Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are on the scene! What once seemed like something straight out of the Jetson’s (remember that cartoon?) is now a total reality. Perhaps you’ve seen one fly over your house or while taking your dog for a walk. When my husband purchased his drone, he attached a banana to it and delivered it to his mom who lives a few streets over.
That got me thinking about the possibilities and how drones will be leveraged in pretty much every industry in our near future, either for a business’s bottom line or by making jobs safer. My thinking wasn’t off. According to the report published by PwC, the future of global industries will be shaped by drones, thus saving them time, costs, energy, resources and manpower.
Here are a just a few ways drones will be used in commercial businesses:
Construction companies will be able to use drones to capture images and footage of a property to create 3D images of what they aim to build. Imagine not needing an airplane anymore for aerial shots! This supports both architects for the design and construction companies who will bring the designs to life.
Delivery is a pretty obvious one. Like the banana my husband delivered to his mom, I think we’re all on pins and needles waiting for Amazon to come out with 30-minute delivery via drones! This is going to be especially beneficial for areas where traveling by road is difficult, dangerous, or downright impossible. Do you think we’ll soon receive pizzas by drone?
Engineering firms will use drones on projects such as road construction, airport planning, and infrastructure projects. Drones could support these efforts on projects involving survey work, oil pipelines, transmission cables, and maintenance inspections.
Due to their ease of use and low cost, drones can save farmers money by helping identify failing plants early, take crop inventories, and map and study farmland and irrigation systems. Drones can also be equipped to spray pesticides, fertilizer and water on crops, as well as monitor the health and population of animals.
The media will most definitely experience the benefits of drones in their fields. The news helicopter may become obsolete now that drones can provide the aerial shots needed for traffic, recording natural disasters and news-worth events, not to mention those high-speed chases. Drones can get in those tighter areas for coverage and even conduct face-to-face interviews.
What about emergency response services? Think about search and rescue, or delivering medical supplies to stranded victims. A doctor who can analyze a dire situation via drone technology without having to be on the scene? Drones could deliver medical packages in areas that are difficult to travel. The possibilities on this area will most definitely be life-saving.
Clearly the potential and future uses of drones are limitless. Does this get your wheels spinning? There will be challenges with any new technology and tool, but the possibilities are exciting. How could your business benefit from drones? We want to hear!