Drone Ecosystem
FAA Proposed Drone Rules: Market Opportunity Winners and Losers
On February 15, 2015, the commercial drone industry breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed new rules for small unmanned aircraft systems seemed, at first blush, somewhat practical. The FAA regulations will eventually allow commercial operations of drones that weigh under 55 pounds in U.S. airspace, without requiring operators to acquire … Read more
Commercial Drone Markets: 2014 Year in Review
Judging by the headlines, 2014 turned out to be the year for drones. I referenced in Tweets a total of 503 articles with the word ‘drones’ in the headline last year. A Google search brings up about 61.4 million results referring to ‘drones.’ Granted, that search includes references to military and hobby drones, but it … Read more
Why Drones Are the Future of the Internet of Things
What if you could talk to a drone? No, seriously. You can already talk to a locomotive, so why not talk to a drone? For those of you following the technology, you already know that unmanned aircraft systems (a.k.a. drones) are finding their way into Internet of Things (IoT) implementations. IoT applications are typically composed … Read more
GIS: The Biggest Little Drone Market in the World
Last week I had the pleasure of participating in a two-day symposium on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) hosted by the Northern California American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). The event was held in Reno, Nevada, (otherwise known as “The Biggest Little City in the World”), and its purpose was to assemble UAS experts … Read more
Drone Delivery: By The Numbers
What do medicine, batteries, and forgotten anniversary gifts have in common? They are the most likely items consumers will want to be delivered by drone once that service is available. At least, that’s the verdict from the consumers I surveyed in August and September of this year. In my post Drone Delivery: How Much Would … Read more
Commercial UAS Market Opportunities: Do defense avionics and electronics suppliers have a head start?
This post also appears in The Market section of sUAS News. As the Federal Aviation Administration prepares new guidelines for the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the U.S. national airspace, startups and aeronautic mainstays are chomping at the bit to start selling drones for commercial ventures, from filming to crop scouting to inspecting … Read more
When Lockheed Meets GoPro: Ohio UAS Conference Wrap Up
Over the course of three days in August, I along with more than 670 participants at the Ohio UAS Conference 2014 in Dayton, OH, witnessed a large number of government and aerospace company attendees interested in taking drones into commercial markets. From the dozens of presentations and interactions I had with academics, military contractors, aircraft … Read more
Drone Delivery: How much would you pay?
I love the look of the Tesla Model S, but I’d never get one. Somehow, the opportunity to pay $100K to drive only 300 miles before spending 4 to 9 hours recharging does not appeal to me. I also love the idea of Amazon’s drone delivery initiative Prime Air. But, like the Tesla, the opportunity to … Read more
Five Reasons the AUVSI Got Its Drone Market Forecast Wrong
My guest blogger is Mitch Solomon of Aironovo and this is an excerpt from his post which we developed together. You can find his post here. —- Since its publication in early 2013, AUVSI’s The Economic Impact of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the United States has become the gold standard forecast for the commercial drone … Read more
Which is Better: Open Source or Proprietary Drone Software?
Just like Google vs. Apple When the Apple iPad first appeared on the market in 2010, I didn’t jump in to buy one. I didn’t own an iPhone, I had a company-issued Blackberry, so I wasn’t motivated. Besides, I figured there would be a better model a year or so later. So I waited. By … Read more