Google files patent for drone 'delivery receptacle'

reuters.com

Google's secretive drone delivery project could include a component designed to store packages securely.

A patent filed Tuesday in the United States by the company, a unit of Alphabet Inc, describes a "delivery receptacle" designed to take packages from an "aerial delivery device" for deposit to a secure location.

The receptacle would use infrared beacons to connect with drones in the air and then guide them for delivery.

The delivery receptacle would then take the package to a safe location such as a garage, according to the patent. The patent did not provide any details on the nature of the delivery receptacle.

A spokesman for the company's Google X research arm declined comment.

The filing provides a glimpse into a plan Google has been exploring since 2012. The project's leader, Dave Vos, said last November it could start delivering packages by 2017.

Dubbed 'Project Wing', the initiative was announced in August 2014 with a YouTube video showing a field test conducted in Australia. In the United States, the company has conducted testing with NASA's AMES Research Center.

Alphabet and Amazon.com Inc are among a growing number of companies that are trying to make package delivery by drones a reality. But drone deliveries are not expected to take flight until after the Federal Aviation Administration publishes final rules for commercial drone operations, expected this year.