Google stopped delivering goods by drones in the Australian capital - they were regularly attacked by local birds


The company is waiting for scientists to come up with a solution to the problem.

Delivery service Wing (a subsidiary of Google) has temporarily stopped the flights of cargo drones in the area of ​​Canberra, the capital of Australia. The company had to take such a step due to the fact that drones are increasingly attacked by local crows, magpies, hawks and wedge-tailed eagles, reports Business Insider.

Wing has been delivering goods in Australia since 2019, but it is only now that it is facing such a problem. The company's specialists suggested that the root cause of bird aggression is territorial instinct. Australian birds began their nesting season, which coincided with a strong increase in the number of delivery orders because of the widespread self-isolation regime. Perhaps because of the regularly flying drones, the local birds have "run out of patience."

According to a local birdwatcher, when the drone flies away after the order has been delivered, the attacking bird may consider it a victory for territory. This will lead to the fact that the birds will attack more often and more aggressively, and sooner or later they will begin to either disable the drones or get injured by the propellers. Therefore, Wing has stopped all drone flights in the Canberra area until scientists come up with a solution to the problem.

Drone piloting experts have already put forward a few suggestions, but they all don't fit the Wing well. For example, they advise sending drones early in the morning when the birds are mostly sleeping, but this is not possible for the delivery service. Also, Wing drones cannot fly high enough in the air - there are restrictions in the area due to the proximity of the airport. However, the company can greatly reduce the noise from the drone motors so as not to attract the attention of birds and not to annoy them.

Wing engineers already had to deal with the last problem - even at the stage of testing the service, the Australians complained about the noise of drones, comparing it to the roar of a chainsaw. The country's authorities checked the complaints and found that the Wing drones did indeed exceed all noise standards. The company eliminated this deficiency in a few months.

Wing drones mass of 4.8 kg (no payload), length - 1.3 m, wingspan - meter. It has 12 lifting screws and two main ones - with their help, the drone develops a speed of up to 113 km / h at an altitude of 45 m. With a load of one and a half kilograms, the device can fly up to 20 km. To transfer the cargo, the drone descends to a height of 7 m and lowers the winch with a box. For two years of work in Australia, the company has completed more than 100 thousand deliveries.

 


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