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ESA BIC Northern Germany has a new startup onboard – AcquahMeyer Drone Tech. The young startup is working to help streamline wind turbine inspection with the help of their multi-purpose drone technology.
AcquahMeyer Drone Tech began originally in the field of agriculture. Founder, Eric Acquah, who was once a professional pilot, came up with the idea of for the company after a trip to Ghana in 2017. There, he noticed local farmers struggling to distribute pesticides across their crops, “I wanted to help these farmers. In conversation with them and with others in the field of agriculture, I learned that aerial application would be best. However, the use of aircrafts wouldn’t have been possible due to the size of the farms.”
After working together with aeronautical engineers in Germany, the first drones for agriculture use were produced. This venture ended up being a great success and helped AcquahMeyer gain a lot of recognition, including features from CNN and BBC international.
After returning to Bremen, the team hoped to recreate this, but found that drones were not yet accepted in agriculture in Germany. Instead of losing momentum, the young startup decided to shift their focus to something completely different – renewable energy, specifically wind turbine inspection.
Eric Acquah presents Drone to Dr. Anna Christmann
The drones have now been redesigned to be industrial drones, customized to a client’s specific needs. The drones themselves weigh approximately 26kgs and have the capacity to hold a weight of 15kgs. Unlike their previous drone technology, these new drones can carry heavy sensors and cameras to perform wind turbine blade inspections as well as lightning protection measurement under varying weather conditions. The team are also working on modifying the drones to be able to carry robots capable of performing repairs.
Ⓒ ESA BIC Northern Germany/ M. Sto. Domingo
“We focus on the limitations of the current drone industry. Whatever cannot be done, we build something to specifically fit that. For example, our drones are capable of flying higher than other drones on the market. They’re also capable of lifting very heavy payloads and can be customized to perform tasks that regular drones cannot,” says Eric Acquah.
Joining the ESA BIC Northern Germany business incubation program was the right fit for the AcquahMeyer team, who are using satellite technology for the navigation of their drones. The use of this technology allows for the drones to better pinpoint the time and place of targets, which is crucial in the inspection of wind turbines and the rough environments that can be found in the field.
For more information on AcquahMeyer Drone Tech:
About ESA BIC Northern Germany
The Incubation Centre of the European Space Agency in Northern Germany (ESA BIC Northern Germany) is headquartered jointly with the Bremen aeronautics and space industries association AviaSpace Bremen at the BITZ, the largest innovation and technology centre for high-tech companies and startups in Bremen. The ESA BIC Northern Germany brings new startup opportunities to the region and thus strengthens the aeronautics and space sector in the German federal state of Bremen. AviaSpace Bremen supports the incubatees with its network, public relations work and targeted coaching not only during the incubation period, but also afterwards as alumni. Starthaus is the central point of contact in the Bremen startup ecosystem and supports the startups on all issues relating to business development and financing. The ESA BIC Northern Germany is managed by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO), an international networking and branding company for the European space programmes that also manages ESA BIC Bavaria with three locations in southern Germany.
Since 2021, ESA BIC Northern Germany has also been offering its service to space-related startups in Schleswig-Holstein. The Technikzentrum Lübeck with GATEWAY49, AviaSpace Bremen and AZO jointly operate this extension of ESA BIC Northern Germany. There are also plans to extend ESA BIC Northern Germany to the northern German federal states of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin-Brandenburg.
