As part of the Mobility Day organized by General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS), the Austrian start-up Booxit presented a new type of drone transportation platform at the GDELS test site in Bürglen, Switzerland.
The core of the innovation is a drone transport adapter that integrates into Booxit’s modular logistics system. The reusable boxes, which give the system its name and are reminiscent of Lego bricks, are made of fiber-reinforced plastic, can be stacked and connected to each other and have integrated sensors for real-time data acquisition. Each box is assigned a digital twin that precisely documents its location and contents – supplemented by classic barcodes or QR codes if required.
“Our goal is a seamless supply chain from the civilian partner to the front line – without repacking, reloading or manual sorting,” explains Peter Entenfellner, co-founder and CEO of Booxit, to Militär Aktuell. The new transport platform was specially developed for drone-supported supply transportation. It features radar and NFC technology, an active locking mechanism and clever self-centring: large openings on the adapter plate dock onto the pin structure of the boxes – a small motor then extends its own pins, which center and fix the platform. Entenfellner: “This allows us to dispense with an exact approach of the drone – the platform takes care of the fine adjustment itself.”
Booxit is pursuing a drone-agnostic approach with its new adapter – meaning the system can be used universally. The robust platform can carry up to 400 kilograms and was recently presented at the Tag der German Armed Forces presented in a flight demonstration.
„Vertrauen kann man nicht befehlen – man muss es sich erarbeiten”
Booxit emerged from the RESISTANT project funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance’s FORTE defense research program and managed by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), in which the Johannes Kepler University Linz, the Vienna University of Applied Sciences, the Logistikum Steyr, the start-ups Compunity and Loconiq as well as the Austrian Armed Forces were involved.
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