Air Take Off Project Presentation - new large drone at IfL

As part of the presentation of results from the EFRE JTI research project “Air Take Off” at Kamenz Airport, we also showcased our “Wingcopter”—our largest drone to date, with a maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of 25 kg, a range of 94 km, and a payload capacity of 4.7 kg, which allows us to transport the entire sensor suite plus the processing technology still required for on-board autonomous conflict detection and resolution.

In the Air Take Off project, a coupling was developed that allows a fixed-wing drone to be mounted onto a conventional carrier aircraft, enabling it to be flown to the operational area and launched directly in flight (“Air Take Off”). This ensures the drone is deployed in an optimal energy state, thereby maximizing mission duration. This is a critical success factor, particularly in disaster response and the life sciences. For communication between the drone and the carrier platform, solutions based on 5G and directional Wi-Fi were designed and experimentally tested. The drone itself was equipped with special machine learning-based algorithms that prevent collisions with other aircraft and obstacles and efficiently navigate around them. Before takeoff, the algorithm also calculates optimized flight paths for the mission, taking into account minimized risk to third parties (ground and air risks) in accordance with EASA SORA 2.5 guidelines. The three participating departments—the IfL, the Chair of Aircraft Design, and the Vodafone Chair for Telecommunications—are proud to report that all project goals have been achieved at the prototype stage.