Wal-Mart Applies
for Patent for Blimp-Style Floating Warehouse
It’s no secret that Wal-Mart and Amazon have
been waging an ongoing retail war. But recently, the former’s copycat efforts
have gotten far less subtle.
qz.com
A patent application filed by Walmart in February and
published in August by the US Patent and Trademark Office proposes an “aerial
transport and launch system” for dispatching delivery drones in mid-air—or, as Bloomberg describes it, a
“blimp-style floating warehouse” that would send orders down from the sky.
Designed to fly at heights of at least 500
feet and typically more than 1,000 feet, the aircraft would be operated
autonomously or by a remote human pilot and coordinated with scheduling
software.
“In a modern retail environment, there is a
need to improve the customer service and/or convenience for the customer,” the
patent states. “One aspect of customer service is the availability of products.
The availability of products is dependent in part on the distribution.”
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because Amazon was a granted a patent for
almost the same exact concept, back in April 2016. “This disclosure describes
systems and methods for utilizing an aerial fulfillment center (“AFC”) and
unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAV”) to facilitate delivery of ordered items to
users,” says Amazon’s patent. “An AFC may be a fulfillment center that is
supported by and/or incorporated into an airship.”
Extracted from qz.com
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