Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No …. It’s a Drone!
CNBC recently reported how drone photography has carved a niche in the construction industry. Drone use is skyrocketing in construction work, at a rate even higher than agriculture and manufacturing, data shows. Construction drone usage has increased by 239 percent year over year, compared to 198 percent in mining and 172 percent in agriculture, according to a May report on commercial drone trends by DroneDeploy, which provides mapping solutions for drone users.
Drones have taken over the role of cumbersome and expensive planes that previously handled on-site aerial photography. According to DroneDeploy, the Phantom 4 Pro, a consumer drone made by Shenzhen, China-based DJI, is listed as the most popular mapping drone with the foldable Mavic Pro next at 27 percent. But the majority of drones used on construction sites are simple off-the-shelf drones from DJI.
The BalanceSmallBusiness reports that “drones have already begun changing the way the construction industry operates, and those changes will have continued and lasting effects.” The article goes on to detail six ways that drones are affecting the construction industry including surveying land, improvements to infrastructure, communication and management, improved overall security, accurate surveillance, and transportation and inspection.
Construction Dive reports that although “drones are strictly regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, recently city officials in Spokane, Washington, approved a plan to use drones to inspect local infrastructure, monitor ongoing projects and conduct environmental analysis.”
From surveying and structural analysis to jobsite monitoring and safety inspections, drones are providing more clarity in a very complex environment. Procure is offering a free ebook available for download to see why drones are taking over jobsites across the world.
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