Introducing Project Wing: Google's drones

Google have announced that Google X is developing a system of drones to deliver goods: Project Wing. The above video was released to show the scheme in practice, with a farmer from Australia receiving a packet of dog treats carried by one of the drones. The move has been seen as a  “technological arms race” with rival Amazon.com, which has also experimented with drones to deliver goods to customers.

Google have commented that it is unlikely to be put into action for deliveries in the near future. Nicholas Roy, Project Wing founder, said: “It’s years from a product, but it is the first prototype that we want to stand behind.”

The deliveries were made by a 1.5m-wide (5ft) single-wing drone prototype that has four propellers that move into different positions for different stages of flight. Packages fit into a gap in the middle of the wing. Google commented: 

“Self-flying vehicles could open up entirely new approaches to moving goods – including options that are cheaper, faster, less wasteful and more environmentally sensitive than what’s possible today. Throughout history, major shifts in how we move goods from place to place have led to new opportunities for economic growth and generally made consumers’ lives easier. From steam ships to the railroads, from the postal service to delivery services like FedEx and DHL, speed has reshaped society not only with greater convenience but also by making more goods accessible to more people.”

Commercial drone use remains all but banned in the US. Amazon and others are lobbying the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to relax the rules, and in June the FAA approved the first commercial drone flight over land, for the energy giant BP.