Drone Industry Trends
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
Does DJI’s New Drone Hit the Target Market?
I think it’s futuristic – the drone that is. The camera, on the other hand, is another story. The drone For a guy like me who not only follows the commercial market for drones but is also an avid photography and multirotor enthusiast, the new DJI Inspire 1 is, well, inspiring. It’s chock full of … 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
Drone Tech Winners and Losers at the Precision Aerial Ag Conference 2014
Last week my colleague Mitch Solomon and I were privileged to be in the company of more than one thousand farmers in rural Decatur, IL, for the two-day Precision Aerial Agriculture Show 2014 (PAAS 2014). Mitch covers five key takeaways from the show in his post about the event – including the most salient one: … 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
Film or Farm: Which is the Bigger Drone Market? – Part 2
This is Part 2 in a two-part series that summarizes my views on why video/film/cinema – not agriculture and farming — will be the largest driver of sUAS commercial businesses. In Part 1, I explore thoughts on the market for video/film/cinema, and below I outline why I believe agriculture will lag in market uptake. The … Read more