Hamburg, Oct. 13 (BUS) – German air taxi maker Volocopter allowed a self-developed heavy drone to fly in public for the first time on Tuesday in Hamburg.
The test flight, which lasted about three minutes, was conducted in the port area of the northern coastal city on the sidelines of the International Mobility Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), an international digital transport event, German news agency dpa reported.
Volocopter wants to create such drones as part of a logistics chain with German logistics giant DB Schenker.
DB Schenker, a subsidiary of Germany’s rail operator, joined Volocopter last year as an investor to bring the drone to market maturity.
In order to simulate the logistics, the electric payload drone was fitted with a loading box which was then loaded and transferred to a DB Schenker cargo bike.
Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter saw the test flight as proof of his company’s leading position in urban air mobility (UAM).
“We are the only UAM company that develops solutions for passengers and cargo and showcases them on public flights around the world.” He said the cargo drone would make logistics operations “more robust, efficient and sustainable”.
Volodrone, equipped with 18 rotors, is an electric powered drone. It is designed to transport ISO platforms of all sizes weighing up to 200 kilograms and with a range of up to 40 kilometers.
The drone has a diameter of 9.15 meters, a height of 2.15 meters, and a maximum take-off weight of 600 kilograms.
“Thanks to the standard clamping system, Volodrone can be used for a variety of purposes and for transport boxes, fluids or machinery, for example,” the manufacturer says.
The company envisions the drone could be used to deliver heavy packages to remote sites or move bulky parts on construction sites.
“Where ground transportation reaches its limits, Volodron can provide a new dimension of air-to-air access,” the company says.
From the German government’s perspective, these flying devices have enormous potential for a range of applications.
Berlin has set itself the goal of creating drones as a daily means of transportation in just a few years.
According to a market study conducted by the Association of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the spring, the number of commercially operated drones in Germany is expected to triple to 132,000 by 2025.
MI