Core tech­no­lo­gy

Vortifer Dri­ve: Deep-tech in the field of new pro­pul­si­on sys­tems with diver­se are­as of appli­ca­ti­on  

At the begin­ning, the idea was to deve­lop a fly­ing disc that offers a new and more effi­ci­ent dro­ne con­cept com­pared to the con­ven­tio­nal quad­c­op­ter tech­no­lo­gy in this field, through inno­va­ti­ve design and an end­less wing structure. 

In a com­mis­sio­ned simu­la­ti­on stu­dy, the Ger­man Aero­space Cen­ter (DLR) cal­cu­la­ted and con­firm­ed the simu­la­ti­on of a hydrau­lic shape (flow form) with a so-cal­led vir­tu­al disc (a pres­su­re jump wit­hout mass and dimen­si­ons). 

The eva­lua­tions of this simu­la­ti­on stu­dy reve­a­led that the Vor­ti­fer tech­no­lo­gy extends far bey­ond the ori­gi­nal con­cept of a fly­ing disc. 

Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve is an inno­va­ti­ve pro­pul­si­on sys­tem with signi­fi­cant­ly bet­ter effi­ci­en­cy and vir­tual­ly any sca­la­bi­li­ty. With a con­trol sys­tem that can vary from agi­le (fast, respon­si­ve, less ener­gy-effi­ci­ent) to slow (desi­gned for effi­ci­en­cy) depen­ding on the appli­ca­ti­on case, diver­se are­as of appli­ca­ti­on arise. 

Today, Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve, equip­ped with exten­si­ve and inter­na­tio­nal patent pro­tec­tion and strong rese­arch part­ner­ships, offers an intel­li­gent plat­form in addi­ti­on to the base tech­no­lo­gy. The plat­form works on a ful­ly auto­ma­ted simu­la­ti­on envi­ron­ment for a varie­ty of indus­tries and appli­ca­ti­on pos­si­bi­li­ties in addi­ti­on to the con­ti­nuous deve­lo­p­ment of the base technology. 

High­ly effi­ci­ent and vir­tual­ly infi­ni­te­ly sca­lable, Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve revo­lu­tio­ni­zes the exis­ting pro­pul­si­on sys­tem land­scape. 

The Func­tion­al Principle

At its core, the Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve mecha­ni­cal­ly acce­le­ra­tes air from below and draws it over an end­less wing in a con­ti­nuous cir­cu­la­ti­on pro­cess, also known as a toro­idal vor­tex. This pro­cess beg­ins with the mecha­ni­cal acce­le­ra­ti­on of the air, which is then direc­ted over the spe­ci­al­ly shaped end­less wing. As the air flows over the wing, addi­tio­nal ambi­ent air is drawn in and also acce­le­ra­ted.  

A cru­cial tech­ni­cal aspect is the deli­bera­te­ly opti­mi­sed sha­ping of the wing. This sha­ping gene­ra­tes a direc­ted sur­plus of momen­tum mass flow, mea­ning that more air is acce­le­ra­ted than was ori­gi­nal­ly sup­pli­ed. This sur­plus of acce­le­ra­ted air is pushed down­wards, which in turn gene­ra­tes lift. Through this flu­id-mecha­ni­cal dri­ve, the Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve tech­no­lo­gy gene­ra­tes not only thrust and lift but also sta­bi­li­ty and safe­ty. The con­ti­nuous cir­cu­la­ti­on and acce­le­ra­ti­on of the air ensu­re an even and effi­ci­ent dis­tri­bu­ti­on of force, lea­ding to supe­ri­or effi­ci­en­cy.  

Ano­ther remar­kab­le aspect of this tech­no­lo­gy is its sca­la­bi­li­ty into various appli­ca­ti­on are­as. The paten­ted dri­ve sys­tem appli­es not only to air but to all fluids, inclu­ding water. This opens up a varie­ty of appli­ca­ti­on pos­si­bi­li­ties in dif­fe­rent indus­tries, from avia­ti­on to mari­ti­me tech­no­lo­gy. 

Core tech­no­lo­gy

Vortifer Dri­ve: Deep-tech in the field of new pro­pul­si­on sys­tems with diver­se are­as of appli­ca­ti­on  

At the begin­ning, the idea was to deve­lop a fly­ing disc that offers a new and more effi­ci­ent dro­ne con­cept com­pared to the con­ven­tio­nal quad­c­op­ter tech­no­lo­gy in this field, through inno­va­ti­ve design and an end­less wing structure. 

In a com­mis­sio­ned simu­la­ti­on stu­dy, the Ger­man Aero­space Cen­ter (DLR) cal­cu­la­ted and con­firm­ed the simu­la­ti­on of a hydrau­lic shape (flow form) with a so-cal­led vir­tu­al disc (a pres­su­re jump wit­hout mass and dimen­si­ons). 

