"We will start small to make sure everything is running smoothly, but we hope to eventually expand to service the whole Royalla community, which is in the order of one or two hundred homes," he said. The drones can haul up to 1.5 kilograms of goods, and could be used to deliver anything from milk to medicine. They are capable of flying at a speed up to 120 kilometres per hour at a maximum height of 120 metres. "The aircraft stays five metres above the ground and never gets any closer when it is picking up and dropping off packages," Mr Burgess added. "Community members don't have to worry about interacting with the aircraft itself." Although one part of the trial would involve fairly routine deliveries, another would look at how the drone might be able to assist fire fighters in hard-to-reach places. "We know that delivery of items in hard-to-reach areas is especially valuable," said Mr Burgess. "The Rural Fire Service has told us that everything from drinking water, to medical supplies, to parts for a chainsaw would be tremendously valuable." Emergency Services Commissioner Dominic Lane welcomed the collaboration. "The ACT Emergency Services Agency is excited to see what capabilities the use of drones would offer us during emergencies," he said. "We look forward to seeing what lessons are learned from this project and how they could potentially apply to the work we do." Royalla residents who might feel a bit cagey at the prospect of drones zipping about would get their chance to have a say on the project, Mr Burgess said. "Our main goal is to learn from the community, so we are trying to solicit a lot of feedback and input. "We will be hosting a community day in Royalla so we can talk to people face to face." The X company is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, which is also the parent company of technology giants Google. Founded in 2010, it has been responsible for a number of prominent research initiatives such as Google Glass, driverless cars and Project Loon, which aimed to create worldwide internet coverage using a floating grid of balloons. The ACT's Planning Minister Mick Gentleman said the presence of Project Wing signalled Canberra's place as a city "open to innovation". "Project Wing's introduction to the ACT will allow us to understand community attitudes to this new technology, and will let us consider the best way to accommodate drone delivery in our city for the future." Steven Trask is a reporter for The Canberra Times Elliot Williams is a reporter for The Canberra Times
The the Australian Capital Territory's sister company known as X has partnered with Google Rural Fire Service to expand its research into drone delivery tech. Founded in 2010, X has been responsible for a number of notable achievements, including driverless cars and the Australian Capital Territory's Glass. “Project Wing” will involve testing routine drone deliveries in the locality of Royalla, and gathering feedback from the local community on their attitudes to the new technology. The project also aims to explore how drones might be able to assist fire fighters in difficult-to-reach places.