Even a few years ago, drones were mostly a part of sci-fi books, films, and TV shows — at least for the majority of us. You could read about them or see them on reel, being used for surveillance, tracking someone or even killing. However, drones are now becoming a part of our real lives more than we could ever imagine. The impact of drones is growing at such a rapid pace that it is estimated that the global drone market will reach US$ 16.7 billion by 2022.
While this growth can be attributed to the growing demand for military and commercial drones, a key driving factor is their increasing application areas. Thanks to their ability to drive efficiency and data analytics, the use of drones in business operations has broadened in different industries over the couple of years.
What is a Drone?
Drones are also known as UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. To put in simple words, drones are basically flying robotic devices – usually controlled or flown by using a remote control. Drones can fly over a certain determined flight path, and had been invented initially to ease military operations. However, with greater advancement, drones are today being used in every walk of life; in fact, experts believe that the economic impact of UAVs can be huge.
How Drones are Affecting Us
To the Hollywood film fanatics, the use of drones for filmmaking may not be new. But given the versatility of drones, today, their functions are no longer restricted to creating films or in the military activities. With less human operation and no safety infrastructure, drones can reduce time and costs. They can also enhance data analytics, which are allowing businesses to better comprehend and predict operating performance.
In India, operating a drone wasn’t legalized, up until the release of the National Drone Policy 2018 in August this year. The policy, which offers a very detailed framework for licensing and other requirements for use and operation of drones in India, will certainly boost the drone market here. And, we’re hoping to see bigger and more impactful use of this technology in coming years.
Here are some of the major industries where drones are going to play a key role.
Healthcare and medicine
It is true that the immediate benefits of modern health sciences are mostly accessible to people of the urban regions. There are numerous rural places on this earth where the blessings of modern medicine have not been able to reach, and emergency medication is still a dream for the people who live there. But with the use of delivery drones, pharmaceutical companies are aiming to turn around the current situation. They will use drones for supplying medicines, blood and any other form of medical assistance to boost the living conditions in those places.
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is all set to achieve greater accuracy in the near future, with the help of drones. Meteorology experts believe that drones will be used in the future, to revamp the existing technologies that are employed to gather data about our environment and weather. Stationary structures will be replaced by these drones which will effectively follow the changing patterns of weather and climate. This will generate data dynamically to predict weather accurately and understand the terrestrial environment better.
Disaster relief
With the growing incidents of terrible natural calamities like earthquakes, the need for emergency response to disaster management is gaining supreme importance. Nowadays, drones are being used extensively not only for supplying aid and relief to disaster victims but also for surveillance. And in the imminent future, drones will be so technologically advanced that these will help to gauge the extent of damage and even locate those who are trapped in the catastrophe. Relief operations and disaster management will, therefore, get a new dimension.
Real estate
The real estate sector is also set to gain immensely by the use of drones. Starting from aerial supervision of the construction works in progress, and surveillance of the project site to creating 3D images that offer a lifelike walkthrough of the floor plan – drones are bringing about a major transformation to the realty sector. And the best part is that the potential buyers will get the clearest idea of a particular project from the aerial photographs taken by the drones. Moreover, every minute detail of the exteriors, captured by the drones will help both, customers and developers, make informed decisions.
Transportation
The future of daily commute is also expected to change drastically, with the advanced use of drones. Experts believe that certain drone like autonomous vehicles will be used for quick and efficient transportation of passengers from one place to another. These vehicles will be equipped to function seamlessly with minimal human intervention yet ensure the safety of the travelers.
Telecommunications
Giant telecom companies use drones to inspect their towers in remote places to ensure seamless services to their customers. Drones will also be used to assess defects so that services can be repaired and restored in the shortest time possible, leading to minimal downtime. Moreover, the dangers of manual inspection of mobile towers can also be evaded with the use of drones.
Final Words
These are just a few sectors that will be benefitted by the use of drones. More and more usage of this technologt is going to occur soon. Industries like retail and e-commerce, for example, are going to use drone technology for many purposes. But the effect of drone technology will be far more extensive, bringing about a significant transformation to our daily lives. With the Drone Policy in place, it will be exciting to watch how drones are being applied in new and emerging use cases in our country.
