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Author's Corner

In this white paper, Byron James, Assistant Vice President Client Services and Engineering/AEC Operations, explores the transformative impact of drone technology across various industries and its potential to reshape the future.

Please click on the video to the right to learn more about the author, hear his insights on this white paper, and discover what motivated him to write about this topic.

To discuss this white paper in detail, please contact Byron using the information provided at the bottom of the page.

Imagine yourself in various scenarios: at your favorite lake, watching a football game, or just taking a pleasant stroll. Or you're on the battlefield, urgently needing to locate the enemy. You’ve been injured during a hiking trip and need medicine. You're a farmer eager to ensure a great harvest. You're an environmentalist, using technology in the sky for extraordinary outcomes. In all these diverse scenarios, drones, with their versatile applications, play a crucial role, sparking intrigue and fascination.

“It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's a Drone

The pace at which drone technology is advancing is exhilarating and promising. This white paper will delve into how drones are used, sparking your interest and keeping you abreast of the latest developments.

drones-fly The drone pictured to the right uses a motor with speed controllers to drive propellers for lift, flight, and control. All drones will have landing gear, GPS modules, a receiver, and a battery. What sets drones apart is the payload they carry. In this case, the drone is holding a camera as its payload. Another drone might have weapons, medicine, or literally anything needed. Understanding these components and their functions is crucial to comprehending drones' capabilities.

Need for Speed: Consumer drones fly at 45 mph, commercial top-end drones fly at 70 mph, and the world record is 257 mph. Batteries in consumer and commercial drones enable 30 to 60 minutes of flight time.

If you're considering purchasing and operating a drone in the USA, it's imperative to understand and comply with the regulations. This includes registering your drone and obtaining certification.

global-drone-marketThe FAA has already issued nearly 800,000 pilot licenses through its TRUST program, ensuring that drone pilots are knowledgeable and responsible. With an estimated 9.5 million drones set to be used worldwide by 2029, these regulations are crucial for this technology's safe and responsible use.

The global drone market is not just a niche industry — it's a booming sector. With an estimated 64 billion dollars in 2023, it's projected to grow at a staggering CAGR of 14.5% from 2024 to 2030. This rapid growth, fueled by technological innovations, makes drones more practical for various applications. These advancements are valuable and promising, offering hope for a future where drones play a significant role in multiple industries.

The U.S. military currently uses 23 known types of drones, ranging from small hand-launched devices the size of a model airplane to those more significant than many modern manned commercial aircraft. Of these 23 known vehicles, five are produced by giant military contractor Northrop Grumman, the company responsible for what is currently the most expensive vehicle in the American drone fleet: the $180 million, 131-foot-long MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude, long-range surveillance aircraft commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 2018.

The Triton is one of two drones that cost more than $100 million. Thousands of miles from the target, the U.S. military has carried out over 2000 drone strikes.

Drone strikes often raise complex legal and moral dilemmas. They can only be as accurate as the intelligence upon which they are based. The hope that arms control treaties might curb their use in some way has proved illusory. Policymakers need to consider these ethical and legal implications when formulating regulations and guidelines for the use of drones.

Making Packages Fly: As a leading designer and manufacturer of drones, Zipline International has made over one million commercial deliveries and flown more than 70 mission autonomous miles.

The company’s drones deliver whole blood, platelets, frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate, and medical products, including vaccines, infusions, and common medical commodities.

The company also offers delivery services for non-medical products, including partnerships with Walmart, which started in 2021. The company's drone features are ed for restaurants, groceries, convenience shopping, and e-commerce.

Making Packages Fly

Agriculture

Agriculture is the most important branch of industry and economy for the survival of all humanity. The evolutionarily unstoppable increase in population and the overall need for agriculture at the global level to end hunger will result in the need to increase existing agricultural capacity by as much as 70%.

According to the source, drones can execute perfect flight paths when recording given areas and, for the exact needs, can gather a much more comprehensive range of information using different sensors. These sensors are crucial for the early detection of disease, the amount of yield, and the quality of the plants planted. Drones can also rinse and disperse liquids five times faster, leading to significant water savings. This precision and efficiency of drones in agriculture should reassure us and instill confidence in the future of food security.

Thermal Camera Payload:

Firefighting Firefighting: Thermal drones can quickly detect house and forest fires and identify their hottest spots. They can also see through smoke and poor lighting conditions. After a fire, drones can provide critical damage assessments.

All this helps keep firefighters out of harm’s way as much as possible. Once the flames are out, drones assist in evaluating the aftermath, helping to understand the extent of the devastation, and aiding in insurance and rehabilitation efforts. This can also provide valuable data for research and future fire prevention strategies.

Search and RescueSearch and Rescue:

Thermal drones can help locate missing people by detecting their body heat. They can also assist law enforcement by gathering real-time intelligence on victims and criminals.

They can deploy faster than a traditional ground crew and cover vast amounts of land by flying up to 60 MPH from hundreds of feet above. This way, they can drastically reduce the time for successful search and rescue missions, providing a reassuring sense of safety.

ConstructionConstruction: Vee Technologies uses drone output data for our engineering services. We use lidar scans of buildings, inspection data, and infrared camera output data to detect energy leaks. This data is used to create 3D designs and perform energy analysis.

Moreover, these drones can also identify structural issues and potential risks in buildings and infrastructure. For example, they capture thermal images that reveal where government buildings and schools have potential energy loss, helping prioritize improvements. So, exploring thermal imaging with drones could be a smart move if you're looking to conserve energy and save money!

Conclusion

According to many predictions from the world’s top experts and agencies, the daily use of drones will become the basis for the booming business of all types of industries and business facilities. Undeniably, drones will significantly improve the quality of human life and completely change the world as we know it today.

Drone technology will slowly but surely replace man and the human factor in certain activities, jobs, and activities for which only man himself was primarily responsible. This awareness of the changing work landscape is crucial for us to adapt and thrive in the future.

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References:

10 Ways Drones Will Be Used in The Future. https://www.dronetechplanet.com/10-ways-drones-will-be-used-in-the-future/

The 23 American Military Drones, and How They ’re-Used - Pre Coin News. https://precoinnews.com/business/the-23-american-military-drones-and-how-theyu2019re-used/

Zipline (drone delivery company) · Drone Jungle. https://dronejungle.org/zipline-drone-delivery-company/

Byron James

Meet the Author

Byron James - Assistant Vice President Client Services and Engineering/AEC Operations

Byron James is the Assistant Vice President of Engineering Services for Vee Technologies where he directs the sales team, manages projects nationwide, and develops organizational strategies. His areas of expertise cover a broad range of services and technologies in the fields of product engineering, architecture, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, (MEP) and information technology. Byron holds a patent for software that enables business collaboration from his work at IBM.

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