Drones are quickly gaining popularity, regardless of whether you call them Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Miniature Pilotless Aerialcraft (UAVs), Flying Mini Robots (FMR) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Although they are still in their infancy phase in terms of mass adoption, drones have already overcome traditional barriers in industries that were previously difficult to penetrate with similar technological innovations.
Drones have many top uses. They can improve productivity and work efficiency, reduce production costs and workload, improve accuracy, refine service and customer relations and resolve security issues on a large scale. As more businesses realized the potential of drone technology, its scope and global reach, adoption of it across industries soared from the fad stage quickly to the mega-trend stage.
Drones can be controlled remotely or via an app on a smartphone. They are capable of reaching remote areas quickly and with minimal effort. They are adopted by many sectors, including the military, commercial, personal, and future technology.
The History of Drone Technology and Its Uses Today
Although drones have been around for over two decades, their origins date back to World War I, when the U.S., as well as France, developed unmanned, automatic aircrafts. The last few years have seen significant drone adoption, increased usage across industries and greater awareness.
Drone technology has advanced and prospered over the past few years, from technical manning of sensitive military areas to luring hobbyists around the globe. Drone services U.S.A. can be used by individuals, businesses, and governments for many purposes.
- Photography from the air for film and journalism
- Express shipping and delivery
- Collecting and supplying information for disaster management
- Thermal sensor drones are used for rescue and search operations
- Cartographic mapping of inaccessible terrains and locations
- Safety inspections for buildings
- Monitoring precision crops
- Transport of unmanned cargo
- Border control surveillance and law enforcement
- Forecasting and storm tracking hurricanes and tornadoes
Due to the many investments made in this promising industry every day, hundreds of more drone uses are being developed.
Military Drone Technology
Drones are now used primarily for military purposes. FAA Certified Pilot for sUAS (drones) are used as target decoys for combat missions, research, development and supervision and have been an integral part of military forces around the world.
A recent report states that drone spending will continue to be driven by military spending. Experts estimate that the global military will spend $70 trillion on drones by 2020. These drones will be vital in the resolution and replacement of human pilots as well as in future conflicts.
The military spending tends to increase in bigger increments. A single US Predator drone is approximately $4 million. Total program spending is estimated at almost $2.4 billion.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will be used in military operations because of their ease in reducing losses, allowing the execution high-profile and time-sensitive missions.
Commercial Drone Technology
The rise in commercial drone usage is steady and has made it the topic of the hour. Many industries use drones as part their everyday business operations. According to BI Intelligence (Business Insider’s premium research service), the market for civilian and commercial drones will increase at a compound annual rate (CAGR), of 19% between 2015-2020, compared to 5% for the military side.
Although the commercial drone industry is still in its infancy, it is beginning to see consolidation and major investments by industrial conglomerates and chip companies, IT consulting businesses, and major defense contractors. The industry’s leaders are currently a few early-stage companies in North America, Asia, Europe and Europe.
It will become cheaper to modify commercial drones. This will allow for new functionality in many niche areas. The most sophisticated drones will soon be able to perform everyday tasks such as monitoring traffic, inspecting difficult-to-reach areas, and even delivering pizzas.