Drones have the ability to reach places humans cannot access easily. Flying at low heights enables them to get sharp and high-quality images, allowing them to collect a lot of high-quality data compared to the helicopters. As such, drones are now being used to capture breathtaking photos, perform aerial inspection services, and do many other complex tasks with ease. However, this is far from their real potential.
The applications for commercial drones are numerous. They are likely to find many more applications in the building inspection, construction industry, oil and gas refinery inspection, agriculture surveillance and mapping, rescue operations, aerial photography, thermal imaging and more.
Manufacturers, designers, innovators and other technology professionals are continually adding advanced features and functionalities, hence equipping the drones with amazing possibilities. To get a picture of what they can do, here are some of the top ways drones will shape your future.
1. Delivering Packages
One of the biggest applications of UAV is their uses in delivery and it is likely to become a reality in a few years to come. Already, there are several companies who are testing the effectiveness in the delivery of products. Online stores, such as Amazon and Walmart as well as other companies such as Google, have been trying out drone deliveries for a period of time.
There are so many potential benefits of using the drones for delivery, including but not limited to reducing the number of delivery vehicles and costs, faster delivery, lower pollution and more. This means that you are going to have a more efficient deliveries, better quality air, and more time to carry out other activities.
2. Drones in Industrial Inspections
Construction companies, insurance, building engineers and architects, are already doing building envelope inspection using drones. This allows them to collect a variety of data, including photos of the structure, identifying defects such as corrosions, heat leakage, and more at a much faster rate.
The drones also allow the industries in the Oil & Gas sector to perform drone inspection and collect many required information quickly and at reduced costs while greatly reducing risks associated with rope access, swing stages and scaffoldings. This is essential for the employees in the company since workers in the Oil & Gas industries are three times more likely to get involved in an accident compare to employees in other sectors.
This means that you will get the project done faster, safer and at a lower costs compare to traditional methods.
3. Drones in Agriculture
In precision agriculture, drones with appropriate sensors will be able to detect infested crops, patches or groups of insects on crops in a field. The same UAV, if equipped with the right equipment, will be able to spray the affected crops. If not, it will send the information, the location and type of bugs to another drone equipped with the right spray, or even send the information to a central control room for action.
Already, there are Japanese scientists who are testing the effectiveness of the Agri Drone which uses a pesticide canon equipped with an infrared camera to detect the insects. The drone has a mechanism at the bottom, known as a bug zapper, which enables the drone to manually destroy the bug, hence eliminating the use of pesticides.
The drones will also monitor the health of the crops and identify areas that require water, fertilizer as well as the pesticides. Concentrating on areas that require attention will reduce costs, crop failure, and hence overall production expenses while improving productivity and safety. This means you will probably pay less for healthier food, which will have very little if any, traces of pesticides.
4. UAVs in Filming
Drones are great marketing tools that can help a business create unique captivating content and video campaigns. The drones have the advantage of capturing a high-quality image or video, within a very short time, at the fraction of the cost of a conventional method. In addition, it can take photos from any angle and from all directions.
Real estate firms, tourist resorts, schools motion picture, photography, and many other industries will use drones to show potential clients about the structures and facilities, the neighborhood, etc.
5. Transporting Supplies for Humanitarian Work
In future, drones will transport supplies to the remote or inaccessible areas. They will deliver medical supplies and vaccines to remote locations, dangerous places, inaccessible places as well as places affected by war or contagious diseases.
Other application will include rescue missions, disaster management, healthcare and more.
This will increase safety of the rescue workers while delivering humanitarian supplies in good time to assist people in need.
6. Expand Internet Access
Solar powered drones will have the ability to expand internet access to remote areas. A network of drones with internet links will beam the internet connectivity to users in remote areas.
Conclusion
The drones applications in industrial inspection, package delivery, agriculture and others are evolving at an enormous rate and expected to get better in future. The hardware, as well as software, is expected to improve and provide a wide range of capabilities. Additionally, new technologies are likely to see smaller drones that will consume less power hence have more flying time, while government regulations will allow more people to acquire and operate the UAVs.