When Drones Insert Wires

What Happens When You Combine a Drone, a Gripper, and a Good Dose of Engineering Spirit?

That was exactly the question wemonte set out to answer as part of the Robotics Challenge 2026 - and the project was even recognized with an award!

An idea that takes off

The challenge: Automatically pick up a 1.5 mm² wire, position it precisely, and insert it into a wiring harness module. Instead of relying on conventional automation technology, our team developed an unconventional approach: using a drone as an assembly aid within an automated process.

The process chain:

Wire pickup → Transport → Positioning → Wire insertion

What initially sounded like an unusual idea quickly evolved into a demanding engineering project. From designing the mechanical components and coordinating the control system to integrating the complete setup, numerous details had to be optimized step by step to ensure all components worked together reliably.

Why use a drone?

Many automation solutions are based on stationary systems. They are reliable but are often designed for a specific process or product. When requirements change, these systems frequently need to be modified or even completely redesigned.

This is exactly where our concept comes in. The drone serves as a mobile element within the process, creating new possibilities for more flexible assembly operations.

The goal of the project was not to develop a ready-to-use industrial solution, but rather to investigate whether this approach could fundamentally be suitable for automation tasks.

A demonstrator for the trade fair

The project was implemented as a demonstrator. At the trade fair, we showcased the automated operations at each station, including wire gripping, positioning, and insertion.

However, the drone was not flown autonomously between the stations. Instead, it was moved manually. The reason was that the landing system of the DJI drone we used did not reliably recognize the specially designed fixtures at our stations as suitable landing surfaces. Due to the limited project timeline, we were unable to bypass this manufacturer-specific limitation.

Using an open-source drone platform would have made this possible in principle. However, at the beginning of the project, we deliberately chose the stable and reliable DJI platform.

Testing, improving, optimizing

As with many development projects, not everything worked perfectly from the start. Countless tests, adjustments, and optimization cycles were necessary before all components interacted reliably.

That made it even more rewarding when we convinced the jury with our concept and received the Mindhack Award for our approach.

A special milestone for wemonte

Receiving this award at this particular moment makes it even more meaningful—this weekend we are celebrating our 4th company anniversary.

The success at the Robotics Challenge is therefore not only a great recognition for this project but also a strong testament to the journey we have taken together as a company over the past four years.

A special thank you goes to our students, Lars and Gonzalo, whose dedication, technical curiosity, and outstanding commitment made this project possible.

Here's to the next years—and to many more ideas that will take flight!