Digital Transformation

CHAPTER 10Drones

This chapter provides an overview of the drones technology, various types of drones, and their ability to capture visual data for further processing. It also discusses the risks imposed by this technology, its application, and some of the typical use cases across business processes and industries, where the drones have the potential and ability to make the enterprise intelligent.

Drones Overview

Drones are flying robots embedded with sensors and GPS that can be operated autonomously on a predefined flight plan or can be controlled remotely by a user.

Drones belong to the unmanned aerial vehicles sector. They come as smaller consumer electronics aircraft equipped with batteries, HD cameras, gimbals, etc., and also as very large aircraft in size, complexity, and functionality.

They are powerful tools that are used in various industries and have transformed the way an enterprise can collect high‐quality and relevant data, which further supports a fast and better decision‐making process.

Drones have found an industrial use in land survey, media, safety and surveillance, and shipping and logistics. Commercial use has grown drastically with small, inexpensive drones that can be controlled with a mobile device. Drones are widely used in the military sector and continue to see overall positive and increased growth. Currently, the revenue from the drone market is around $11 billion and is growing more than 35% annually.

Salient Features

There has been a growing ...