Autonomous Gyrocopter to Deliver Heavy Cargo

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The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been at work developing an autonomous gyrocopter that is intended to ship cargo. The Automated Low Altitude Air Delivery (ALAADy) system is designed to deliver heavy payloads autonomously at lower altitudes.

With online shopping gaining more and more momentum, transporting goods to the customer has become a massive operation and industry in its own right. In an effort to make delivery services more efficient, many companies have been showing interest in the use of UAVs.

However, many small quadcopters are simply too small to carry heavier cargo and using conventional aircraft can be very expensive. It’s this problem that the ALAADy system is addressing.

A gyrocopter is an aircraft that seems similar to a helicopter, however, in most scenarios, isn’t capable of vertical flight. The ALAADy gyrocopter last tested has two rotors, one above the aircraft creating lift and the other behind the aircraft creating forward propulsion.

Gyrocopters are convenient for this application due to their short takeoff and landing ability, cheapness to operate, and capability of flying low and slow. If the engine were to fail, then the top rotor will slow down the gyrocopter’s fall, bringing it to the ground in a safer manner.

The ALAADy system has been in development since 2016, and has recently flew a test flight. The target is to be able to carry cargo weighing up to 200 kilograms for distances up to 500 kilometers.

The latest gyrocopter used to test the system is a 450 kilogram modified commercial gyrocopter. Newatlas.com reports that test flight have been completed at an altitude of up to 150 meters and speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour. Researchers are now looking to increase its autonomous capabilities.

The video below shows off the expectations of the ALAADy project.