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Volocopter and DB Schenker announce first blueprint for logistics ground operations using its VoloDrone eVTOL

Volo­copter has con­duct­ed a joint sta­t­ic proof of con­cept (PoC) at Messe Stuttgart to use its Volo­Drone for ground oper­a­tions in logis­tic cen­tres, help­ing to cre­ate the first blue­print for elec­tric car­go drone ground oper­a­tions.

The PoC was com­plet­ed with DB Schenker and the sup­port of Fraun­hofer Insti­tute for Mate­r­i­al Flow and Logis­tic, which test­ed how logis­tics oper­a­tors can man­age auto­mat­ed ground vehi­cles, per­son­nel, pay­loads and Volo­Drones, to cre­ate a safe envi­ron­ment for future oper­a­tions.

The blue­print derived from these results will be the first-of-its-kind and serve as a basis for inte­grat­ing Volo­Drone oper­a­tions into logis­tics net­works across the globe.

Chris­t­ian Bauer, Chief Com­mer­cial Offi­cer at Volo­copter, said: “By devel­op­ing a blue­print for Volo­Drone oper­a­tions, Volo­copter is lead­ing the way into the next dimen­sion of trans­port logis­tics with tan­gi­ble and oper­a­tional data back­ing our ser­vice claims. Our work with DB Schenker shows that they are a great investor, a valu­able part­ner, and an enabler for our com­mer­cial Volo­Drone oper­a­tions.”

The research teams from Volo­copter, DB Schenker, and Fraun­hofer IML sim­u­lat­ed the Volo­Drone inte­gra­tion in a logis­tics net­work by exam­in­ing the ground process­es for cod­ing goods, assess­ing safe car­go loads and goods, test­ing the auto­mat­ed sup­ply of the drone through autonomous vehi­cles, and iden­ti­fy­ing oth­er nec­es­sary pre-flight car­go checks.

Fol­low­ing this, the process­es for trans­port­ing and load­ing the Volo­Drone pay­load were con­duct­ed and exam­ined to iden­ti­fy safe, stan­dard pro­ce­dures for employ­ees on the ground prepar­ing the Volo­Drone for flight.

Erik Wirs­ing, Glob­al Head of Inno­va­tion at DB Schenker, said: “The Volo­Drone unlocks new pos­si­bil­i­ties for the logis­tics indus­try and rep­re­sents a key ele­ment for DB Schenker’s inno­va­tion and sus­tain­abil­i­ty roadmap for logis­tics.

“Volocopter’s lead­er­ship in this emerg­ing urban air mobil­i­ty indus­try is most evi­dent in its prac­ti­cal solu­tions, cus­tomer-cen­tric approach and com­mit­ment to bring UAM to life.”

The Volo­Drone, Volocopter’s heavy-lift and ver­sa­tile car­go drone, is bat­tery pow­ered, can trans­port a 200 kg pay­load up to 40 km, and is pow­ered by 18 rotors and motors.

Since the begin­ning of their col­lab­o­ra­tion in 2019, Volo­copter and DB Schenker have been devel­op­ing the Volo­Drone for com­mer­cial launch and assess­ing use cas­es for busi­ness-to-busi­ness drone ser­vices in logis­tics.

Volo­copter plans to use the Volo­Drone for intracity logis­tics and will oper­ate with­in the com­pa­ny’sec­osys­tem for cities, which will con­sist of pas­sen­ger mobil­i­ty ser­vices using its VoloC­i­ty and Volo­Con­nect eVTOL air­craft; Volo­Port take-off and land­ing infra­struc­ture and a dig­i­tal back­bone to coor­di­nate and view all oper­a­tions in real time (VoloIQ).

In May 2020, Volo­copter part­nered with Near Earth Auton­o­my to enable beyond visu­al line of sight (BVLOS) oper­a­tions with its Volo­Drone. A demon­stra­tion is planned in Munich next year.

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Jason Pritchard

Jason Pritchard is the Editor of eVTOL Insights. He holds a BA from Leicester's De Montfort University and has worked in Journalism and Public Relations for more than a decade. Outside of work, Jason enjoys playing and watching football and golf. He also has a keen interest in Ancient Egypt.

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