Dr. Daniel Wibbing, Co-Founder of roboloon, provides an insightful look into the innovative work his company is doing and its collaboration with the Cluster of Excellence SimTech. At roboloon, the team is pioneering the development of autonomous airship drones designed to automate the inspection of extensive infrastructures such as power lines, pipelines, and rail tracks. These airships are almost as light as air due to their helium filling, making them safe to operate above populated areas. Equipped with solar cells, these drones can achieve flight times of entire days, while their patented propulsion system combines the maneuverability of a helicopter with the energy efficiency of an airplane. The airships are deployable at the touch of a button from a network of drone-boxes, enabling fully automated inspection processes in the future.
The company was founded by five individuals who studied mechanical engineering, autonomous systems, cybernetics, computer sciences, and mechatronics at the University of Stuttgart. Collectively, they bring over 30 years of experience in research and product development in automation systems, aerospace software, mechatronic solutions, and entrepreneurship.
Thanks to the cooperation with SimTech, we were able to solve a key problem in developing autonomous airship control and grow our team of co-founders at the same time.
Dr. Daniel Wibbing, Co-Founder, TGU roboloon
In its early stages, roboloon reached out to SimTech for talented students interested in writing their master's thesis in modeling and simulation. This led to a highly fruitful collaboration, thanks to a recommendation from SimTech and the mentoring of Prof. Fehr. The results of the student's thesis were outstanding, leading him to join roboloon as a co-founder. This collaboration brought significant technical contributions to the foundation of the airship's flight control system and added an excellent co-founder to the startup.
Dr. Wibbing describes the collaboration with SimTech as being technically of the highest level and personally based on a long-lasting friendship, particularly between him and Prof. Fehr, who studied Mechatronics together. This connection led to a collaborative opportunity that significantly benefited roboloon.
The partnership with SimTech has provided roboloon with access to talented students and excellent mentoring from professors. The expertise of the SimTech cluster in rigid body and multibody dynamics has been crucial in developing roboloon's model-based flight control and software-in-the-loop environment. This expertise offers great potential for further model-based approaches in developing additional modules for their autopilot and designing new airship drones with energy-optimized propulsion concepts. Participating in SimTech Days also allowed roboloon to connect with students and further strengthen their collaboration.
Looking ahead, Dr. Wibbing expresses a desire to continue working with students and mentoring professors through internships, theses, and other projects. He sees further potential in the modeling and simulation of flight physics, as well as the control and design of airships, indicating a promising future for the partnership between roboloon and SimTech.