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GOOGLE’S RESEARCH LAB has built and tested out autonomous delivery drones which will be used to deliver goods in the future.
Codenamed Project Wing, the initiative uses self-flying vehicles to deliver items and goods to people in rural areas.
The project was tested out in Queensland, Australia where it successfully delivered a first aid kit, sweets, dog treats and water to a number of Australian farmers.
According to the BBC, Google said its long-term goal was to develop drones that could be used for disaster relief by delivering aid to isolated areas.
In the event of a disaster, they could be used to deliver small items like medicine and batteries to people that conventional vehicles cannot reach.
The drones use four electrically-driven propellers and weighs just under 19 pounds. It can take off and land without a runway and it comes equipped with a GPS, camera, radio and accelerometers and gyroscopes to help the craft position itself.
For delivery, it hovers and winches packages down to the ground using a tether. According to The Atlantic, when the package reaches the ground, a bundle of electronics called the ‘egg’ detects this, detaches the tether from the package and pulls it back up into the body of the drone.
Google X has been working on the project since 2011, although it says that the project is “years away” from becoming official.
Earlier in the year, Google bought solar-powered drone maker, Titan Aerospace, for an undisclosed fee. However, its use was said to be for Project Loon, the company’s effort to connect the world to the internet.
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