Wing (company)

Wing is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. that develops technology of drone-based delivery of freight. The company completed their first real-world deliveries in 2014.[1] The company has operations in Australia, the United States, and Finland[2][3][4]. In July 2018, Project Wing graduated from Google X to become an independent Alphabet company.[5] As of January 2019, Wing began delivering take-out food and beverages out of its test facility in Bonython, Australia as part of a pilot program.[6] In April 2019 Wing became the first drone delivery company to receive an Air operator's certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to allow it to operate as an airline in the USA.[7]

Wing
Subsidiary
Founded2012 (2012) (as a project of X)
July 2018 (July 2018) (as Wing)
HeadquartersMountain View, CA
Key people
James Ryan Burgess (CEO)
ParentAlphabet Inc.
WebsiteWing.com
Previous logo

Public Thoughts

When people first heard about drone delivery, they loved it. They have made countless movies, shows, drawings, ect* about it. It is something many people want, and they think they need.

The aircraft

Over the past six years, Wing developed its current aircraft to meet compliance standards and effectively deliver parcels through the air. The drones are specifically designed for small parcel delivery. Each aircraft features propellers, like a classic drone, along with a wing to help it cover long distances quickly. Its motors are powered by electric batteries.[8] For safety purposes, the aircraft features many redundant systems (extra propellers, batteries, etc.) so that if anything were to malfunction, flight can continue until a mechanic can address the issue. The aircraft takes off vertically and then enters a forward-flight phase with lift being provided by a fixed wing. The flightpath the aircraft follows is determined by Wing's UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) System, which optimizes the route for time and distance efficiency while ensuring the plane's path will be obstacle-free. To assist in navigating unforeseen obstacles, the aircraft is equipped with black and white cameras that detect and analyze shapes without observing distinct features in order to preserve community privacy while maintaining safe flight. The company says that image data is not preserved, and is only used for ‘technical analysis’.[9] Some have complained that the drones are noisy.[10][11]

gollark: Apiobee™™.
gollark: So it turns out that heavpoot was right and the interbridge bridge code is awful and full of apiaries and now I don't know how virtual channels should work.
gollark: This is much more elegant than the horrors of apiotelephone routing.
gollark: Exciting news: an early virtual channel implementation in ABR is working okayish.
gollark: I've now realized that I can ignore those in the simple case, and I can just make the case always be simple, so it's fine.

References
  1. "Wing". Google X. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  2. "Helsinki - Finland". Wing. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  3. "Canberra – Australia". Wing. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  4. "Virginia – United States". Wing. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  5. Koulopoulos, Thomas (July 2018). "The Moonshot to Create the Next Google". Inc. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  6. "Google Drones Can Already Deliver You Coffee In Australia". The Wall Street Journal. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018 – via YouTube.
  7. "FAA Certifies Google's Wing Drone Delivery Company To Operate As An Airline". NPR.org. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  8. Slush (2018-12-07), Launch: Transforming Delivery by Wing CEO James Ryan Burgess, retrieved 2019-04-15
  9. "Google Spinoff's Drone Delivery Business First to Get FAA Approval". 22 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  10. "Google drones approved for US home deliveries". 23 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  11. Novak, Matt. "FAA Clears Alphabet's Wing for Home Drone Deliveries in Virginia". Gizmodo. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
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