Stumbling Blocks for Google’s New Drone, Previous Design Scrapped

The announcement marked the project as a potential competitor with Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery service. Before Project Wing, the company has already ventured into the drone industry with the $60 million USD purchase of drone manufacturer Titan Aerospace in April 2014. The original prototype was a single-wing design spanning five feet which was supposed to have vertical take-off and landing capabilities. An alleged problem with this design was that the drone was unable to withstand high wind conditions and subsequently veered off into uncontrolled flight paths.

Testing took place in Australia, five months after the team first noticed problems, in a rushed attempt to determine the viability of the design. Engineers anticipated problems with the design early on, but the company decided to confirm their reservations with field testing. Astro Teller, director of Google X, released a statement to the press at the 2015 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. He described the drone’s issue with a shifting payload as the vehicle switched from vertical to a horizontal orientation when airborne, as well as its difficulty maintaining hover position. Google X is the division of the company focused on developed progressive, forward-thinking technologies. Headed by Astro Teller since 2010, the research arm is dedicated solely to producing innovative and slightly improbable projects – called “moonshots” by the company. Some notable projects include: Google Glass – a controversial computer-equipped eyewear development, Project Loon – a project to provide internet services to underdeveloped regions via hot air balloon, and the Google self-driving car.

Based in Mountain View, California, the division is located approximately ½ mile from the GooglePlex, Google’s main corporate headquarters. Via our proprietary website ASAP Purchasing, ASAP Semiconductor is a leading supplier of drone products. Prospective customers can browse our inclusive inventory of hard-to-find obsolete and current drone parts at www.asap-purchasing.com. If you are interested in a part, please feel free to contact our knowledgeable sales staff at sales@asapsemi.com or 1-866-756-8540 for a quote.