Wingcopter

Wingcopter GmbH is a German aerospace company that designs and manufactures unmanned eVTOL delivery drones capable of providing last-mile delivery as well as mapping, surveying, and inspection. Their flagship drone, Wingcopter 178 Heavy Lift (HL), set the Guinness world speed record for remote-controlled tilt-rotor aircraft in 2018, flying at an average speed of 240.6 km/hr.[2][3] To date, the company has partnered with commercial and humanitarian organizations to perform drone delivery of critical supplies in Africa, the South Pacific, Ireland, and Scotland.[4][5][6][7] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wingcopter partnered with Thales, Skyports, and the NHS to provide beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) delivery of medical test samples and other supplies to a hospital on a remote Scottish island.[8][9][10] The company has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as "2020 Technology Pioneer".[11] The company along with Zipline, Amazon Prime Air and 7 others was selected by FAA to participate in a type certification program for delivery drones.[12]

Wingcopter performing inter-city delivery for Merck Group.
Wingcopter GmbH
IndustryAerospace, Logistics
Founded2017
FounderTom Plümmer, Jonathan Hesselbarth, Ansgar Kadura
Area served
Africa, Europe[1]
Key people
Tom Plümmer, CEO; Jonathan Hesselbarth, CTO; Ansgar Kadura, CSO
ProductsWingcopter 178 Heavy Lift
Number of employees
100-150
Wingcopter 178 HL being shown to the Rwandan President. (Notice the size of the drone)

History

Wingcopter GmbH was founded in 2017 by Jonathan Hesselbarth, Tom Plümmer, and Ansgar Kadura in Darmstadt, Germany. In 2018, the company partnered with DHL and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to deliver medicine and critical supplies to the Ukerewe island district of Lake Victoria, Tanzania.[13][14] In 2019, the company partnered with UNICEF to set up an on-demand delivery network, supplying 19 remote villages with vaccines from one central hub on the south pacific island of Pentecost, Vanuatu.[15][16] The Wingcopter 178 HL has also been used to survey whales in the Arctic region.[17][18] During the 2020 African Drone Forum, Wingcopter was judged as the winner of the Emergency Delivery category of the Flying Competition and received a special award for its safety procedures.[19] In 2020, Corecam Capital Partners invested several million euros into the company as seed funding[20] In January 2021, Wingcopter raised $ 22 million in its Seris A funding round, intending to expand its operations into the United States of America.[21] Its investors include Xplorer Capital, which has previously invested in ride-hailing service Uber and self-driving car start-up Zoox.[22]

Aircraft

The present flagship product of the company, the Wingcopter 178 Heavy Lift, is the latest iteration of Wingcopter drones which first took flight in early 2013. At present, the drone has an external dimension of 178 cm x 132 cm x 52 cm and can carry a payload of up to 6 kg in its external transportation box measuring 103 cm x 87 cm x 57. The aircraft is capable of beyond visual line of sight flight and can transition from hover to fixed-wing flight configuration during forward flight by making use of its proprietary tilt-rotor mechanism. To deliver its payload, the drone can employ a winch mechanism to slow-drop a single-use cargo box at the location without the need for landing. It can also deliver and collect cargo by landing at the destination to enable two-way delivery of medical samples, lab results, and supplies.

Projects

Humanitarian mission

As part of a humanitarian aid project in Malawi in 2019/20, medicines were delivered by Wingcopter to remote areas that were partially cut off from the outside world by a flood. Wingcopter has also been active with UNICEF and DHL in delivering vaccines and other medications in Vanuatu and some African nations.[23][24] Along with UNICEF and African Drone & Data Academy (ADDA), it aims to use Wingcopter drones to improve health supply chains during COVID-19 and to open up new long-term opportunities for Africa's youth. It was announced as one of the winners of the German Government’s €24 million COVID-19 hackathon to combat corona-related repercussions in Africa.[25][26] As a part of this project, Wingcopter envisions setting up a locally operated delivery drone network in Malawi to support the local healthcare system. In parallel, the partners will also build local capacity through two distinct training programs for 160 Malawian youths. After proving the concept’s viability and successful implementation in Malawi, Wingcopter and UNICEF plan to adapt the concept and scale to Rwanda.[27]

