Drone manufacturer Wingcopter has partnered with Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, REWE Group, Vodafone, Riese & Müller and the city of Michelstadt on a pilot project to deliver groceries to customers in remote areas of Germany. If you live in a city, you may already be used to ordering local goods or food online to have it delivered at short notice by a bicycle courier. However, people who live far away from the hustle and bustle may find that such services are not available to them. The DroLEx project can change that.
Currently being piloted, the project allows customers in remote areas around Michelstadt in the German state of Hesse to order non-perishable groceries through a dedicated LieferMichel online store and have the goods delivered by cargo bikes and drones.
The service is initially intended for residents living in Rehbach and Würzberg. Once groceries are ordered, the goods are packed at the REWE store in Michelstadt and then transported by couriers on cargo e-bikes to the departure point, where a Wingcopter drone is waiting.
With the package (up to 4kg/8.8lb) secured to the belly of the aircraft, the drone took off and flew at an altitude of 100m (330ft) at a speed of 90km/h (56mph), using Vodafone's communications network to autonomously navigate to a landing site outside the village. Another e-bike cargo courier then removes the cargo from the wing helicopter to complete the final leg of delivery to the customer.
The LieferMichel online store will initially only offer REWE products, but as the project progresses, other local retailers will be added. At the same time, team members from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences will evaluate the pilot project from an economic and ecological perspective.
Tom Plümmer, CEO of Wingcopter, said: "We are very proud to pilot LieferMichel, the first drone delivery service for groceries and daily necessities in Germany. Our biggest goal is to accumulate experience and evaluate together with residents an environmentally friendly and efficient service that creates real added value for residents in rural areas."
The pilot project, supported by a €430,000 (approximately $455,000) grant from Germany's Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, will run until the end of 2023, but could continue beyond 2023 if the service proves popular.
Data collected during the trial will be used to develop sustainable, scalable business models "to improve local supply in other rural areas of Germany". More on that in the video below.