The emergence of drones for monitoring has become more simplified. With automation, these technologies have been identified to be cost-effective and efficient in monitoring activities. Drones can mitigate the risks of the unpredictability of opting for inspection in a hostile environment and offer aerial surveying and monitoring possibilities at ease. The fusion of drones and robotics can simplify critical oil pipeline monitoring such as aerial inspection for leakage and spills, safety and evacuation monitoring in case of emergencies, routine inspection for uninterrupted operations, and the critical aspects of security such as surveillance and intrusion alerts. The key areas that are targeted by drone technology and robotics are hereunder.

• flare stack inspections
• oil spill and damage detection
• 
gas emissions monitoring

• tailings pond inspections
• offshore oil and gas platform inspections
• oil pipeline inspections

A big advantage of using a drone in construction is getting fast and accurate visual data about the object. This data can then be used in a variety of ways. This can be shared with clients, with internal teams, to help improve safety and focus on faster project completion.

With drones that make it easy and simple to provide companies with visual data on construction progress, customers can now quickly get information on how things are going. These updates include detailed site-wide maps with GPS points that allow you to zoom in and view fine terrain details.

Detailed visual reports can be shared with stakeholders, helping everyone involved in the construction project see what has already been done and what work remains.

Drones are continually proving to be powerful commercial tools, simultaneously providing adopters with leaps in efficiency and safety. The surveying and mapping industry is no exception. With their ability to capture data from above, drones have been successfully integrated into surveying workflows to perform land surveys, photogrammetry, 3D mapping, topographic surveying, and more.

When surveying challenging terrain, drones make it no longer necessary for human operators to physically access and measure points in hazardous or difficult-to-reach locations.

Additionally, while traditional surveying methods require meticulous measurement, preparation, and planning, drones can capture comparable data in dramatically shorter timeframes. For example, STRABAG, a leading Austrian construction company estimates drones enable them to conduct surveys with 75% reduced GCP set-up time.

UAVs can provide situational awareness over a large area quickly, reducing the time and the number of searchers required to locate and rescue an injured or lost person, greatly reducing the cost and risks of search and rescue missions. The possibilities for helping ensure public safety are endless.

The biggest benefit here is the reduced time in saving someone in a mission – as well as the number of searchers required to locate and rescue an injured or lost person. It is safe to say that the drones in search and rescue are efficient, cost-effective and quicker than many other alternatives. Their real-time data and imaging, day or night, aids in the search and rescue of missing people and can even integrate technologies which filter infrared (IR) thermal imaging to detect human body heat, as well as hidden objects.

The application of drones equipped with optical, zoom, and/or thermal cameras allow law enforcement agents to monitor unfolding crime scenes more accurately and at a safer distance. A quickly deployable camera drone allows officials to have a better vantage point during times of chaotic situations where deploying ground personnel is too risky. Aerial vantage points also allow post-accident scenes or crime scenes to be fully documented and reconstructed to help understand the timeline of events for each incident.

The reliance only on ground assets to respond to emergency events increases threats to the safety of the community and emergency personnel and decreases the efficiency and effectiveness of the emergency response. Drones for public safety act as a force multiplier and cost a fraction of what manned helicopters require. In response to active shooters, IEDs, or armed hostage situations the sUAS (small unmanned aerial system) can observe threats from a safe vantage point allowing law enforcement on the scene to operate with greater safety.

The use of drones in the agriculture industry is steadily growing as part of an effective approach to sustainable agricultural management that allows agronomists, agricultural engineers, and farmers to help streamline their operations, using robust data analytics to gain effective insights into their crops. Crop monitoring, for example, is made easier by using drone data to accurately plan and make ongoing improvements, such as the use of ditches and evolving fertilizer applications. Products can be accurately traced from farm to fork using GPS locations for every point in the journey, rather than more traditional time and labor-intensive data collection.

UAVs are particularly useful for the careful monitoring of large areas of farmland, considering factors such as slope and elevation, for example, to identify the most suitable seeding prescriptions. The technology has also proven useful in gaining an extensive overview of plant emergence and population, as more accurate data can help with replanting decisions, as well as thinning and pruning activity and the improvement of crop models.