Amazon plans to recharge Prime Air drones on street lights

Amazon has teased us with its plans to use drones to deliver packages to customers in 30 minutes or less with its future Prime Air program. While consumers and industry stakeholders eagerly await regulatory support for this type of service, several companies are pushing forward with sorting out the practical details as much as possible in the meantime. Amazon has just been granted a new US patent that describes drone docking stations that could eventually provide the infrastructure that will be needed to make deliveries practical in the real world. The docking stations can either be new standalone structures that are built specifically for drones or incorporated into existing structures such as buildings, power poles, street lights, or cell towers (in some cities street lights are already doubling as cell towers). The stations could provide several different services for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).