News on the development of drones (also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs – or UUVs if underwater) is on the rise. The applications for UAV technology to support engineering activity seem endless. However, as with all new technologies, UAVs can potentially negatively interfere with pre-existing operations, laws and regulations, general accepted practice, as well as common decency.
Pipelines – drones are being considered as a replacement for helicopters and other manned aerial vehicles in monitoring pipeline safety and leak detection. See Drones could be used on North Dakota oil fields.
Power and Mining – drones are being considered for assistance with inspection in dangerous industrial areas. For the power industry see Drones Promise Faster, Easier Inspection of Boilers, Stacks, Towers, and More. For the mining industry see Drones For Inspecting, Auditing Dangerous SitesDrones For Inspecting, Auditing Dangerous Sites.
Agriculture – drones are being used to improve yield and reduce damage to crops.
Product delivery – I find it interesting some of the applications being considered by the information technology industry as well as for pizza delivery of all things. Question – how much do you tip a drone?
Personal – if you have not heard of it yet, a new word has been coined – “dronie”. Yes, really. See The ‘Dronie’ Is the New Selfie.
The future of this emerging technology promises to change industry and our lives in ways hard to imagine today.
AFT President & Founder | ASME Fellow - Trey founded AFT in 1993. He was the original developer of AFT Fathom (including the GSC and XTS modules), AFT Arrow and AFT Impulse. He was active in software development until 2011 and still works with the development team in addition to managing AFT. He has taught hundreds of training classes on AFT’s software products in twelve countries across every populated continent. He worked previously for General Dynamics in cryogenic rocket design and Babcock & Wilcox in steam/water equipment design. He holds a BSME (1985) and MSME (1986), both from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a registered Professional Engineer.