The eva­lua­tions of this simu­la­ti­on stu­dy reve­a­led that the Vor­ti­fer tech­no­lo­gy extends far bey­ond the ori­gi­nal con­cept of a fly­ing disc. 

Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve is an inno­va­ti­ve pro­pul­si­on sys­tem with signi­fi­cant­ly bet­ter effi­ci­en­cy and vir­tual­ly any sca­la­bi­li­ty. With a con­trol sys­tem that can vary from agi­le (fast, respon­si­ve, less ener­gy-effi­ci­ent) to slow (desi­gned for effi­ci­en­cy) depen­ding on the appli­ca­ti­on case, diver­se are­as of appli­ca­ti­on arise. 

Today, Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve, equip­ped with exten­si­ve and inter­na­tio­nal patent pro­tec­tion and strong rese­arch part­ner­ships, offers an intel­li­gent plat­form in addi­ti­on to the base tech­no­lo­gy. The plat­form works on a ful­ly auto­ma­ted simu­la­ti­on envi­ron­ment for a varie­ty of indus­tries and appli­ca­ti­on pos­si­bi­li­ties in addi­ti­on to the con­ti­nuous deve­lo­p­ment of the base technology. 

High­ly effi­ci­ent and vir­tual­ly infi­ni­te­ly sca­lable, Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve revo­lu­tio­ni­zes the exis­ting pro­pul­si­on sys­tem land­scape. 

The Func­tion­al Principle

At its core, the Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve mecha­ni­cal­ly acce­le­ra­tes air from below and draws it over an end­less wing in a con­ti­nuous cir­cu­la­ti­on pro­cess, also known as a toro­idal vor­tex. This pro­cess beg­ins with the mecha­ni­cal acce­le­ra­ti­on of the air, which is then direc­ted over the spe­ci­al­ly shaped end­less wing. As the air flows over the wing, addi­tio­nal ambi­ent air is drawn in and also acce­le­ra­ted.  

A cru­cial tech­ni­cal aspect is the deli­bera­te­ly opti­mi­sed sha­ping of the wing. This sha­ping gene­ra­tes a direc­ted sur­plus of momen­tum mass flow, mea­ning that more air is acce­le­ra­ted than was ori­gi­nal­ly sup­pli­ed. This sur­plus of acce­le­ra­ted air is pushed down­wards, which in turn gene­ra­tes lift. Through this flu­id-mecha­ni­cal dri­ve, the Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve tech­no­lo­gy gene­ra­tes not only thrust and lift but also sta­bi­li­ty and safe­ty. The con­ti­nuous cir­cu­la­ti­on and acce­le­ra­ti­on of the air ensu­re an even and effi­ci­ent dis­tri­bu­ti­on of force, lea­ding to supe­ri­or effi­ci­en­cy.  

Ano­ther remar­kab­le aspect of this tech­no­lo­gy is its sca­la­bi­li­ty into various appli­ca­ti­on are­as. The paten­ted dri­ve sys­tem appli­es not only to air but to all fluids, inclu­ding water. This opens up a varie­ty of appli­ca­ti­on pos­si­bi­li­ties in dif­fe­rent indus­tries, from avia­ti­on to mari­ti­me tech­no­lo­gy. 

Core tech­no­lo­gy

Vortifer Dri­ve: Deep-tech in the field of new pro­pul­si­on sys­tems with diver­se are­as of appli­ca­ti­on  

At the begin­ning, the idea was to deve­lop a fly­ing disc that offers a new and more effi­ci­ent dro­ne con­cept com­pared to the con­ven­tio­nal quad­c­op­ter tech­no­lo­gy in this field, through inno­va­ti­ve design and an end­less wing structure. 

In a com­mis­sio­ned simu­la­ti­on stu­dy, the Ger­man Aero­space Cen­ter (DLR) cal­cu­la­ted and con­firm­ed the simu­la­ti­on of a hydrau­lic shape (flow form) with a so-cal­led vir­tu­al disc (a pres­su­re jump wit­hout mass and dimen­si­ons). 

The eva­lua­tions of this simu­la­ti­on stu­dy reve­a­led that the Vor­ti­fer tech­no­lo­gy extends far bey­ond the ori­gi­nal con­cept of a fly­ing disc. 

Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve is an inno­va­ti­ve pro­pul­si­on sys­tem with signi­fi­cant­ly bet­ter effi­ci­en­cy and vir­tual­ly any sca­la­bi­li­ty. With a con­trol sys­tem that can vary from agi­le (fast, respon­si­ve, less ener­gy-effi­ci­ent) to slow (desi­gned for effi­ci­en­cy) depen­ding on the appli­ca­ti­on case, diver­se are­as of appli­ca­ti­on arise. 

