DropZone
Your Ring camera checks the drone drop zone before the drone arrives.
Ring sees the zone and Alexa tells you what is in the way (simulated Alexa+ add-on). With your yes, your devices help clear the spot: a smart pet door lets the dog in but not back out, yard lights come on at dusk so the camera can read the zone, and a sprinkler run is paused for the drop window (all simulated). The camera re-checks, and the drone carrier gets a HOLD signal before landing when the spot is not clear. The carrier never receives video.
Built for the Amazon Developer Hackathon 2026, Ring track ("Ring meets Alexa and other connected devices").
Concept animation (AI-generated illustration, not product footage). The product screens below are real.
Why
Drone delivery is moving from pilots to everyday use:
- Amazon's goal for Prime Air is 500 million packages a year by the end of the decade (Amazon), with nearly 500 US cities and towns planned by the end of 2026 (Amazon).
- Zipline passed 2 million deliveries in January 2026 (Zipline) and completes one every 20 to 30 seconds (CNBC).
- Walmart passed 1 million drone deliveries in May 2026 (Walmart); Wing and Walmart plan 270+ locations reaching 40M+ Americans (Wing).
- The FAA's BVLOS rule (Part 108) is under review and not yet final (Drone Authority).
Each delivery needs a clear patch of yard, and nobody checks that patch before the drone shows up:
- Amazon asks customers to keep "people, pets, vehicles, and objects taller than 5 feet … at least 10 feet away from the selected delivery point" (Amazon drone FAQ).
- If anyone runs through the zone, the drone aborts and the item goes by ground instead (CT Insider). A Phoenix customer's advice to others: "If your dogs are in the backyard, bring them in" (Business Insider).
- Packages have ended up in pools and ponds (The Verge, AZFamily).
- USPS recorded 5,246 dog attacks on its carriers in 2025 (USPS), and an estimated 104.3M packages were stolen in a year, about 250,000 a day (SafeWise). Where a package lands matters.
- Drop points are chosen remotely from maps, and the drone sees the spot for a few seconds from about 13 ft up (Prime Air technology).
A Ring camera has watched that same patch of ground for months. It knows the dog is out right now, that a patio umbrella appeared yesterday, and where the pool is. DropZone uses that knowledge before the drone arrives, at the point where the household can still do something about it.
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