The residents of the Michelstadt districts who are part of the LieferMichel pilot project by Wingcopter can continue to enjoy the convenience of having smaller errands delivered conveniently and with zero emissions by delivery drone and cargo bike. They will now be able to receive non-prescription medicines with the expansion of the project.
The extension of the project until the end of March will allow for the pursuit of the main project objectives, which include the implementation of safe drone flight operations and the analysis of demand for delivery services in rural areas over a longer period of time.
The local Bären-Apotheke pharmacy now provides a new product category that many local residents have asked for. The pharmacy is now integrated into the LieferMichel platform, offering a selection of non-prescription medicines. Also, users can choose from a wide range of goods from the local REWE center since the start of the project. Products from Odenwaldbox and SV Darmstadt 98, with a selection of fan merchandise, have also been added to the platform over the course of the project.
“Delivering medicines is part of our DNA at Wingcopter. In many projects to date, we have delivered medicines to hospitals and collected laboratory samples from there. Now, for the first time, we are delivering medicines directly to the end customer. This is an exciting learning experience and an important milestone in this project,” says Ansgar Kadura, co-founder and Chief Services Officer of Wingcopter.
“The expansion of the range to include non-prescription medical supplies shows the attractiveness of the project and demonstrates the demand for individual services in this sector, too,” adds Prof. Dr. Kai-Oliver Schocke, President of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.
The LieferMichel pilot project is a collaboration between Wingcopter and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) is funding the project as part of the “Innovative Air Mobility” funding directive. It’s an application-oriented research project that aims to test the use of new technologies in regular operations and gain important insights for future commercialization.
Through LieferMichel’s website, residents of the Michelstadt districts of Würzberg and Rehbach can order various products online from REWE, Odenwaldbox, SV Darmstadt 98, and the local Bären pharmacy. These products are then delivered by Wingcopter delivery drones to fixed landing points just outside the villages within the selected delivery window.
Thanks to its patented tilt-rotor mechanism and proprietary software algorithms, the Wingcopter 198 can take off and land vertically like a multicopter while flying long distances as efficiently and quickly as a fixed-wing aircraft, even in rain and wind.
From there, the last few meters are transported to the customer’s front door by electric cargo bike. This process is convenient, quick, and emission-free. LieferMichel has already collected more than 2,000 flight kilometers.