Today, Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve, equip­ped with exten­si­ve and inter­na­tio­nal patent pro­tec­tion and strong rese­arch part­ner­ships, offers an intel­li­gent plat­form in addi­ti­on to the base tech­no­lo­gy. The plat­form works on a ful­ly auto­ma­ted simu­la­ti­on envi­ron­ment for a varie­ty of indus­tries and appli­ca­ti­on pos­si­bi­li­ties in addi­ti­on to the con­ti­nuous deve­lo­p­ment of the base technology. 

High­ly effi­ci­ent and vir­tual­ly infi­ni­te­ly sca­lable, Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve revo­lu­tio­ni­zes the exis­ting pro­pul­si­on sys­tem land­scape. 

The Func­tion­al Principle

At its core, the Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve mecha­ni­cal­ly acce­le­ra­tes air from below and draws it over an end­less wing in a con­ti­nuous cir­cu­la­ti­on pro­cess, also known as a toro­idal vor­tex. This pro­cess beg­ins with the mecha­ni­cal acce­le­ra­ti­on of the air, which is then direc­ted over the spe­ci­al­ly shaped end­less wing. As the air flows over the wing, addi­tio­nal ambi­ent air is drawn in and also acce­le­ra­ted.  

A cru­cial tech­ni­cal aspect is the deli­bera­te­ly opti­mi­sed sha­ping of the wing. This sha­ping gene­ra­tes a direc­ted sur­plus of momen­tum mass flow, mea­ning that more air is acce­le­ra­ted than was ori­gi­nal­ly sup­pli­ed. This sur­plus of acce­le­ra­ted air is pushed down­wards, which in turn gene­ra­tes lift. Through this flu­id-mecha­ni­cal dri­ve, the Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve tech­no­lo­gy gene­ra­tes not only thrust and lift but also sta­bi­li­ty and safe­ty. The con­ti­nuous cir­cu­la­ti­on and acce­le­ra­ti­on of the air ensu­re an even and effi­ci­ent dis­tri­bu­ti­on of force, lea­ding to supe­ri­or effi­ci­en­cy.  

Ano­ther remar­kab­le aspect of this tech­no­lo­gy is its sca­la­bi­li­ty into various appli­ca­ti­on are­as. The paten­ted dri­ve sys­tem appli­es not only to air but to all fluids, inclu­ding water. This opens up a varie­ty of appli­ca­ti­on pos­si­bi­li­ties in dif­fe­rent indus­tries, from avia­ti­on to mari­ti­me tech­no­lo­gy. 

Retro­s­pec­ti­ve on
the tech­no­lo­gi­cal deve­lo­p­ment
 

2019

Simu­la­ti­on Stu­dy 

The DLR simu­la­ti­on stu­dy has shown that Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve is not just an air­craft, but an inno­va­ti­ve pro­pul­si­on sys­tem that can be sca­led almost inde­fi­ni­te­ly for a varie­ty of appli­ca­ti­ons. 

2020

First Pro­to­ty­pe 

• First pro­to­ty­pe at the Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­si­ty of Ingol­stadt (THI).
• Con­fir­ma­ti­on of the effec­ti­ve­ness principle.
• Qua­li­ta­ti­ve agree­ment of the simu­la­ti­on with data from the test bench.

2021

Opti­mi­zed Prototype
with pro­vi­sio­nal con­trol
 

This was fol­lo­wed by initi­al CFD simu­la­ti­ons, which resul­ted in an opti­mi­zed pro­to­ty­pe with pro­vi­sio­nal con­trol. CFD (Com­pu­ta­tio­nal Flu­id Dyna­mics) is a com­pu­ter-based nume­ri­cal method for ana­ly­zing and pre­dic­ting flow beha­vi­or and phe­no­me­na in fluids (gases or liquids). 

2022

Patent Grant in Ger­ma­ny 

• First pro­to­ty­pe flight (tethe­red flight) for patent grant in Germany.
• Decis­i­on to estab­lish a deve­lo­p­ment plat­form, the Vor­ti­fer plat­form, and com­mence­ment of nego­tia­ti­ons with exter­nal poten­ti­al R&D partners.
• First cont­act with the indus­try at the hig­hest level.

2023

Patent Grant USA 

Grant of the patent for the United Sta­tes of Ame­ri­ca. 

2024

Vor­ti­fer Plat­form and Addi­tio­nal Patent Grants 

• Offi­ci­al launch of the Vor­ti­fer plat­form.
• Fur­ther patent grants for Euro­pe, Japan, and China.

Retro­s­pec­ti­ve on the
tech­no­lo­gi­cal deve­lo­p­ment
 

2019

Simu­la­ti­on Stu­dy 

The DLR simu­la­ti­on stu­dy has shown that Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve is not just an air­craft, but an inno­va­ti­ve pro­pul­si­on sys­tem that can be sca­led almost inde­fi­ni­te­ly for a varie­ty of appli­ca­ti­ons. 

