Drone logistics: Booxit shows transport platform for drones at GDELS test site in Bürglen

Austrian start-up Booxit presented a new platform for drone logistics in Bürglen, Switzerland, where GDELS operates a test site. The occasion was the Mobility Day of General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS).

At its core is an adapter for drone transport that is integrated into Booxit's modular logistics system. The system is based on reusable boxes that resemble Lego bricks and gave the company its name. Made of fibre-reinforced plastic, they can be stacked and connected; integrated sensors record data in real time.

Each box has a digital twin that records precisely where it is and what it contains. Conventional barcodes or QR codes can also be used if required.

“Our goal is a seamless supply chain from the civilian partner to the front line – without repacking, reloading or manual sorting,” says Peter Entenfellner, co-founder and managing director of Booxit. The new transport platform was developed specifically for resupply missions with drones.

Drone logistics without a precise approach

On board are radar and NFC technology as well as an active locking mechanism. A clever self-centring feature completes the design: the adapter plate has large openings with which it docks onto the stud structure of the boxes. A small motor then extends its own studs, which centre and lock the platform. Entenfellner: “This allows us to do without a precise approach by the drone – the platform handles the fine adjustment itself.”

The new adapter is drone-agnostic and therefore universally usable. The robust platform can carry up to 400 kilograms; it was recently also shown in a flight demonstration at the Day of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces).

Booxit has its roots in the RESISTANT project, funded by FORTE, the defence research programme of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and managed by the FFG. Participants included Johannes Kepler University Linz, FH Wien, Logistikum Steyr, the two start-ups Compunity and Loconiq, and the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer).