Google is exploring the potential for self-flying aircraft, as the internet giant looks to rival Amazon in the future home delivery technology.
The company announced late on Thursday that its advanced-research arm, Google X, is developing a system of drones to deliver goods.
A video released by the firm shows the ambitious scheme in practice, with a farmer in Australia receiving a packet of dog treats carried by one of the self-flying vehicles.
It come amid an escalating technological arms race with rival Amazon.com, which is also experimenting with drones to carry products to customers of its online store.
Google has called the programme Project Wing, but warned it was unlikely to be put into action for deliveries in the near future.
Nicholas Roy, Project Wing founder, said: “It’s years from a product, but it is the first prototype that we want to stand behind.”
The firm said test flights in Australia had also delivered a first aid kit, chocolate, and water to two farmers.
The deliveries were made by a 1.5m-wide (5ft) single-wing drone prototype that has four propellers that move into different positions for different stages of flight. Packages fit into a gap in the middle of the wing.
“Self-flying vehicles could open up entirely new approaches to moving goods – including options that are cheaper, faster, less wasteful and more environmentally sensitive than what’s possible today,” Google said in a release accompanying the announcement.
“Throughout history, major shifts in how we move goods from place to place have led to new opportunities for economic growth and generally made consumers’ lives easier. From steam ships to the railroads, from the postal service to delivery services like FedEx and DHL, speed has reshaped society not only with greater convenience but also by making more goods accessible to more people,” it said.
Commercial drone use remains all but banned in the US. Amazon and others are lobbying the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to relax the rules, and in June the FAA approved the first commercial drone flight over land, for the energy giant BP.
In its release, Google highlighted examples of where drones were already in use, including in Bhutan, where drones are being used to make deliveries of medical supplies to remote clinics and in Namibia, where the World Wildlife Fund is trying to spot wildlife poachers.
The project is the latest to emerge from Google’s “X” lab, which has also been working on innovations including self-driving cars.