Wing, Alphabet’s drone company, has unveiled a series of prototype designs that include larger drones that can deliver larger packages, as well as ideas for more mechanisms to safely deliver goods.
According to Adam Woodworth, CEO of Wing, this plan is to provide a more suitable drone delivery service. As currently, when different goods are delivered, they will be delivered by ordinary cars, trucks, and even large trucks, so drones can also be used. Different specifications are designed according to the type and weight of the delivered goods.
In the current external display design, Wing explained that it has built a drone that can carry 0.6 pounds (about 300 grams) and a drone that can carry more than 7 pounds (about 3.18 kg). Adjustment.
At present, Wing is designed to correspond to a load of 2.5 pounds (about 1.13 kilograms). If about 90% of the packages processed by Amazon are under 5 pounds (about 2.27 kilograms), it is expected to be able to use drones to solve most freight distribution. At the same time, it can also improve the time, labor and other costs caused by traditional delivery by trucks, and reduce the air pollution problem in the freight process.
In addition, in addition to increasing flight stability through designs such as different sizes and the number of rotors, Wing also proposed different ideas for securing goods, including the currently used suspension distribution method, and the ability to place goods in drones for a more stable way. to ship.
However, Wing did not disclose when these prototype designs are expected to be put into use, only that these designs are still in the prototype stage.
Wing began offering deliveries in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas metro area in April, becoming the first drone service provider to offer deliveries in a large metro area in the United States. The drones provided in this service are still designed by Wing, with a multi-axis, fixed-wing structure, which can correspond to goods weighing less than 1.5 kg, the longest flight distance is 10 kilometers, and operates through fully automatic navigation. But if necessary, remote control can also be intervened through the remote.
Delivery items can be ordered, including products sold by drugstore chain Walgreens, Blue Bell Creameries, which provides ice cream and other products, Easyvet, which provides pet medicine, and Texas Health, which provides first aid kits.