Each generation has a vision of what the future would be like. We may not yet have flying cars as our older generations expected but we have the coolest gadget ever to fly on our command. Drones, also called Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAVs) or the Flying Mini Robots, are the newest technological innovation that by the looks of it is here to stay and become an integral part of life.
While the adoption of drones for commercial usage is still at its initial stages, the future of drones industry seems bright with people discovering new ways to apply the use of drones to solve their everyday problems.
Here are some commercial civilian usage scenarios which have enabled the drones industry to widen their market.
Commercial Usage Scenarios of Drones
Agriculture
Drones have found a multitude of use cases in the field of agriculture. It helps farmers take pre-emptive actions by monitoring and identifying crops that are failing. By using drones, farmers can easily identify failing crops early and save a lot of money. They are also useful in monitoring farm animals and provide convenient surveillance that can cover a huge area as that of a farm.
Drones can be of immense help in managing crop inventory, map the farmland and its irrigation systems and get an overview of the condition of the crops quickly.
Drones can also be customized to help in farming. With a little customization, they can be easily used to spray pesticides, fertilizers, and water over the crops.
Construction
Architecture and construction industries are already the topmost users of drones. Drones can be of great help in formulating the 3d model of structures and buildings that these firms wish to build.
Drones are a great way to get cheap and quick aerial shots which are indispensable for these firms to make accurate 3d renderings that fit well on the environment the structures are to be built. They can also be used throughout the construction project to help assess the progress and accuracy of the project undertaken.
Delivery
Drone-based delivery systems were proposed by Amazon in 2016 and are currently under the development stage. It is only a matter of time that drones will ease up the online delivery process.
While a wide-scale application of such a delivery system would require more advancements in technology and guidelines, it will be the go-to method in remote places where traveling by roads is impossible or difficult.
Emergency Services
Drones are already employed by emergency responders for operations like search and rescue, distributing medicine and food to stranded victims. It can be of huge help during natural or manmade disasters to assess the damage levels and send a form of food or medic relief to affected people.
In Boston, drones were used to successfully locate a rape victim and her attacker. A dementia patient who got lost was also identified by using the thermal sensors in the drone. Drones will be an essential part of timely rescues given their ability to cover wide areas and sensor components that can identify the required entity with accuracy.
Engineering
Mining sites, oil pipelines, and projects that involve setting up transmission cables can all derive huge benefits by making use of drones. Any kind of engineering and infrastructure projects will have ample usage of drone technologies starting from exploration, surveying to assessing the progress.
Environmental Conservation
The best way to observe and monitor wildlife and ecological hotspots would be to make use of non-invasive drone technology. Drones help in monitoring wildlife without disturbing them. It helps gain insights into the effects of conservation efforts, migration tracking, and flood assessments.
It can be the tool scientists have been long looking for to explore and identify new species like deep caves where manual reach is impossible.
They are also used in the geographical mapping of inaccessible terrains.
Wireless Internet
This is a novel way to make use of drones and is already in works by major corporations. Facebook has proposed a plan to make use of drones to provide wireless internet connectivity. Google and Amazon are also entering the race with huge investments made in the drone industry. Internet is indeed a hot commodity and with drones appearing as a promising part of delivering internet access worldwide, everyone wants to try their hands on drones.
Media
Media houses have developed a huge interest in drones as drones can be great in newsgathering and media coverage. Big names like The New York Times and CNN have set up dedicated teams to deal with drones’ usage in covering news stories. The New York Times, in particular, made use of drones to depict the impact of the Syrian Civil war.
Commercial Drone Industry Leaders
While the industry is still young, it is growing quite rapidly with major corporations showing more interest in developing more drone technologies to enhance their existing business models. It has been estimated that the drone industry could amount to $82 billion in value and provide 100000 jobs in the US by 2025.
Right now, the companies leading the pack in the drone technology are
· DJI innovations
It is a Chinese private enterprise that manufactures about 70% of civilian drones. In addition to manufacturing drones, the company is also known for a range of other products like flying cameras and more.
· Ambarella
Ambarella is a US-based company that manufactures drones with HD and UHD video capabilities along with other consumer products.
· Boeing
Boeing is an aircraft industry leader ventured into drones with the acquisition of Liquid Robotics.
· GoPro
The company specializes in high-quality photography drones and targets hobbyists, professionals, and adventurists
The Wrap Up
It is interesting to witness significant developments in the drone industry. It would be even exciting to see how things unfold shortly. We are hopeful that in addition to being used for entertainment purposes and as a hobby, drones will find a multitude of other applications as well for commercial purposes.
