Useful Uses of Light Duty Drones

Small, light duty remotely controlled (RC) drones(1) that fly at a height between 20 and 200 ft. may perform a large number of useful tasks quickly and relatively cheaply. Here's a partial list of the things that can be done by a $5,000 multi-rotor drone that can lift 2 to 4 kg (4 to 10 lb):

Infrastructure Services (2)

• Assess road and bridge surface condition with 3D mapping that is far easier than deploying expensive custom profilometers on specialized vehicles.
• Inventory and condition of road and highway signs, signals, lane markings and barriers.
• Remote assessment of tree growth, land slide slopes and condition, rock outcrops along highways.
• Detailed external inspection of newly delivered projects such as roads, bridges, buildings, etc.
• External inspection of pipelines.
• Inspection of utility lines.
• Harbor patrol and inspections for leaks, etc.
• Area monitoring of air quality: traffic, chemical, other leaks.
• Traffic management at the site of an incident with no or poor CCTV coverage.
• Rapid regional land surveys and photogrammetry (i.e., centimeter accuracy GoogleEarth).

Commercial Services

• Extra live capture of events such as surfing, racing, skiing and other sports where camera placement is challenging. (Example of 2013 RallyX near Honolulu.)
• Real estate, architectural, promotional and educational videos.
• Spraying of crops and fertilizers -- used in Japan for over 20 years; see picture above.
• Wildlife monitoring and rounding of livestock.
• Remote sensing for archaeology, minerals, other resources.

Security and Rescue Services

• Police, security and similar quick-deployment surveillance that deploys from the trunk of a police vehicle, and supplements helicopter surveillance.
• Remote sensing and discovery of lost hikers, avalanche victims, etc.
• Quick emergency supply drop before "big help" can be mobilized, if necessary.

Small, private drone use may need to be regulated appropriately such as this example: Drones banned from Yosemite, other parks.


Notes (1): Some call them Personal UAVs -- (2): See additional discussion: Researchers Have High Hopes for Drone Use in Transportation