Hamburg, Germany, 3:02 p.m., the electric heavy-lift cargo drone VoloDrone took off for the first public test flight, in its history, at the ITS World Congress. In partnership with Volocopter, the logistic service provider DB Schenker demonstrated what the supply chain of the future could look like in a three-minute test flight.
“With the VoloDrone flight today, we were able to publicly demonstrate our successful collaboration and the impressive progress on DB Schenker’s innovation and sustainability roadmap for cleaner logistics. Volocopter has proven again that they are the ideal partner for DB Schenker’s ambition to rethink global supply chains and bring transport logistics to the next dimension for our customers while saving emissions.”
With a maximum altitude of 22-meters, the VoloDrone transported a Euro-pallet-sized load to a DB Schenker Cargo Bike. Once the payload was transferred successfully, the cargo bike went on to deliver its cargo to the final destination. The result: An entirely electric and CO2 neutral multimodal last-mile delivery.
“This first public VoloDrone flight is a strong sign for Volocopter’s leading position in the UAM industry. We are the only UAM company offering solutions for passengers and goods flying fully scaled and publicly throughout the world. Our VoloDrone will make existing logistics processes more robust and efficient. DB Schenker is an invaluable partner in our endeavor to untap the massive potential of our VoloDrone’s logistics use cases.”
Supply chain of the future
The demonstration in Hamburg builds upon the foundations of the static proof of concept (PoC) the partners conducted in July this year in Stuttgart. It laid out a blueprint of how to implement VoloDrone operations in logistics facilities globally. With the first public flight of the VoloDrone, Volocopter and DB Schenker demonstrated how drone operations can extend the existing logistics infrastructure for land or sea transport to create entirely new supply chains and transport routes.
Published: October 2021
