Project Wing, a unit of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., is teaming up with Chipotle and Virginia Tech in an FAA-approved test of an experimental food delivery service on the campus of the Blacksburg, Virginia, university. (VIA | Bloomberg News)
This will be the most extensive test yet in the U.S. of what many companies–including Amazon.com, Walmart, Dominos and others–hope will eventually become routine drone deliveries of products.
Photo: Alphabet
About the project
- It will use self-guided hybrids that can fly like a plane or hover like a helicopter.
- Virginia Tech was already an FAA approved test site with a program focused on the development of future transportation
- Deliveries will originate at a Chipotle food truck to assess the accuracy of navigation systems and how people respond.
- The devices will hover overhead (video) and lower the Chipotle order with a winch.
- The company is already at work on a more sophisticated second version of the aircraft
See also on SmallBusiness.com
FAA Commercial Drone Rules Will Create Business Opportunities (But Not Yet for Amazon)
Bonus: The Flying Burrito Brothers Performance of Six Days on the Road at Altamont
More at Bloomberg.com