One small splash for Jeff Bezos
Broadmoor residents complained about noisy drones. RedEye investigated and got soaked.
Robot mowers are trimming the lawns at Baton Rouge public schools. Driverless taxis are heading for New Orleans. SpaceX plans a $100 billion spaceport on Louisiana’s coast. Amazon, meanwhile, is pioneering a less celebrated form of innovation: delivering parcels via drone directly into swimming pools.
After Broadmoor residents complained about drones buzzing over their homes, RedEye ordered a small item by air, hoping to hear the nuisance firsthand. But the drone team was busy and the parcel late, so no one was present for the performance. When the package was delivered, it landed in the swimming pool, though close enough to the edge to merit a participation trophy.
Amazon has acknowledged that, in satellite imagery, a swimming pool can resemble a flat landing surface. To a drone, apparently, water is a backyard with weak load-bearing properties.
Meanwhile, the big noise: Amazon’s drones are the loudest, buzzing at 88 decibels from 50 feet away, according to FAA measurements. Wing follows at 84 decibels, then Zipline at 79. But what you actually hear will depend on how each drone makes its delivery. Amazon’s will likely be the noisiest because it descends to drop off the package. Zipline, already the quietest of the three, stays above the treeline and lowers the package to the ground with a separate device.
