The Drone Analyst Blog
Show Me the Money—A Look at Where Service Providers Are Making Money in the Drone Industry
Guest post by Zacc Dukowitz, Director of Marketing UAV Coach In this article we’re going to take a look at some of the data collected in the new report from Skylogic Research on the drone industry—data we think is important to you and answers the question: “Where are drone-based service providers making money?” The report defines Service…
New Research: 2017 Drone Market Sector Report
We have just released the results of our latest market research on the drone industry. The 2017 Drone Market Sector Report examines worldwide drone sales, service providers, business users, and software services. The research is the result of a three-month project sponsored in part by Airware and DroneDeploy. The online survey portion of the research…
Five Valuable Lessons about Drone Use in Public Safety
We just released a new research report titled “Five Valuable Business Lessons Learned About Drones in Public Safety and First Responder Operations.” This is the fifth and final in a series of white papers intended to share lessons learned in specific industries and how to maximize the value drones can deliver in those industries. This…
New Survey: Who’s Buying Drones, Using Drone Software, and Why?
We just announced the start of our 2017 Drone Market Sector Research, which promises to be the most comprehensive study of drone market trends and usage to date. The online portion of this research seeks to get your opinions about buying and using small unmanned aircraft systems—otherwise known as drones This independent research is being underwritten…
Five Valuable Business Lessons about Drone Inspections
We just released a new research report titled “Five Valuable Business Lessons About Drones in Asset and Infrastructure Inspection” This is the fourth in a series of white papers intended to share lessons learned in specific industries and how to maximize the value drones can deliver in those industries. This year, we are building on…
What’s the Future of Drone Use in Mining and Aggregates?
I just released a new research report titled “Five Valuable Business Lessons Learned About Drones in Mining and Aggregates.” This is the third in a series of white papers sponsored by BZ Media intended to share lessons learned in specific industries and how to maximize the value drones can deliver in those industries. It seems with…
The War is Not Over: Why Agriculture Drones Deserve a Closer Look
As many of you know I’ve been researching and writing about agriculture drone solutions since early 2012. I recently came across this OpEd in PrecisionAg titled “Opinion: The Agricultural Drone War Is Over, And They Lost” and read it with great interest. Two and half years ago, our research indicated the same thing—that small drones…
Five Valuable Business Lessons Learned About Drones in Construction
We just released a new research report titled “Five Valuable Business Lessons Learned About Drones in Construction.” This is the first in a new series of white papers sponsored by BZ Media intended to share lessons learned in specific industries and how to maximize the value drones can deliver in those industries. This year, we…
Who Benefits from Airmap and its Digital Certificates for Drones?
Airmap, with its low-altitude airspace management platform for drones, continues to garner international market share and new investment, but some uses for its digital certificates raise questions about their role in future airspace regulation. THE FACTS: AirMap provides low-altitude navigational data and communication tools to the drone industry. In February 2017, they announced $26…
Why the Drone Network of Tomorrow is Farther Away than You Think
Airspace integration and management solutions for drones continue to garner new investment, but most options are based on fairytale scenarios and raise more questions than answers. I’ve been doing research on the commercial drone industry since early 2012, and it never ceases to amaze me how much hype there is. A week doesn’t go by…
Commercial Drone Markets: 2016 Year in Review
Last year at this time, I reflected back on the news and trends of the commercial drone markets of 2015 and wrote about the mixed state of affairs in the U.S. Back then we saw only 2,500 Section 333 grants for commercial activity, and the press’s narrative that ‘drones are cool’ turned to ‘drones are…
Is Sky-Futures Expanse Drone Inspection Software Good for All?
Sky-Futures cloud-based drone inspection visualization and reporting software squarely targets the asset inspection sector, but will it be broadly adopted? THE FACTS: No one questions whether the founders of Sky-Futures know what they are doing. When it comes to drone inspections they have “been there, done that.” You can read about their history and…
Can AeroVironment Compete in the Commercial Drone Market?
AeroVironment’s new drone and cloud-based analytics platform squarely targets the commercial sector, but are they targeting the wrong vertical, too late in the game? THE FACTS: Earlier this month, the military and tactical unmanned aircraft systems manufacturer AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) proudly unveiled its new QuantixTM drone and a cloud-based analytics platform called the AeroVironment Decision Support…
DroneDeploy: Enterprise Grade or Not?
DroneDeploy’s new App Market fills a need for commercial drone use, but can the data quality measure up for widespread industrial use? THE FACTS: This past week, DroneDeploy introduced its new App Market, a store for drone applications from a range of companies—including Autodesk, Box, John Deere, and 13 others—as well as a variety of…
Why I Think the Prosumer Drone Will Never Die
Innovations will flourish on drones that target the prosumer market for a long time THE FACTS: In the 1980 book, The Third Wave, futurologist Alvin Toffler coined the term “prosumer” when he predicted that the role of producers and consumers would begin to blur and merge. Today, the term is well accepted as a descriptor…
6 Tips for Avoiding Phony Dronie Consultants and Attorneys
How to steer clear of the wrong hire for your drone business By Jonathan Rupprecht, Esq. for Drone Analyst® It seems everyone is running toward the “drone” rush to make a quick buck. The way I see it is many of the consultants and attorneys assisting businesses with drone work are in reality experimenting on…
5 Tips for Evaluating Online Drone Data Services
Choosing the right service means choosing a trusted business partner THE FACTS: In early 2014, it was easy to see that drones themselves (the aircraft) would quickly become commoditized and their value would come not from what they could do but from the data they collect. In a piece titled “Drones Revolution Means Big Data…
Sense and Avoid for Drones is No Easy Feat
But development is vibrant, and you’ll see it work first in prosumer drones THE FACTS: “Sense and avoid” for drones is a popular topic in the press right now, but the phrase can mean different things in different contexts and for different people. To clarify, there is a difference between solving the problem of “sense”…
Can PrecisionHawk Tame Drone Traffic in the Sky?
PrecisionHawk’s LATAS delivers an innovative air traffic control system for drones, but it’s one of several that depends on the not-so-imminent success of all aircraft using ADS-B. THE FACTS: This past week (August 29, 2016), the FAA granted PrecisionHawk a waiver from Part 107.31’s visual line of sight (VLOS) limitations, which gives them the ability…
Will the U.S.’s New Drone Pilot Certification Accelerate Commercial Growth?
FAA testing and certification for small UAS remote pilot certificates begins in earnest this month, but does that mean the commercial drone industry will see rapid growth? THE FACTS: Beginning August 29, 2016, the new small UAS Rule for commercial drone operations in the U.S. takes effect. One very important change is that operators will…