Why UAS/Drones?

Where is the demand?

Why use an unmanned aerial system? Safety would be the first reason, examples like firefighting, nuclear power plant inspections and oil platform safety inspections. Then there is economy of effort, search and rescue operations are the first thing that come to mind. The ease of launching and recovering these systems is so easy, then there is the cost savings. The least expensive cost for a helicopter is $1,700 per hour and $180 per hour for a Cessna. You can get an experienced UAS/Drone pilot for under $100 per hour. The technology is getting more affordable by the minute.

 Where is the business?

Agriculture is the most obvious. In precision agriculture the savings is being surgical in application of water, fertilizer and pesticides. The ability to gather imagery from under the leaves of trees and plants cannot be accomplished by any manned air craft or satellite.  The next most obvious application for unmanned aerial systems in geospatial, LiDAR and photogrammetry measuring everything from property corners to algae and moss growing on a century’s old church. If a surveyor can dominate their market by learning to use a handheld GSP and a robotic surveyor scope, what could he do with a quad-rotor and a Pix4D system?

These are all great opportunities for UAS/Drone professionals but where is the economic benefit for a city, county or state? If this technology can accelerate the process of “Root cause failure analysis” for everything from infestations like HLB the citrus greening disease, Laurel wilt, pine wilt, oak wilt the emerald ash bore weevil. Going back to agriculture which is the cause of dead zones in the rivers, streams, lakes and oceans but also the algae blooms which cause a crisis in drinking water in Ohio, Minnesota and California, not to mention Panama and Columbia. You don’t think contaminated drinking water has a negative effect for regions with these issues? UAS/Drone technology can find the affected areas that caused these issues and do it more efficiently and cost effectively than manned aircraft or satellites. Optimally combining these technologies measuredly. Using the right tool for the job.

A satellite can detect a region where plants are effected of infested but not a specific plant of tree. A manned aircraft is much more effective in surveying a 200 square mile area than a UAS/Drone but when you want to get greater than accuracy than 2 cm an UAS/Drone is going to do that for you. It is going to be a lot easier and cost effective to put up a quad-rotor for your specific construction site than to call for a fly over every day.

Certain industries like movies and film have an obvious need and benefit for the UAS/Drone technologies. Marketing for everything from amusement parks, state and national parks, real-estate developments and single family homes with a nice back yard or a pool. The quality of imagery and detail can’t be duplicated with a plane, helicopter or boom camera.

Safety

Safety is the lever that justifies the draconian restrictions of the FAA. It is the blanket excuse for freezing the commercial UAS/Drone operations. So when there is benefit of safety for the use of UAS/Drone use it is critical to emphasize the safety benefit above anything else. Operations below 4,000 feet are too low to make a correction to prevent a crash with a helicopter or bail out in a manned aircraft. Then there is the impact deferential between a manned helicopter or airplane and a small UAS/Drone. This not only has to be considered when planning on UAS/Drone operations but give it the first and highest emphasis.