Best Commercial Drones of 2019

Companies that provide services like wedding photography can use a drone to capture events. The footage that is captured could be provided to the client so that they have an additional way of remembering the event. This could be used to improve their experience of an existing package or used to generate extra revenue by offering it as an additional service.

The cost of investing in a commercial drone will not compare to the money you can make by providing additional services. You’ll also find that drones come with a number of automated flight features. Therefore, you do not have to hire a pilot to fly the drone. It can be programmed to fly automatically while you get on with the other tasks.

A commercial drone can potentially save lives for emergency companies. For example, if a rescue party has been summoned to look for a group of stranded travellers then it can take days to search a big area. However, a fleet of drones can get the job done much faster. That’s especially true if the drone has a long flight time, long range and an excellent camera.

Drones with GPS enabled features are of particular use. The drone can be instructed to navigate a particular area based on GPS. This prevents the drone from flying over the same area twice. Waypoints can be sent to achieve this. Also other GPS features can be used in a creative manner to get the job done.

Inspecting a farm or large manufacturing plant can be a process that takes time, but you can get a bird’s-eye view of the operation with a drone. Let’s say that you want to monitor the progress of an automated piece of farming equipment at the far end of the farm.

A commercial drone might allow you to increase the efficiency of your industrial processes, which means it is a worthwhile investment. You just need to familiarise yourself with all the features of a commercial drone to be able to make the most of them.

Before you buy a drone you must understand the different features that can be used for your commercial application. By understanding the limitations and positives of a drone you can begin to figure out a use for it in your commercial setting. In this chapter we will outline the main points of consideration that you should make when investing in a drone.

Some of the most impressive aspects of a drone are the automated flight features, but a few of them would not be possible without GPS. Ideally, your drone should be connected to both the USA and Russian satellite systems. This ensures that coverage is improved around the globe.

Some of the notable GPS automated flight features include waypoints and the return home feature. When using waypoints you can plot a course for the drone using GPS coordinates and the drone will fly to the specified locations. The return home feature works by noting the GPS point of the starting location, and then it will return to that location when instructed.

Other intelligent flight features include follow me and orbit mode. The orbit mode as the name implies is about orbiting a particular object. Let’s say that you want to keep an eye on a piece of industrial equipment from all angles. The orbit me function would be ideal for this without having to use the flight controls. The follow me feature is great if you want the drone to follow a target wherever it goes. You can set the height and distance away from the target while using this feature.

Note that while these intelligent flight features sound great they are not always implemented well in a drone. Therefore, you will need to get hands-on with a drone for yourself to see how well the features can be used.

One of the more important aspects of a drone for the majority of users is the camera. The type of camera you’ll need will depend on the desired use. For services where you want to provide your clients with professional footage of an event then quality is key. You’ll want the highest resolutions and the top fps. Therefore, 4K at 60fps is a must and there is even one camera that can go up to 5.2K resolution for video capture.

For photography selecting a drone that can provide a resolution of upwards of 20MP is a great choice. The picture quality will be extremely clear and the clients will be impressed with the end result.

Furthermore, the camera can be important for industrial applications. When trying to see something in real time you might only be able to make out the details if the camera has a high resolution and a great zoom. The camera will need to have a live streaming function so that the footage can be sent to you in real time. Also you can make use of a VR headset to get a better perspective of what the drone is looking at.

The functionality you’re able to obtain from the drone will somewhat be limited by the flight time of the drone. Battery technology has not yet progressed to the level where you can spend hours at a time flying the drone. Instead, expect a flight time of around 20-30 minutes for the majority of commercial drones.

However, to increase the flight time you can purchase more batteries. You’ll still need to call the drone back in order to swap batteries over. However, you will not need to wait the 60 or so minutes while the batteries are charging.

Some drones have a system where the drone will begin to fly back to the starting location when it senses that the battery is getting low. This prevents the drone from falling out of the sky far away due to a lack of power.

The control range will play a big role in the buying process for applications where a large area needs to be covered. Some commercial drones only have a range of 1km while others can go as far as 7km. Obviously the more range the better, but if your application doesn’t require more than 1km of range then there is no point in paying extra for a drone with more range.

However, you never know how your drone use might change in the future. It might be the case that you do not need much control range today, but that could change a few months from now.

A commercial drone is an expensive piece of kit, and therefore having it crash would be unfortunate. All the commercial drones on our list come with obstacle avoidance features. Therefore, you can rely on them to not crash into objects in the vicinity.

Obstacle avoidance works by using sensors to detect objects at a distance from the drone. Some drones can detect objects up to 30 meters away giving them plenty of time to come to a stop. The type of obstacle avoidance sensors on a drone will differ from one model to the next. They include infra-red, ultrasound, and optical.

The obstacle avoidance feature is of particular use when the drone is flying using automated features. This gives the pilot the peace of mind that the drone can fly as intended without crashing. Therefore, a stress-free and hands-off experience can be achieved.