Wingcopter delivering vaccines in Vanuatu through its winch mechanism

Partnership with UPS

In 2020, Wingcopter partnered with UPS to develop the next generation of package delivery drones.[28] Together, they will be working towards building a diverse fleet of drones with varying capabilities to meet even more potential customer needs. As part of this collaboration, both companies will work toward earning regulatory certification for Wingcopter drones to make commercial delivery flights in the United States and beyond.[29]

Inter-city delivery

Wingcopter in partnership with Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences has teamed up with Merck to transport pigment samples from a Merck site in Gernsheim, Germany to a lab in Darmstadt (around 25 km). The proposed project aims to replace the existing slower, less sustainable, and more expensive van delivery program.[30][31]

Drone specifications

Wingcopter 178 Heavy Lift

Wing Span: 178 cm

Range: Upto 120 Km/75 miles[32]

Top Speed: 240 km/hr[2]

Propulsion: 4 x Electric motor (4 for hovering and 2 for forward flight)

Construction: Composite (Fibreglass and carbon fiber)

Wingcopter 178 HL

See also

References
  1. Harrison, Wolf. "The Race For Drone Delivery Just Got A New Leader: 3 Key Differences That Will Define Who Wins". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  2. "Vodafone's drone, the Wingcopter XBR sets Guinness World Record". The Drum. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  3. "Wingcopter: Die schnellste Drohne der Welt rettet Leben". Red Bull (in German). Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  4. "UNICEF Innovation" (PDF). UNICEF.
  5. "Medical drones save lives in Tanzania". DHL.
  6. "Skyports and Thales partner on trial of Wingcopter drones for Covid-19 response". evtol.com. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  7. Flynn, Steven (2019-09-16). "Ireland's First fully compliant Drone BVLOS Delivery of Insulin". Skytango. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  8. "Wingcopter drone delivering COVID-19 test kits to Isle of Mull". Wings Magazine. 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  9. Neate, Rupert (2020-05-29). "Drone deliveries soar in rural Scotland during coronavirus outbreak". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  10. "Drone to deliver masks to Isle of Mull hospital". BBC News. 2020-05-25. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  11. "The World Economic Forum's 2020 Technology Pioneers". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  12. "FAA proposes airworthiness criteria for 10 unmanned aircraft, including operational intent". evtol.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  13. "The pilot project Deliver Future and its results › Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - Integrated Company Report 2018". reporting.giz.de. 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  14. "DHL Press release" (PDF). DHL.
  15. Douglas, Alex (2018-10-25). "Swoop Aero and Wingcopter awarded commercial contracts to trial life-saving drone delivery". Commercial Drone Professional. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  16. Press (2019-04-12). "There's a lifesaving buzz in the air in Vanuatu". sUAS News - The Business of Drones. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  17. "Arctic UAV completes BVLOS trail missions". UAV Canada. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  18. Press (2019-09-20). "Arctic UAV successfully completes two trial BVLOS missions in the Arctic". sUAS News - The Business of Drones. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  19. McNabb, Miriam (2020-05-05). "African Drone Industry: Winners of the Lake Kivu Challenge Announced!". DRONELIFE. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  20. Tucker, Charlotte (2019-12-13). "German drone startup Wingcopter receives seven-digit investment to continue saving lives". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  21. "Wingcopter raises $22 million to expand to the US and launch a next-generation drone". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  22. Copley, Caroline (2021-01-25). "Drone company Wingcopter gets more firepower in vaccine delivery race". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  23. "Vanuatu awards international drone companies with commercial contracts for vaccine delivery". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  24. Douglas, Alex (2020-03-05). "Wingcopter increases capital securing further Corecam investment". Commercial Drone Professional. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  25. "Wingcopter wins Smartdevelopmenthack // TransportUP Aerial Mobility News". TransportUP. 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  26. Tucker, Charlotte (2020-05-22). "Drone pioneer Wingcopter a winner of German Government COVID-19 hackathon". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  27. Tucker, Charlotte (2020-05-22). "Drone pioneer Wingcopter a winner of German Government COVID-19 hackathon". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  28. "Coronavirus lockdown sees renewed interest in drone deliveries as UPS partners with Wingcopter". www.independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  29. "UPS partners with Wingcopter to develop new multipurpose drone delivery fleet". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  30. "German drone delivery trial paves the way to replacing trucks for inter-office deliveries". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  31. Butterworth-Hayes, Philip (2020-02-05). "Frankfurt University, Merck, Wingcopter test inter-site drone logistics". Urban Air Mobility News. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  32. "The future of urban air mobility in Europe: These companies could change the way we travel". Silicon Canals. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
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