Engineering news
Adoption of drone technology in industry is being led by the media, according to a recent study.
The UK Drone Usage Report 2016, carried out by online retailer DronesDirect.co.uk, reveals that businesses are increasingly making use of drone technology, with 586,430 Britons having used drones for commercial purposes. The report combines a study of 3,045 UK adults with analysis of thousands of sales of drones.
The media industry (63%) was found to dominate the use of UAVs for commercial purposes, most commonly for taking aerial photography or videography.
Facilities management firms (39%) ranked in second place for commercial drone usage, with Mitie having recently unveiled plans to use drones for accessing problems such as pest control in high rise buildings.
Oil and utilities companies (34%) are also driving commercial drone uptake, with firms such as BP and Shell currently using UAVs to inspect off-shore oil rigs and pipelines.
The agricultural industry (18%) has also been quick to incorporate the remote flying technology into their processes, including assessing crop growth, and distributing pesticides and fertilisers. This is closely followed by the construction industry (17%), which said it was utilising drones to scope out work and monitor projects.
Manufacturing companies (9.9%) were found to be using drones to make costing jobs or checking on machinery easier.
According to the report, the main commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is currently surveillance (32%), following photography. More than one in five (21%) is using a drone for security purposes in the workplace.
Dronesdirect.co.uk said that delivery is anticipated to be the largest area of growth for commercial drone usage ahead of the launch of Amazon’s Prime Air parcel delivery service, and plans by Royal Mail and DHL to do similar.
This is most likely due to the UK’s reputation as a popular base for developing and testing commercial applications of UAVs. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also recently relaxed several of the current regulations surrounding UK drone usage for commercial trials, in response to requests from Amazon to trial its Prime Air delivery service, including the operation of vehicles without direct line of sight and the uses of anti-collision technology.
Tim Morley, category manager at DronesDirect.co.uk, said: “The recent change in CAA regulations shows they are open to working with businesses to identify how best these exciting technologies can be applied, encouraging drone usage within a commercial environment, to bring an array of new benefits to consumers and businesses. We anticipate even more businesses using drones following the recent change in rules from the CAA.
“Drones are already being used around the world for deliveries of consumer products, providing humanitarian aid, and security - with support from the CAA, Britain can be at the forefront of the development for business and industry. continued aerial technology development.”