Alphabet's Wing Prototypes Multiple Delivery Drone Designs

Alphabet's Wing drone delivery service this week lifted the lid on new drone prototypes designed to carry everything from a pill bottle to a piece of furniture.

The aim, according to Wing CEO Adam Woodworth, is to match the package size with the drone size in an effort to limit costs, energy, and materials expended.

"Just as the ideal vehicle for carrying a ton of gravel would be a dump truck rather than a sedan," Woodworth wrote in a blog announcement, "the ideal aircraft to carry a bottle of medication is not the same as the best one to deliver a gallon of milk, and neither is suited to deliver a refrigerator."

Wing's new drones, still in the prototype phase, include a smaller option to transport prescription medicine weighing up to 0.6 lbs, and a larger one to carry packages no heavier than 7 lbs. The company's flagship drone is designed to handle payloads up to about 3 lbs, including small gifts, books, and cups of fresh barista-made coffee.

"Transportation has and will continue to be multimodal, and Wing's design approach aims to address this," Woodworth said. "We can have tiny planes for pharmaceutical delivery, big planes for shipping fulfillment, long-range aircraft for logistic flights, and dedicated hovering platforms for delivery in cities."

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There's no word on when, or even if, the new drones will be ready for takeoff.

The Alphabet subsidiary was the first drone delivery company allowed to operate as a commercial service in the US. Customers can currently order items from a handful of companies, including Walgreens, Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline, Easyvet, and Texas Health. Additional drones could make way for additional partners.

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