What Are the Main Applications of Drones?

1. Power inspection

A long range drone equipped with high-definition digital video cameras and cameras and GPS positioning systems can carry out positioning and autonomous cruise along the power grid, and transmit and shoot images in real-time. Monitor personnel can watch and control them simultaneously on the computer. A fixed-wing drone can provide better endurance (JOUAV CW series VTOL drone has a maximum endurance of 8h). A more comprehensive coverage (JOUAV CW series radio link range can reach 100km). The cost of manual positioning of power line faults is too high, and drone cruises can significantly improve efficiency.

Recommended reason:

• The traditional manual power line inspection method is used.
• The conditions are complex.
• The efficiency is low.

The front-line power inspectors occasionally encounter the danger of being "pushed by a dog" and "bitten by a snake." UAVs have realized electronic, information, and intelligent inspections, which have improved the efficiency of power line inspections, the level of emergency rescue, and the reliability of power supply. In emergencies such as flash floods and earthquake disasters, drones can conduct surveys and emergency investigations for potential hazards of the line, such as the collapse of the tower base, without being affected by the road conditions. It is not necessary to climb the tower. It can also survey the blind corners of the human eye, which is very helpful for the rapid restoration of the power supply.

• Read more: VTOL Drones Help Guangdong Power Grid Improve Inspection Efficiency 10 Times

2. Traffic monitoring

The human-machine participation in urban traffic management can play their expertise and advantages to help the public traffic management department jointly solve the persistent traffic problems in large and medium-sized cities. It can ensure the implementation of the urban transportation development plan from the macro level and conduct live monitoring and traffic flow regulation from the micro-level. Construct a three-dimensional traffic management system for water, land, and air to realize regional control, ensure smooth traffic flow, respond to unexpected traffic incidents and implement emergency rescue operations.

Recommended reason:

With the advantages of low cost, easy to manipulate, highly flexible, and stability, drones have become an essential tool for government departments to enforce the law. Drones are mobile and flexible, solving the problem of untimely law enforcement evidence and blind corners in the past! The advantages of drones in traffic management, unauthorized construction investigation, and disposal are undeniable. UAVs have greatly improved response efficiency in terms of road inspections, quick accidents, and capture of vehicles illegally occupying emergency lanes. Once a traffic accident occurs, the drone can capture intuitive pictures, quickly restore the scene when the accident occurred, and provide data support to determine accident responsibility. Whether on a wide road or in the back streets of alleys, small drones can arrive and work on time.

3. Environmental protection

The application of drones for environmental monitoring can be roughly divided into three types.
1), Environmental monitoring: Observe the air, soil, vegetation, and water quality conditions, and can also quickly track and monitor the development of sudden environmental pollution incidents in real-time;
2), Environmental law enforcement: The environmental supervision department uses drones equipped with acquisition and analysis equipment to cruise in specific areas, monitor the exhaust and wastewater discharge of corporate factories, and look for pollution sources;
3), Environmental governance: UAVs carrying catalysts and weather detection equipment is used for spraying in the air. The working principle is the same as drones for spraying pesticides to eliminate smog in a particular area.

Recommended reason:

UAV carries out aerial photography, which has strong durability. It can also use far-infrared night photography to realize all-weather aerial monitoring, and UAV law enforcement is not restricted by space and terrain. The timeliness is vital, the maneuverability is good, and the inspection scope is broad, especially in severe smog areas. Law enforcement personnel can check the pollution source in time and reduce smog pollution to a certain extent.

4. Confirmation of rights

The drones can be used for aerial photography, from the territorial dispute between the two countries to the fundamental right of rural land.

Recommended reason:

UAV remote sensing technology has been used in the land right confirmation many times on a global scale. The technology has matured. The accuracy of the results is far better than traditional measurement methods, but the time-consuming work is also significantly shortened, saving workforce and material resources. It is worth promoting in the land right confirmation work.

5. Agricultural Insurance

Commercial drones integrated with high-definition digital cameras, spectrum analyzers, thermal infrared sensors, and other devices are used to fly over farmland to measure the planting area of insured plots accurately. The collected data can be used to assess the risk of crops, and insurance premiums. And can determine the damage to the affected farmland, and the drone inspections have also realized the monitoring of crops.

Recommended reason:

Natural disasters occur frequently, and agricultural insurance is sometimes a life-saving straw for farmers in the face of no harvest. However, the difficulty of compensation makes people feel more bitter. The application of drones in the field of agricultural insurance can ensure the accuracy of damage determination and the high efficiency of claims settlement and monitor the average growth of crops and help farmers carry out targeted measures to reduce risks and losses.

