DHL launches trial using drones to deliver to remote community
Deutsche Post DHL is launching a trial project using unmanned drones to make express deliveries to an island in the North Sea. The company’s DHL Parcel unit will deliver medications and other urgent items to the island of Juist off the north-west coast of Germany using its “parcelcopter” aircraft.
The next stage of a research project launched in December 2013 will see the small aircraft operated under automated control, without a pilot. To meet regulatory requirements, a team based in nearby Norddeich will monitor flights throughout, and will be able to take manual control of the aircraft in the event of an emergency.
DHL claimed the trial would be the first time in Europe that an unmanned aircraft will be operated in a real-life mission outside of the pilot’s field of vision.
The delivery giant said it does not have specific plans to use the parcelcopter in its normal parcel delivery operations. The trial will only test and evaluate such delivery methods, it said, adding that drones could be an “interesting option for the future” in delivering urgent items to remote areas.
The trial service will run at times when goods need to be delivered but alternative flights or ferry crossings are not available, the company said.
The parcelcopter will fly about 12km from the harbor at Norddeich to Juist, traveling at about 18m per second (64.8 kph) at an altitude of 50m, depending on wind speed. The craft will enjoy restricted airspace, and will land at a landing site reserved for the project, with a DHL courier delivering the goods from the parcelcopter to the recipient.
DHL said it has created a special lightweight, weather-proof air transport container to secure the goods during flights.
“Added value”
DHL still has no specific plans to deploy drones as a “normal” part of its delivery network, but says the concept is an “interesting option for the future”
Jürgen Gerdes, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL’s Post – eCommerce – Parcel Division, said: “We are proud that this additional service can create added value for the residents of and visitors to the island of Juist and are pleased with the support we have received from the involved communities and agencies.”
DHL is working on the parcelcopter project with two research partners — the Institute of Flight System Dynamics at RWTH Aachen University, and Microdrones GmbH.
Among other project partners is the Seehund pharmacy on Juist, from where medications can be ordered for transport via parcelcopter.
DHL said its drone craft have already been “extensively tested”. The first test flights saw medications transported from one bank of the Rhine to the other in the city of Bonn.
The Institute of Flight System Dynamics at RWTH Aachen University is a new project partner which will focus on optimising, modeling, simulating and controlling automated aircraft.
