Alphabet’s Drone Unit, Wing, Nears 100K Deliveries

Alphabet’s drone subsidiary Wing is closing in on 100,000 customer delivery flights after launching in Logan, Australia, almost two years ago, in addition to thousands of test flights, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday (Aug. 25).

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the startup said that despite the 2019 bushfires in Australia, and the COVID-19 pandemic that gripped the world, people in Logan ordered and received over 50,000 deliveries brought to them by Wing drones in the past eight months.

See also: Google’s Parent Alphabet Pursues Broader Drone Rights For Wing

Logan is among the fastest growing cities in Australia, and Wing has concentrated its expansion efforts to service the area’s 19 suburbs, which is inhabited by 110,000 residents.

September marks Wing’s second anniversary in Logan, just a few miles away from Brisbane, which has a population of 300,000.

During the first week of this month, Logan residents placed some 4,500 deliveries — about a delivery per resident every 30 seconds during Wing’s hours of operation, according to the post.

The startup said that its service in Logan is different from the “various tests and trials” of drone deliveries taking place worldwide. Aside from the volume of deliveries Wing has accomplished, the company offers a “live, automated and on-demand service.”

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That means when Wing gets an order via its software system, it is sent to the “best aircraft to perform the delivery” from the company’s multiple locations. From there, the software analyzes some 15 million simulations in regards to weather patterns and terrain with the aim of “continually improve our routing.”

Read more: Amid Delivery Struggles, Drones May Be The Future Of Food On-Demand

The end result is a customized route that sends the drone on the best path to arrive at a customer’s doorstep.

In the past year, customers have had deliveries of more than 10,000 cups of coffee, 1,700 snack packs and 1,200 hot chooks (Australian for roasted chicken).