To operate its fleet of networked delivery drones and save time, the Wing company plans to set up parcel collection points all over the cities. With them, you no longer need to wait for the arrival of a drone to give it control.
Drone deliveries have indeed become a reality in parts of the United States. One of the main players in the sector is Wing, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company. Its drones are mainly used to deliver meals more smoothly and quickly. To save even more time and make them work in a network, Wing has just developed delivery gantries. These stations, which occupy the equivalent of a parking space, allow the restaurateur to place an order without having to wait for a drone to arrive. As soon as there is one available, he picks up the package without even having to land. A rope descends from the belly of the drone. It passes between the two arms of a Y-shaped structure. These arms guide the hook so that it can grip the control automatically. These stations are calledAutoLoader.
These strange delivery stations occupy a parking space and allow you to drop off the package to be delivered without having to wait for a drone to pass. © Wing
Automatic delivery stations
To identify a station, Wing drones read a QR code which is painted on the ground. Wing is expected to deploy these stations over the next 12 months. This would also make it possible to operate like a network and ensure that visiting drones can transport several packages during a flight, picking them up on the way back, for example. If the drone delivery sector is taking off, and this kind of initiative is effective in optimizing deliveries, it is still experimental. There are still a lot of restrictions imposed at the moment by US regulators.
