Wing, a division of Alphabet Inc., has created a fleet of new drone prototypes to transport products more effectively, from tiny pill bottles to things weighing up to seven pounds (3.17kg).
The two designs, one of which more closely resembles a toy aeroplane and the other of which has a large belly for added cargo room, were unveiled on July 14 in a blog post.
According to Chief Executive Officer Adam Woodworth, Wing LLC’s delivery test operation will continue to use the Hummingbird W-B, a hybrid aircraft that can fly horizontally and take off like a helicopter. However, he continued, engineers created and planned the new aircraft to give the business more freedom to grow.
The goal, he explained, is to create a strong R&D pipeline that will enable the company to produce a variety of planes to suit various use cases.
The Hummingbird, which the business claims can carry roughly two pounds (0.9 kg), is the basis for all of the prototypes. The Hummingbird has done hundreds of thousands of deliveries in the suburbs of Dallas, Virginia, Australia, and Finland. They share a lot of the same parts, like motors and guiding systems, and have comparable designs.
According to Woodworth, the company is also thinking about developing a prototype that would enable flights many times farther than the current six-mile range as well as one that would enable the delivery of goods over shorter distances in urban settings.
Wing is a pioneer among businesses attempting to transform retail sales by setting up a network for small drones to deliver goods. Others include Zipline International Inc., which collaborates with Walmart Inc., United Parcel Service Inc., and Prime Air from Amazon.com Inc.
The Federal Aviation Administration has placed tight safety restrictions on drone delivery in the US at the moment. As the industry waits for the government to create safety norms for such deliveries, routine deliveries are still probably years away. - Bloomberg
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