Visit by Prime Minister Söder to RM spin-off Elektra Solar
Minister President Markus Söder and Minister of State for Science and the Arts Markus Blume visited the Technology Transfer Centre (TTZ) of Augsburg University of Applied Sciences in the MakerSpace in Landsberg am Lech on 28 June. This is the main location of the institute's spin-off Elektra Solar, which presented the new version of its Elektra Trainer aircraft to the guests as a partner of the TTZ for e-mobility in the air. Together with TTZ, Elektra Solar will intensify its work on new concepts for regional mobility. The e-planes will be part of the new heterogeneous e-mobility concept. The travel routes will be offered to customers via the digital platforms from different modes of transport - e-taxis, public transport and now also e-planes. For example, an electric aeroplane is to be used as an alternative to taxis, as it will be faster and cheaper to use for longer journeys in future. Today, Elektra Trainer can only carry one passenger - "but this is satisfactory, as currently seventy per cent of all taxi journeys and private charter flights for similar routes are also made with one passenger. This improves the connection between communities, e.g. the Kempten-Augsburg or even Kempten-Nuremberg routes," says Elektra Solar co-founder Konstantin Kondak.
Technologies from robotics and space travel are leading the way here. Many proven approaches from mobile robotics, such as autonomous driving or flying, object recognition, mission planning, reliability/availability of complex systems, will play an important role in the realisation of these new concepts of regional mobility. Elektra Solar is a spin-off of the DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics in Oberpfaffenhofen and was founded in 2013 by former Institute Director Prof Gerd Hirzinger, Calin Gologan and Konstantin Kondak. Scientist Kondak heads the institute's research group for flight robotics. The company and DLR have expanded their expertise across institute boundaries through joint projects. "It's a win-win situation. We develop technologies together, build a corresponding aircraft in the company in a timely manner and the institute gathers unique expertise," says Institute Director Prof Alin Albu-Schäffer.