It is not a toy, a surveillance or information-gathering device, nor is it a military-industrial development: it is a serious working machine. At this year’s World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS World Congress) in Hamburg, the German-developed Volodrone was unveiled to the public at the Port of Hamburg.
Researchers at the University of Zurich have built an autonomous flying device that is sure to change the way we think about drones. An autonomous drone from researchers at the University of Zurich zips through the trees of a forest at high speeds with the ease of a large dragonfly dodging reeds.
There are things that humans take for granted, but for a robot they are a huge challenge. For example, when they have to go down stairs, jump over something or balance.
The regular testing of rivers, lakes or reservoirs is also a constant task for water professionals. But Nixie’s drone solution is simpler, cheaper and up to four times faster than conventional solutions.
If we look at the areas where drones are being considered, we can see that it is the cheap and easily accessible aerial, or rather aerial photography – the possibilities offered by a drone-mounted camera – that makes unmanned aerial vehicles an attractive alternative. The areas in which this hardware (camera-equipped drone) can be deployed are determined by the software and services built around it.
It’s not just any cargo that Wingcopter’s drone is flying to its target: blood products to save lives. Twenty-six kilometres is the distance between Greifswald and Wolgast, where Wingcopter drones helped with the delivery in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg.







