The Antea Group drone left at 8.07 am on Wednesday morning from Oranjewoud in Friesland for a day-long journey of 611 kilometers to the Danish capital Copenhagen.
The drone flies through the Netherlands at speeds of around 70 kilometers per hour and lands every 20 kilometers. On the ground, six observers follow the drone to keep an eye on everything. They have fully charged the car with batteries, because the drone does not have an infinite range. The drone makes a stopover in Eemshaven, among other places.
Project manager Roel Brandt of Antea Group says that in principle the drone can travel around 40 kilometers without recharging, but then in ideal weather conditions. An earlier test showed that 30 kilometers was also possible, but the engineers decided to scale back just to be sure.
Museum in Copenhagen
The 3.5 kilogram drone carries a small bottle painted by artist Bonny Dijkstra. It will be displayed in the ARKEN Museum of Modern Art upon arrival in Copenhagen.
If everything goes according to plan, the drone will arrive in Copenhagen on Saturday afternoon. However, there is no tight deadline, because the weather can be bad on the way – the drone can’t handle rain very well, but strong winds are okay – and then the flight may take a little longer. If something goes wrong, a backup drone is available. ,,But of course we don’t hope for that”, says Brandt.