Google gets autonomous delivery patent

Delivery vehicles without drivers gets one step closer

In a major step toward the advent of autonomous vehicles, Google has this week been granted a patent on a driverless delivery vehuicle.

How the vehicle works is that it will navigate from a depot to your house or workplace using a combination of GPS, radar and laser sensors. As it nears, the vehicle will send you a text message to let you know that your delivery is approaching.

The vehicle will be equipped with a number of compartments that you can access with a code via a touchpad on the vehicle. The code opens your designated compartement(s) in which you'll find your goods. Once your delivery is complete the vehicle will then continue on to the next delivery or return to its base.

This comes on top of the fact that Google's parent company, Alphabet, is trying to fast-track a drone delivery service it calls Project Wing. The company hopes to roll out the drones in 2017. This is in answer to Amazon's drone service, Amazon Prime Air, which it has ready to roll as soon as the US Federal Aviation Administration figures out how to incorporate commercial drones into the national airspace.

As we reported here late last year, our National Transport Commission (NTC) has launched a project to assess the landscape for the introduction of autonomous vehicles in Australia, so they can see the writing on the wall. It is coming -- just when, we don't know.

Google gets autonomous delivery patent

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