Drones

Google's delivery drones get the green light in Australia

Google's delivery drones get the green light in Australia
A Wing drone in action
A Wing drone in action
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Alphabet has been testing its drone technology in Australia since 2014
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Alphabet has been testing its drone technology in Australia since 2014
A Wing drone in action
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A Wing drone in action
Project Wing flight testing in California
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Project Wing flight testing in California
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Google's parent company Alphabet is launching its very first air delivery service in the Australian capital of Canberra, following years of trials in the area. Now given the green light by the country's aviation authority, Wing, as the Alphabet subsidiary is called, will now begin delivering an assortment of goods to local customers via a mobile app.

Alphabet has been testing its drone technology in Australia since 2014 with the intention of streamlining the delivery of small packages. Over the last 18 months, it has been working with local businesses in the region to deliver food, drinks, coffee and items from the chemist as a way of trialing the technology, with over 3,000 deliveries completed.

Now, as reported by The Guardian, Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has granted the company approval to proceed with commercial operations. This follows an examination of its air traffic management systems, drone pilot training and maintenance operations.

"All those safety issues have been assessed so there are no risks to people on the ground, property or aircraft in the sky," CASA spokesperson Peter Gibson told The Guardian Australia.

There are a few caveats. The drones won't be able to fly over major roads, for example, and they must keep a certain distance from people on the ground.

To begin with, the service will be limited to a cluster of homes in the Canberra suburbs of Crace, Palmerston and Franklin, where customers will be able to order everyday items via the Wing mobile app and have them arrive in a matter of minutes.

Project Wing flight testing in California
Project Wing flight testing in California

This includes coffee from a local cafe, items from a local chemist, food from a local bakery and Mexican food from Guzman and Gomez, which has been trialing drone deliveries for a while. Gelato is also on the menu, though the drones would want to move pretty quickly in the Australian summer.

Wing's operations follow in the flightpaths of similar early-stage drone delivery services around the world, including one launched by UPS last month to ferry medical supplies in North Carolina, a Dominos store-to-customer delivery in New Zealand and 7-Eleven drone deliveries in Nevada.

Wing's service will kick off in the coming weeks, and it says it plans to expand to more homes in the surrounding areas in the weeks and months thereafter. It also plans to launch a similar service in Finland this year.

You can hear from Kickstart Expresso, one of its delivery partners in the video below.

Source: Wing via The Guardian

Coffee delivered by drone!

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3 comments
3 comments
PaleDale
I live in this area and have heard this drone before, its extremely loud, I could hear it from 200 metres away but it sounded like it was right above me. They say they have a quieter version but as a drone flyer myself I know there is only so much you can do especially when it has 12 motors for the vertical power. I am not happy about this, we don't need this. They should stick to delivering medical aide to hard to reach places (as an example), that is a useful application for this technology, not delivering coffee to lazy people..
SeanF
Just perfect for the midnight munchies. Oh wait...
ljaques
And then the kid just spilled $17 worth of coffee all over $23 worth of sugary fattening foods, ruining both. What's not to love?