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Drones have become increasingly impactful in the construction industry, offering a range of benefits that improve efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness.

As the demand for skilled drone pilots continues to soar, opportunities for success continue to expand, and, in this article, we'll explore five key opportunities to build drone pilot success. However, before we dive into those opportunities, there are a few topics that need discussion.

In 2022, it was reported that the use of drones in the construction industry was growing at an annual rate of 239%. Others have mentioned that construction is one of the industries that is in desperate need of new technology, highlighting how and why drones have become such an important tool all across the entire sector.
What does it mean for these tools to actually be utilized though?

Drones have been used for many years post-construction of renewable energy projects such as solar and wind farms for inspection purposes. The use of a drone-based camera setup with either a thermal, multispectral or visible light spectrum sensor is an affordable, safe and fairly quick operation. But drones are becoming increasingly competitive in the pre-construction phases too.

Four years after its launch, Skydio 2's follow-and-film capability and autonomous cinematography features like KeyFrame are still in a class all on their own.

Tulsa, whose existing manufacturing base in energy and aviation has experienced erosion, is one of scores of communities leveraging federal grants under the $1.9 trillion Build Back Better American Rescue Plan, approved in 2021. Tulsa will use the money it's been awarded to help reset and reposition its backbone industries.

The jet engines on commercial airplanes can be absolutely huge. Technically known as turbofans, these machines have massive spinning fans in the front that create thrust by sending air out the back. One specific engine model has a fan that measures about 11 feet across. The engines burn jet fuel, create huge amounts of thrust, and are very loud. 
But what if you could point a ray gun at them and shrink them way down, make them electric, and better yet, very quiet? That's the goal of a company called Whisper Aero, which was founded in 2021.

LuftCar announces plans to develop HYDROB, a hydrogen fuel cell – battery hybrid propulsion system for the Advanced Air Mobility market.

Seven months — that's the length of time the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry has left to get infrastructure in place for the first expected U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approvals of eVTOL aircraft, said Grant Fisk, co-founder of Wisconsin-based AAM infrastructure development firm Volatus Infrastructure.

Although we can't yet call them vertiports officially until the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) legally defines these landing and take-off facilities, vertiport construction is underway in various locations in the U.S.

Discussions around UAV technology tend to focus on the drones themselves and the accessories and software that enable them to make a difference in industries such as construction, public safety, and package delivery. But there's another critical element of the drone ecosystem that deserves attention: drone ports and docking systems.

Recent investments and a growing demand for air mobility research at the Springfield Beckley Municipal Airport has led to plans for the construction of an $8.2 million facility.

For years, roofing professionals have been forced to spend hours on hot and dirty surfaces to do initial inspections of large, flat commercial and industrial roofs. The process is time-consuming, expensive—and potentially dangerous.
Using drones, however, can make inspections faster, safer, and more cost-efficient. And, when drones are equipped with thermal imaging cameras, inspections become even quicker, as well as less risky and more accurate.

Drones are increasingly being incorporated into workflows to help gather high-quality data about assets. Over time, developers have needed to push drone technology to meet end users' demands for more intuitive and responsive flight, data collection, processing, and analysis. In the "Drones and AI: Improving Workflows" webinar, Commercial UAV News connected with Yariv Geller from vHive, Toomas Välja from Hepta Airborne, Kabe Termes from Skydio, and Eric Wittner from Intel Geospatial, to discuss how AI and ML improve workflows from data collection, processing, and analysis to the final deliverable.

This Engineering Brief (EB) provides interim guidance to airport owner operators and their support staff for the design of vertiports for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) operations.

The idea of eVTOL seems to be torn from SF movies. But today, in this major urban agglomeration, flying cars are one of the solutions to get around quickly and environmentally friendly. There are many projects, designed a long time ago, but putting into circulation this type of vehicle requires even more time.

Research program under the FAA ASSURE Center of Excellence to identify, assess and understand composites and advanced material systems used in unmanned aircraft systems and advanced air mobility designs.

While some reports have gotten caught up with the potential of the drone market, the team at Drone Analyst has always been committed to sorting out the hype versus the reality. Their fifth annual market report provides our most comprehensive look at drone buyers, service providers, business and public agency users, and software services.

Advanced Innovative Engineering (AIE) through the US-UK Small UAS Engine activities demonstrates a world class, UAS propulsion system. AIE demonstrated the capability of its 38 HP rotary engine, the AIE 225CS (Compact SPARCS – Self Pressurizing Air Rotor Cooling System). "The SPARCS is an advanced rotor cooling system that substantially increases engine performance and its life. This technology consistently delivered power even in the most extreme temperature conditions" Nathan Bailey, Managing Director (MD), Advanced Innovative Engineering, UK.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers this week introduced legislation designed to help pave the way for the development of infrastructure to support the emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) sector.

A startup called Electric Sky says it's begun building its first Whisper Beam transmitter for providing tightly focused wireless power to drones in flight, thanks to a $225,000 award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Birds have mastered the art of landing on complex surfaces such as rough, textured tree branches. Now, a new robot developed by Stanford engineers has a useful set of bird-like features such as claws, toe pads, curving feet, and bending legs that allow it to land smoothly anywhere. 

