Google's Project Wing is set to be in motion by 2017 according to David Vos, the leader of the said project. Vos announced Monday that Google plans to have its own drone delivery service operational in 2017.
As reported in Reuters, Internet giant Alphabet Inc., the new holding company for Google expects to begin delivering packages to consumers via drones sometime in 2017. Negotiations with Federal Aviation Administration and other stakeholders are currently on-going according to Vos. They are discussing about setting up an air traffic control system for drones that will use cellular and Internet technology to coordinate aerial flights that are not driven by humans at altitudes under 500 feet.
"Our goal is to have commercial business up and running in 2017," he told an audience at an air traffic control convention near Washington.
Initial research began in 2014 when Project Wing was announced with a YouTube video showing a field test of its prototype in Australia.
As the project progresses, customers can expect to see new improvements with vehicle types and shapes. In United States, Project Wing has already conducted testing with NASA.
A drone registry, which Obama administration hopes to set in place by December, is the first step towards the realization of drone delivery. Vos co-chairs an FAA task force charged with coming up with a drone registry. A system that could detect drone operators and keep Unmanned Aerial Vehicle from other aircraft could be set up within 12 months.
"We're pretty much on a campaign here, working with the FAA, working with the small UAV community and the aviation community at large, to move things along," he said.
Google is not the only company who wants to make package delivery by drone a reality. Amazon.com Inc also recently announced its intent to do the same. However drone deliveries are not expected to take flight until the FAA publishes the final rules for commercial drone operations which are expected to be done early next year.
