Breaking through significant technical and regulatory limitations, RigiTech’s Eiger logistics drone performed the inaugural flight of a delivery route to the offshore substation of a wind turbine park off the coast of Denmark. In partnership with Danish autonomous systems operator Holo, the Eiger is providing energy company Ørsted and multinational logistics company DSV with a transport test to support maintenance of offshore wind farms. On Tuesday the drone took off for the first time from Ørsted’s warehouse in Greena, landed on the offshore substation of the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm in the Kattegat strait to deliver spare parts, and flew right back to the warehouse.
In a world’s first operation of its kind, the delivery route is being operated fully remotely from Holo’s main office in Copenhagen via RigiCloud, RigiTech’s proprietary software. On-site workers from the warehouse simply load the drone with payload and batteries, while the drone performs its own automated pre-flight checks. The flight operation, from takeoff to delivery and then return, is fully automated, and monitored by Holo’s professional supervisors.
“This operation showcases some of the innovations we’ve been working on to increase automation and integration into general aviation, which are the keys to scaling drone-based delivery,” says Adam Klaptocz, CEO of RigiTech. “The flights show the first technologies that we’re building to help the offshore and maritime industries can potentially become greener and safer. Partnering with logistics giant DSV will allow us to deliver these innovations at scale.“
RigiTech’s solution makes it possible to carry out multiple flights during the same day, carrying spare parts and needed tools thanks to its large payload bay and 3 kg capacity, and shorter delivery times with a range of up to 100 km.
A faster and more efficient alternative to ships, delivery by RigiTech’s Eiger drone to the more than 100 wind turbines in the Anholt park would take only 20 minutes and allows the repair to be done on the same day. Taking off and landing vertically, without the need of a specific port or infrastructure, the Eiger drone provides a fully-electric, zero-emission logistics solution for the transport of small but necessary parts.