Cloudy with a chance of burritos
Project Wing is teaming up with Virginia Tech and Chipotle to test and gather data about delivery drones that could become the norm in the coming year. Select students and employees of Virginia Tech will place orders of Chipotle burritos, then the orders will be made in a food truck and delivered to the testing site near the school by drone. By conducting these tests, Project Wing is working toward their ultimate goal of innovating the delivery system and making use of empty airspace.
September 14, 2016
Drone delivery may become a daily norm for each American in the near future. Several companies have already conducted tests for delivery drones. As part of a test this month, drones will deliver Chipotle burritos to Virginia Tech staff and students to innovate the future of delivery service.
The experiment is being conducted by Project Wing of Google X that designs and builds various types of self-flying drones. The test is intended to test new drones that Project Wing has designed and gathered data for further innovations of delivery drones. David Vos, leader of Project Wing, stated during an air traffic control convention in 2015 that “our goal is to have commercial business up and running in 2017.”
A select group of students and staff at Virginia Tech will partake by placing orders of burritos, which are made in a Chipotle food truck nearby. The burritos will then be flown by drone to an undisclosed area on Virginia Tech’s property and delivered to the customer. Other companies have already conducted similar tests to see how drone delivery may fit in today’s society, such as Amazon and Dominoes.
