Heavy Duty Transport Drone in Development

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A German aircraft manufacturer has recently presented the demonstrator of its heavy lift drone, the VoloDrone. Developed by Volocopter, the VoloDrone is a fully electric powered, unmanned, heavy lift drone. The drone has a maximum payload capacity of up to 200 kilograms, significantly more than most other drones. 

The heavy duty drone will mostly serve to deliver boxes, equipment, liquids, and other heavy materials. The drone will have a flight range of up to 40 kilometers when carrying its 200 kilogram payload. 

To accommodate such a heavy payload, the VoloDrone has to be big. The drone is 2.3 meters high and its rotor area has a diameter of 9.2 meters. It can be flown both manually, by a ground operator, and automatically on a preset route.

The VoloDrone has been designed to serve a range of industries including agriculture, logistics, and infrastructure to public services. The drone can assist with transporting heavy packages to remote locations, protecting crops, lifting heavy material on construction sights, and more. Wherever ground transportation is limited, the VoloDrone could come in to play a useful alternative.

“We have worked with strategic partners across different industries to develop a product that will provide significant value in their specific use cases. It is therefore designed as a universal air lift vehicle, that can be adapted to different use cases by special purpose implements,” said VoloDrone’s chief engineer, Christophe Hommet.

Uasvision.com reports that the company’s first flight of the VoloDrone earlier this October marks the beginning of intensive customer interaction in real life applications.