Africa Surveyors January-February issue 2023 digital

DRONES
Google company unveils drone
delivery-network ambition
By Chris Vallance
A
subsidiary of Alphabet, which owns
Google, hopes to develop drone
delivery-network technology able to
handle millions of orders, within 12 months.
Operating drones as a network, Wing says,
will improve efficiency.
The technology is being tested "at scale" in
Logan, Australia, where Wing delivers up to
1,000 packages a day. The company has also
started trial drone deliveries in the Dublin
suburb of Lusk.
And it says it and other companies are in
talks with the Department for Transport and
the Civil Aviation Authority about agreeing
regulations to allow drone deliveries in the
UK.
'Coffee delivery'
Chief executive Adam Woodworth says
the delivery system will look "more like an
efficient data network than a traditional
transportation system".
In the trial, "we do a lot of grocery delivery, we
do a lot of prepared food delivery, we do a lot
of coffee delivery", he says.
At present, consumers are not charged extra
for drone deliveries. The company is not
disclosing what they may ultimately cost.
But to be financially viable, drone companies
will have to make a large number of
deliveries, experts say.
'Big data'
Dr Steve Wright, of the University of West of
England, said it was unsurprising Wing was
one of the companies trying to do so.
"Everybody is still working on the drones
themselves - these things are going to
operate night and day, far longer than we've
done before - but thoughts are already
turning to the bigger picture," he said.
"The first question that is being grappled
with right now with is regulation. However,
the next question is looming large - how to
manage and direct this vast number of robots.
I don't think that it's any coincidence that
Wing and Amazon share one clear heritage -
big data."
A wing delivery drone Image: WING
24 January-February issue l 2023 www.africasurveyorsonline.com