Interesting Applications of Drone Technology

In the last few years, drones have become more and more affordable. What was once tech available only to the rich and industrial users is now available to most of the public. While not as good as branded expensive drones that prices up to the thousands of dollars, you can easily find drones for even less than $200 that could do most of the things the earlier models of the branded ones could at a fraction of the price when those came out. Now that these drones are available to the average consumer, here are a few interesting applications of drone technology.

Aerial Photography

There was once a time when aerial shots were only possible for big-budget studios and the photographers of the rich. These shots caused upwards of tens of thousands of dollars, needing expensive steady cameras, large cranes, and even helicopters to pull-off. Nowadays, a consumer-grade drone could get you these kinds of shots for a one-time payment (Or several payments if you pay with credit) of the cost of the drone. This is the greatest example of technology making what was once prohibitively expensive to do, relatively cheap and common.

Agricultural Applications

Advancement in farming is essential in a world with an exponentially growing population. Things like aerial pesticide/fertilizer spraying used to cost quite a good sum of money. Renting a plane or owning one used to be the only way to do this, and the common farmer can’t afford these kinds of expenses. While drones rated for this kind of use are still expensive, the maintenance of the drone is far cheaper than that of even the cheapest plane, along with the cost of hiring a pilot.

Search and Rescue

Certain regions and towns tend to have a limited number of rescue planes and helicopters, and depending on the local governments’ budget they might only be able to fly at limited times and range, slowing down rescue. The relatively cheaper cost of drones can allow even the smallest of towns to purchase a good number of units, and with no need for trained pilots search could be done by officers who could easily learn and master drones flying on a weekend.

Shipping and Delivery

We’ve all seen those Amazon drones zipping around, and if you haven’t you’ve probably seen them in the news. It almost seems like science fiction to me how these things could just deliver your package to you and zip away, I thought delivery services like these wouldn’t happen until at least in the 2100s. Like the agricultural drones, delivery drones still cost a bit more money but based on how cheaper parts are being made, I can only see the price going down as time goes on.

Conclusion

Currently, the $100 drones you could get on amazon could only probably do aerial photographs and maybe assist in search and rescue. But the recent drop in prices only shows that the tech is getting slowly cheaper, to a point where specialized task drones might just be done by any cheap drone.