Droning Ahead to the Future
Here at D-marc we try to make sure we keep our readers well informed about all the developments that relate to the roofing industry. Over the past year or so we’ve bringing you news of some of the most revolutionary technology that is affecting the way we work at height, the increasing use of drones. The use of drones to avoid working at height wherever possible is helping to make the roofing industry safer so this is a practice that we fully support. We recently brought our readers some information on learning to fly a drone, the type of training you need and the legal issues that surround the use of drones. Then we published an article on what a great new business opportunity drone technology provides, not just in the roofing industry, but in other sectors too. Today we’re going to take a more detailed look at some of the benefits of using drones.
Obviously, for roofing professionals, the advantages that drones provide are pretty clear. They can help so many jobs get done more safely, efficiently and, ultimately, at a reduced cost. Drone are one of the newer technologies and advances in other technologies, such as smartphone technologies are helping to drive improvements in the development of smaller, more sophisticated batteries that allow for extended flight times. We are also seeing cameras appear on the market that are lightweight and small enough to be carried, and streamlined control features that enable drones to be flown easily by beginners and experts.
The dizzying pace of development in drone technology means that new features are being introduced on a regular basis, with features that roofing professionals will benefit from, such as stabilising features that improve user experience and lighter design.
When it comes to working with drones, as with so much other roofing equipment, portability is a vital issue. The lighter the drone is, the longer the flight time, and the more functionality it offers. Until recently, drones for commercial use would typically weigh around 4kg, which included the frame, the camera and the batteries. The weight offered a fairly unimpressive amount of flight time. Nowadays, the new drones which have similar features weight considerably less, which can double flight time, with the added benefit of enabling data to be streamed in real time as live 4K HDR video to the person on the ground.
Drones have also come down in price quite dramatically and a commercial quality drone with advanced features are now a much more affordable option, meaning that roofing professionals view adding a drone to their tools and equipment as a much more viable option than it would have been just five years ago.
Learning to pilot a drone is easier than ever, thanks to user-friendly, intuitive control systems, which means that even a novice flyer can learn to pilot a drone quickly. Modern drones incorporate safety features which are designed to help pilots to take off and land, and new features are being developed and added to drones on a regular basis.
When it comes to drones, there will be more exciting developments to come – so watch this space. If you don’t want to miss out on all the news on drones, why not follow us on Facebook or Twitter and get the other news which is relevant to our industry too?