A professor of mechanical engineering believes the development of Google's Project Wing can help in the progress of the drone industry, Fox News reported.
From Google's secretive Google X division, the Project Wing delivery drones were recently tested in Queensland, Australia and were tasked with transporting various supplies to farms.
The introduction of Google's drone comes around nine months after Amazon unveiled its own unmanned delivery aircraft, the Prime Air, according to Daily Mail.
Missy Cummings, an associate professor at Duke University's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science thinks the high-tech competition between these two corporations will help in propelling the technical innovations in the drone industry.
"I think the most important part of Google's announcement was that it is basically going to give Amazon a run for their money and this kind of competition is great for the industry," Cummings noted.
She added that the growing number of corporations turning to drones for their services will push the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to speed up its process of ironing regulations for the use of commercial self-flying vehicles.
Although Google's entry into the drone industry can be considered revolutionary by some, Cummings noted that the tech-company must prove that it is ahead of its competitors.
Before Amazon revealed Prime Air, Australian textbook rental firm Zookal started testing its own delivery drones in 2013. The company is hoping to unleash its drone delivery service to U.S. customers by 2015, CNN reported.
"The drone field is overcrowded with 'innovative' new drones, with new ones coming on line every day, so I have yet to see anything from Google in terms of the actual drone technology that stands above the rest," Cummings said.
Cummings also noted that Australian companies have the advantage over U.S. firms in the commercial drone industry due to their country's regulations. While businesses in the U.S. are still waiting for approval from the FAA, Australia is more open to the use of commercial drones.
This is the primary reason why Google had to visit the country down under to test its Project Wing.
"It has long been known that Australia is more drone friendly and many companies, both big and small, defense and non-defense have been using Australian airspace to do drone testing," Cummings said.
"In fact, I warned the Senate Commerce Committee last January that the U.S. was already losing important ground in this area to other countries because of the FAA's archaic policies," she added.