NTT DOCOMO, INC, Japan's leading mobile operator with more than 83 million subscribers, has announced its development of a blade-free, blimp-type drone.

The 57,800-square-foot building will provide leading-edge, high-tech research and development capabilities for both the campus and the Kansas City community at large. As home to the campus' Free Enterprise Center, a maker space with industry grade equipment available for anyone to use, this building will serve a much broader audience than just the UMKC community when it opens in 2020.

If you've ever swatted a mosquito away from your face, only to have it return again (and again and again), you know that insects can be remarkably acrobatic and resilient in flight. Those traits help them navigate the aerial world, with all of its wind gusts, obstacles, and general uncertainty. Such traits are also hard to build into flying robots, but MIT Assistant Professor Kevin Yufeng Chen has built a system that approaches insects' agility.

The construction industry is ushering in a new line of equipment this new year. It's not a bulldozer or backhoe, it's a drone.

University at Buffalo consultants first approached Gorilla Netting in early 2019. For over a year, the team at Gorilla Netting worked with consultants and representatives of SUNY, University at Buffalo (UB), to design, engineer, and install a large netted drone enclosure system for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) testing and research.

The Saxon Inspector Drone is an evolutionary aircraft that has proven itself in many parts of the world. Our Y6 design allows the aircraft to perform more efficiently and handle more harsh weather conditions than most multicopters in the market today.

Google's drone delivery company Wing Aviation has turned its focus to construction site deliveries in Australia as workers continue to share the benefits they would bring to construction sites around the country.

The Federal Aviation Administration approved a waiver Oct. 2 that allows the North Carolina Department of Transportation to operate UAS beyond visual line of sight while conducting bridge inspections.

The FAA last week approved a waiver that allows the North Carolina Department of Transporation to operate Unmanned Aircraft Systems beyond visual line of sight while conducting bridge inspections.

Skydio recently announced that it will work with EagleView to deploy automated residential roof inspections using Skydio drones.

For decades, government led the way on the development and use of new technologies. Today, there is a similar emphasis on government "spinning in" commercial technologies to improve its own operations. However, the transformational benefits of new technologies may not come solely from either a spin-in or spin-off alone. Rather, "spinning on" may be the key.

The potential uses of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the construction industry continue to expand as new technologies enter the market and construction companies realize UAS can perform unique tasks at tremendous cost savings. The full technological capabilities of UAS are, however, limited by law for public safety reasons.

One solution for reducing time and costs associated with visually inspecting individual wind turbine sites prior to development is to use an unmanned aerial vehicle when conducting the in-person field review.

On this bonus episode of "Drones In America," host Grant Guillot sits down with Ariel Avitan, Chief Commercial Officer of Percepto, and Sean Guerre, Managing Director of InnovateEnergy, to discuss what implementing "autonomous" drones really means and how critical infrastructure facilities pose the most complicated challenge for drones.

With the help of drones and aerial imaging, one of the largest privately held construction companies in America continues to boldly build for our communities.

Fortunately, in the current battle against COVID-19, we have a new high tech weapon: Drones. Skyward, a Verizon company, is a key part of that effort, providing drone software, training and services to commercial businesses.

As the coronavirus lockdown stretches on with no certain end in sight, remote technologies, virtual services, and business delivery systems using drones that promote social distancing while sustaining some level of economic activity are experiencing an unsurprising boom.

Contractors are using drones to record images and videos that help optimize everything from grading plans and operations to identifying differences between as-designed and as-built site plans.

New York City officials are pushing to legalise the use of drones for facade inspections after an architect was reportedly killed by falling debris from a building in the city.

Commercial UAV News recently spoke with Jason Nichols, product marketing manager for Kespry, about how the company's business has grown, why drones are increasingly being adopted in construction and more.

While a drone may be an exciting holiday gift for pilots and photographers, Nicholas Flom, executive director of the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site, is encouraging people to register their drones and follow all the rules of flight.

France-based drone manufacturer Drone Volt is expanding its commercial business opportunities in the U.S. by forming new partnerships with U.S.-based companies Robotic Skies Inc. and Metatron Unmanned Solutions.

The likelihood of civil governments in all 50 states, District of Columbia and U.S. territories relying on drones to deliver services recently received a significant boost, thanks to an announcement in Virginia last August when the state's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced a groundbreaking contract that will provide state agencies with easier access to drone services with no red tape.

There are many terrific benefits of drones across multiple sectors.  Every week, we read about the new benefits of using UAVs for inspections.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have demonstrated an octocopter attaching asphalt shingles to roofs with a nail gun.

Five startups in the Genius NY accelerator have raised more than $10 million in additional private investment. They include AutoModality, Civdrone, Fotokite, OmniMesh, and TruWeather Solutions

In our 2019 drone industry survey, we sought out to understand how the U.S. drone industry is doing — are pilots making money? What industries are they in? How often are they flying?

Now is a great time to be a commercial drone pilot.