The Drones are coming, the Drones are coming!
There is no doubt that flying drones are a new and disruptive technology wave in the very near future. It is moving from military and hobbyists to Commercial use. GoldmanSachs estimates it will be a $100 billion industry by 2020.
There is two very obvious commercial uses for drones as flying cameras for surveillance and delivery of packages. While Goldman Sachs thinks delivery is a ways off they were really thinking about cities and not rural areas where it is not only more practical but can provide more cost savings.
Flying Cameras
- Beach surveillance for safety
- Forest Fires
- Hunters – aerial surveillance for game
- Photography and video for hobbyists
- Security surveillance
- Crop surveying
- Traffic monitoring
Delivery
- Emergency Medical supplies
- Low cost remote delivery – Postage and Courier services
- Auto parts
- Remote communities
- Ship to shore
- Depot to Depot
See recent news above, below is some interesting articles from the past
Feb. 14, 2017 - Drones will fly people around Dubai this sumer The city's new transportation option is an egg-shaped, single-passenger drone in the traditional quadcopter style
Jan 12, 2017 Lily folds and falls to the ground despite $34 million in drone orders!
Jan 6, 2017 Amazon's 'Mothership': Retailer Gets Patent for Mega-Drone What happens when you connect a flock of flying drones?
Nov. 29th, 2016 Drone Delivery and Staples team up collaborate and explore the feasibility of developing, implementing and commercializing a drone delivery logistics platform for Staples’ commercial requirements nationwide in Canada.
Sept 8, 2016 Alphabet (google) and Chipotel to deliver Burritos to campus a college student’s dream come true, drones will soon be delivering burritos on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Sept. 7, 2016 Mercedes partners with U.S. startup Matternet to push drone delivery - Merceded revealed a concept car that can automatically deploy delivery drones, developed in partnership with drone-delivery startup
Aug 29, New FAA commercial drone regulations go into effect - There will be 600,000 commercial droneaircraft operating in the U.S. within the year as the result of new safety rules that opened the skies to them on Monday,
Amazon to test Drone Delivwey in UK The Civil Aviation Authority has given Amazon the go ahead to explore drone flights that extend beyond a pilot's line of sight in both rural and suburban settings -- crucial permissions that the company has not been able to secure in the U.S.
July 21 -Drone Delivery Canada reports on Commercial Flight test Test results exceed expectations in terms of flight time and payload carry. Their business model is building Canada’s first ‘railway in the sky’ on a ‘depot to depot model’
June 22nd, Canada Post looking into Drone Delivery With the growth of online shopping, Canada Post is grappling with the challenges of delivering more parcels to almost 16 million addresses across the country.
June 21st, US Department of Transport announces rules to fly drones effective late August. According to industry estimates, the rule could generate more than $82 billion for the U.S. economy and create more than 100,000 new jobs over the next 10 years.
May 16 Aeryon SkyRanger First UAV with FAA Approval for Nighttime Commercial Operation is the first commercial operator to be approved for nighttime operations in the U.S.
On April 18th, Australia Post announced it would begin a trial to deliver small packages using drone technology. "We're excited to be the first major parcels and logistics company in Australia to test RPA technology for commercial delivery applications," Australia Post managing director and group CEO Ahmed Fahour said in a statement.
Here come the Drones - Midas Letter in Finacial Post March 7, 2016, touches on regulations in U.S. and Canada
I believe the best investments are not the drone builders, but those using drones as part of a packaged solution for business.