for.

note the 'pusher' at the back:

"old" feature

check this (and date)