6. Express

The drone can deliver goods of the size below the shoe box package. Just enter the recipient's GPS address into the system, and the drone can take off.

Recommended reason:

The most significant value of drone transportation lies in the penetration of logistics in Tier 4 and Tier 5 cities and the logistics and distribution in areas with difficult transit. In remote rural areas, with UAV transportation, there is no need for ground logistics system construction or severe conditions such as in large airports. As long as there is a drone airport of tens of square meters, or a general aviation airport with meager traffic, high-speed logistics can be achieved.

7. Post-disaster rescue

People use drones equipped with high-definition cameras to take aerial photographs of disaster-stricken areas and provide first-hand the latest images.

Recommended reason:

The drone moves quickly, taking off to landing in only 7 minutes, and has completed 100,000 square kilometers of aerial photography, which is of great significance for the race against time for post-disaster rescue work. In addition, drones ensure the safety of rescue work. Through aerial photography, it avoids dangerous areas that may collapse. It will provide:

• A reasonable allocation of rescue forces.
• Identification of crucial disaster relief areas.
• Selection of safe rescue routes.
• Site selection for post-disaster reconstruction.

Special reference. In addition, the UAV can monitor the situation in the disaster-stricken area in real-time and in all directions to prevent secondary disasters.

8. Remote sensing surveying and mapping

Drone surveying and mapping are mainly reflected in the shape, size, spatial location, and properties of natural geographic elements or artificial facilities on the surface to determine and collect covers the planning and use of land resources, geological exploration, water conservancy, and transportation and other fields. Mapping remote sensing technology is applied to earthquakes, mudslides, and other emergency mapping security construction.

9. Forest fire protection

It is equipped with video shooting or infrared lenses to identify the fire source through smoke detection, which significantly reduces the cost of forest patrol.

• Read more: How Drones are Useful in Forest Fire Response in Sichuan Province, China?

Recommended reason:

The most common use of drones in firefighting is to provide information. By flying over active wildfires or burning buildings, a thermal drone can pass infrared data and visual data back to firefighters on the ground through real-time feeds, and these data are essential to help extinguish fires in real-time.

The application of drones is far from these, such as digital city, urban planning, land, and resources investigation, land investigation and law enforcement, mineral resources development, forest fire-prevention monitoring, flood and drought resistance, environmental monitoring, border monitoring,  surveillance, and police fire monitoring and other industries, as well as other particular sectors that can use drone operations.

10. Street view shooting

UAVs with camera devices are used to carry out large-scale aerial photography to achieve aerial views.

Recommended reason:

Street view pictures taken by drones have a bird's-eye view of the world and have a bit of artistic flavor. In areas covered by clouds and fog all year round, when remote sensing satellites are not sensitive enough, UAVs can charge into battle.

11. Filming

The drone is equipped with a high-definition camera, and in the case of wireless remote control, it can shoot from the air under remote control according to the needs of program shooting.

Recommended reason:

UAV has realized high-definition real-time transmission, the distance can be as long as 5 kilometers, while the standard-definition transmission distance is as long as 10 kilometers; UAV is flexible and maneuverable, as low as one meter, as high as four to five kilometers, which can be realized chasing cars, raising and lowering, rotating left and right, and even shooting close to the stomach of the horse, etc., significantly reducing the cost of shooting. There are many successful cases of using drones in film and television circles. For example, the classic films "Harry Potter" series, "007 Skyfall" and "Transformers 4" can all be found behind the scenes. In addition, drones also contributed to important events such as the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia and the Qiantang River tide in China.

Exhibition Information

Uncrewed aircraft is abbreviated as "UAV," an uncrewed aircraft operated by radio remote control equipment and self-provided program control devices. It is entirely or intermittently used autonomously by the onboard computer.

Compared to human-crewed aircraft, UAVs are often better suited for missions that are too "obtuse, dirty, or dangerous." Drones can be divided into civilian applications. On the civilian side, drones + industry applications are the absolute need for drones; currently, the applications in aerial photography, agriculture, plant protection, micro selfie, express transportation, disaster rescue, wildlife observation, monitoring infectious diseases, mapping, news reporting, power inspection, disaster relief, film and television shooting, manufacturing romance, etc. have greatly expanded the use of drones themselves. Developed countries are also actively growing industry applications and developing Drone technology.