Near Earth Autonomy and Volocopter announced collaboration to test Near Earth Autonomy’s autonomous flying technology on VoloDrone’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. In 2022 in Munich VoloDrone will demonstrate how Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight capabilities would support the B2B transport sector in the future. Common vision with safety as a major element makes it an excellent collaboration between the two companies.
Near Earth Autonomy has undertaken 3,500 flights lasting over 2,000 flight hours of its cutting-edge aerial autonomy technology development on numerous aircraft types from different sizes and in various conditions. It has already implemented BVLOS autonomous technologies into full-scale helicopters both piloted and remotely piloted.
Volocopter’s track record, unique safety design and vision have established it as eVTOL industry leader. The goal of technological integration will be adaptation of autonomous technology to fit with the entire eVTOL design addressing weight, power and cost issues. The VoloDrone’s BVLOS capabilities would allow Volocopter to bring completely autonomous cargo delivery to market.
Predicted market opportunity for VoloDrone transport services is $120 billion by 2035. VoloDrone’s BVLOS technology is a significant step toward completely autonomous aerial mobility aircraft. The industry will most probably start with logistics and cargo application aircraft, followed by passenger-carrying vehicles. However, the integration’s fundamental IP will stay essentially unchanged, leaving Volocopter and Near Earth at the head of industry.