In the last few years drone use in the commercial industries has quickly moved from being a novelty to being a crucial necessity for businesses in order to remain competitive. Commercial drones’ added value is due to three simple reasons; efficiency, accuracy and economical benefit.
Efficiency – Every industry strives to become more and more efficient because efficiency saves time and saved time means saved money and saved money leads to a more profitable business. For many applications, aerial drones are quicker to deploy, retrieve and process than exclusive manpower. This includes site inspections which usually involves an employee manually climbing a tower or traversing thousands of square feet of land resulting in many man hours, from start to finish. With a drone, the same task can be performed in minutes. Drones can quickly calculate area and volume of any structure on the ground. They can even evaluate plant health for acres of farmland with just a few minutes in the air.
Accuracy – Today, drones are flying ultra-high definition cameras that have the power of 4K photos and high quality videos. This level of definition is perfect for jobs that require a high level of accuracy, i.e. site inspections and surveying. The technology and software that drones use will allow for trouble spots to be detected early which is often missed when viewed from the surface or through conventional methods. GPS is used when flying drone missions. This means that for the purpose of progress monitoring, the exact same mission can be flown autonomously over and over again for a true and accurate comparison of the stages of development.
Economical Benefit – The bottom line for most company’s integration of new technology is based on whether it makes them money or saves them money. Drones do both. In the commercial industry drones save money because one drone pilot can do the work that would typically take a crew of men resulting in reduced man hours and workman’s compensation. With regards to conventional aerial photography methods, drones are less expensive to deploy than helicopters or airplanes which must also include a professional photographer. Drones make money by giving real-time data on distance, elevation, heat, surface density and much more.
The commercial application of drones is limitless as long as they continue to serve in these three critical areas of business. Drones are at the beginning stages of revolutionizing business and industry which is no different from the impact made by personal computers and smartphones. There will forever be a push to be more efficient, more accurate and more economical and commercial drone use covers all three. This is the age where wealth is determined by the speed at which data can be captured, processed and transmitted. The use of commercial drones keeps businesses on the cutting edge of their craft.
