Google joins the delivery with drones for eCommerce: in what state is this technology

Since the beginning of electronic commerce, one of the great challenges to overcome has been to offer a fast and reliable logistics service. After the explosion of the sector caused by confinement, operators are facing increasingly congested routes, and eCommerce giants are looking for alternatives... even through means of transport as atypical as drones.

Google's drone delivery Wing gets off the ground

Google has been testing drone delivery since 2014 with its Wing project that began as part of the Google X team and now remains under the umbrella of parent company Alphabet. The tests began in certain areas of Australia because the company managed to get drone delivery to operate under the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) permit for products such as food, drinks and medicines.

In recent months, Google's drone delivery has managed to break its records: the Wing service has reached 100,000 deliveries in Logan, of which more than 50,000 have been made in the last eight months, including a record 4,500 deliveries during the first week of August.

Orders through the app and without interaction with the drone: this is how Wing works

While Wing's service began delivering to a very small Logan area, it now operates in 19 neighborhoods with a combined population of more than 110,000 people, while it has begun its drone delivery trials in the United States and Finland.

Its service is really simple: users only have to use the Wing app to place orders from one of the 11 suppliers that operate from one of its operations centers. They can choose from food, hardware, clothing, pet supplies and beauty products up to 1.3 kg. of weight.

Once the order is placed, the supplier secures it to the bottom of the drone. Wing's software will choose a route to the destination, and when it arrives it slowly descends as the packet is dropped down a line. Upon reaching the ground, the clip that holds it is automatically released and the line recedes inside the drone.

Amazon also wants to conquer the airspace with drones

Of course, Google isn't the only company to test drone deliveries. In fact, Amazon is one of the pioneer companies in all kinds of logistics innovations, including drones, since 2015.

The history of Amazon drones has gone through several ups and downs, from going through severe legal frameworks and security systems, several test deliveries and even remodeling of the drones to achieving a "hybrid" model, which combines vertical takeoff with precision of a traditional drone, with the aerodynamics and efficiency of an airplane. With these new drones, Amazon promises to deliver packages of up to two kilos and will be able to fly up to 24 kilometers in less than 30 minutes.

The truth is that beyond delivery with drones, Amazon has registered somewhat strange patents, such as the one that designed a system based on mothership airships with drones to make deliveries, which would serve as aerial distribution centers that would house an army of drones that they would make the deliveries and return to their headquarters.

However, it seems that their journey by air has not been without turbulence: we have recently learned that more than 100 employees of the Amazon Prime Air division in the United Kingdom have lost their jobs and dozens more have moved to other projects abroad. , since Amazon has closed operations in this country. Among the issues that have been leaked is a lack of employee knowledge and training, so the fate of Amazon Prime Air and the expansion of its drone delivery remains to be seen.

Delivery with drones: in what state is this technology

Rakuten has also joined the drone delivery since 2016. Users just need to sign up for the Sora Raku Android app, place their orders, confirm the quantity and receive notifications when the drone shipment is prepared. have a minimum cost of 100 yen (equivalent to 80 euro cents = and a weight restriction of 2 kilos.

One more company to join drone delivery was Domino's Pizza, which began testing in 2016 in New Zealand, in order to improve its delivery times, and yes, if the order takes more than 30 minutes, it will be free.

For its part, Alibaba has worked to integrate a delivery system with drones that will carry out local flights with deliveries in just 30 minutes, in addition to conducting pilot tests in some Chinese cities in which they distribute products with programmed robot-cars that can transport up to 50 packages in a single trip.

UPS and Walmart have also started doing this type of logistics drone testing. On the one hand, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States approved the operation of UPS Flight Forward as the first drone service that operates as a commercial airline, and despite the fact that at the moment it can only operate in suburban and rural areas, it has autonomy in terms of to the size and scope of its operations. For the moment, UPS will be in charge of promoting the delivery of medicines with this service.

On the other hand, Walmart has filed more U.S. drone patents than its biggest competitor, Amazon, and despite its small design and roughly 15-mile flight, Walmart has the largest network of local stores, which, if this delivery system is launched, would help conquer the drone delivery industry.

In addition to these retail giants, other delivery companies have started to explore the drone logistics space:

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Image: Wing

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