2020

First Pro­to­ty­pe 

• First pro­to­ty­pe at the Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­si­ty of Ingol­stadt (THI).
• Con­fir­ma­ti­on of the effec­ti­ve­ness principle.
• Qua­li­ta­ti­ve agree­ment of the simu­la­ti­on with data from the test bench.

2021

Opti­mi­zed Prototype
with pro­vi­sio­nal con­trol
 

This was fol­lo­wed by initi­al CFD simu­la­ti­ons, which resul­ted in an opti­mi­zed pro­to­ty­pe with pro­vi­sio­nal con­trol. CFD (Com­pu­ta­tio­nal Flu­id Dyna­mics) is a com­pu­ter-based nume­ri­cal method for ana­ly­zing and pre­dic­ting flow beha­vi­or and phe­no­me­na in fluids (gases or liquids). 

2022

Patent Grant in Ger­ma­ny 

• First pro­to­ty­pe flight (tethe­red flight) for patent grant in Germany.
• Decis­i­on to estab­lish a deve­lo­p­ment plat­form, the Vor­ti­fer plat­form, and com­mence­ment of nego­tia­ti­ons with exter­nal poten­ti­al R&D partners.
• First cont­act with the indus­try at the hig­hest level.

2023

Patent Grant USA 

Grant of the patent for the United Sta­tes of Ame­ri­ca. 

2024

Vor­ti­fer Plat­form and Addi­tio­nal Patent Grants 

• Offi­ci­al launch of the Vor­ti­fer plat­form.
• Fur­ther patent grants for Euro­pe, Japan, and China.

Retro­s­pec­ti­ve on the tech­no­lo­gi­cal deve­lo­p­ment 

2019

Simu­la­ti­on Stu­dy 

The DLR simu­la­ti­on stu­dy has shown that Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve is not just an air­craft, but an inno­va­ti­ve pro­pul­si­on sys­tem that can be sca­led almost inde­fi­ni­te­ly for a varie­ty of appli­ca­ti­ons. 

2020

First Pro­to­ty­pe 

• First pro­to­ty­pe at the Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­si­ty of Ingol­stadt (THI).
• Con­fir­ma­ti­on of the effec­ti­ve­ness principle.
• Qua­li­ta­ti­ve agree­ment of the simu­la­ti­on with data from the test bench.

2021

Opti­mi­zed Prototype
with pro­vi­sio­nal con­trol
 

This was fol­lo­wed by initi­al CFD simu­la­ti­ons, which resul­ted in an opti­mi­zed pro­to­ty­pe with pro­vi­sio­nal con­trol. CFD (Com­pu­ta­tio­nal Flu­id Dyna­mics) is a com­pu­ter-based nume­ri­cal method for ana­ly­zing and pre­dic­ting flow beha­vi­or and phe­no­me­na in fluids (gases or liquids). 

2022

Patent Grant in Ger­ma­ny 

• First pro­to­ty­pe flight (tethe­red flight) for patent grant in Germany.
• Decis­i­on to estab­lish a deve­lo­p­ment plat­form, the Vor­ti­fer plat­form, and com­mence­ment of nego­tia­ti­ons with exter­nal poten­ti­al R&D partners.
• First cont­act with the indus­try at the hig­hest level.

2023

Patent Grant USA 

Grant of the patent for the United Sta­tes of Ame­ri­ca. 

2024

Vor­ti­fer Plat­form and Addi­tio­nal Patent Grants 

• Offi­ci­al launch of the Vor­ti­fer plat­form.
• Fur­ther patent grants for Euro­pe, Japan, and China.

Tech­no­lo­gi­cal Out­look 2025/26 

The Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve tech­no­lo­gy is nea­ring completion

Non-public fun­ding round ongo­ing until the end of 2025

Fun­ding for the first prototype


Focus on the Vor­ti­fer plat­form: deve­lo­p­ment of initi­al use cases for indus­try partners


Fur­ther deve­lo­p­ment of next appli­ca­ti­on are­as (e.g., sea freight, trans­port & logi­stics)
 

Tech­no­lo­gi­cal
Out­look 2025/26
 

• The Vor­ti­fer Dri­ve tech­no­lo­gy is nea­ring completion
• Non-public fun­ding round ongo­ing until the end of 2025 
• Fun­ding for the first pro­to­ty­pe
 
• Focus on the Vor­ti­fer plat­form: deve­lo­p­ment of initi­al use cases for indus­try part­ners
 
• Fur­ther deve­lo­p­ment of next appli­ca­ti­on are­as (e.g., sea freight, trans­port & logi­stics)