Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is also testing delivery via drones as it has revealed what it is calling “Project Wing” under its Google X’s moonshots group on Thursday.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the company successfully tested delivering “candy bars, dog treats, cattle vaccines, water and radios” using a drone developed under “Project Wing” earlier this month to two farmers in Queensland, Australia.
The news of the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) project comes as companies such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are also developing ways to deliver via drones.
Nonetheless, it seems the internet search and advertising giant is not only doing “Project Wing” as a reaction to other companies trying delivery by drones. The Wall Street Journal said in its report that the company started developing drones for delivery way back in 2011. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) revealed its plans to use drones to deliver goods in December last year.
According to The Verge, the initial plan was to have drones “deliver defibrillators to people who were having heart attacks,” but due to how complicated it would be for the system to be integrated to emergency services, the company pivoted the idea to delivering goods to disaster stricken areas. The Company has acknowledged, however, that the project can be used to deliver goods to shoppers which may signal drones eventually becoming part of Google Shopping.
In the video embedded below, one can see the vehicle that is the current prototype of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) for Project Wing. It features four propellers that enable the aircraft to take off vertically.
The Verge says that the wingspan of the vehicle which weighs under 19 pounds is about five feet. The weight of a fully-loaded vehicle with its package is only 22 pounds, the publication notes, so it won’t be able to deliver heavy packages like an Xbox.
The Google vehicle delivers via a cable while hovering above a delivery site unlike Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s drone which lands and releases its payload.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at Google X, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Nick Roy are leading the team that works on “Project Wing,” The Verge notes.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) investors includes John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital. The firm reported 458,000 shares in the company by the end of the second quarter.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shareholders includes Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which reported about 2.47 million shares in the company by the end of the second quarter.
Disclosure: None
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