Energy Drone & Robotics Brief | October 18, 2024

Sky-high Findings in the Global Drone Report

Hold onto your hats (or propellers) because the Global State of Drones 2024 report just landed from DII - Drone Industry Insights, and it’s buzzing with insights.

We’ve scoured the report, devoured the data, and even hovered over a few graphs (pun intended) to bring you the latest scoop.?

Here’s a sneak peek:

• Global Takeover? Kinda! The survey shows a big surge in global participation, with the U.S., India, and Spain leading the charge.?
• Small But Mighty: 55% of respondents represent companies with fewer than 10 employees.?
• Top Drone Job? Mapping and surveying are still reigning supreme, but guess what’s climbing the charts? Inspection!?
• Motivation Check: Companies are loving drones for one reason above all—improving safety. Oh, and they save time and boost quality too.
• Expectations vs. Reality: The industry has stabilized, and everyone’s got their feet (or rotors?) back on the ground. Realistic, steady growth is on the horizon!

It’s not all smooth flying. There are some challenges.

• Regulatory red tape is still the top challenge. Apparently, the sky’s the limit… unless you don’t have a permit!?
• Client acquisition is the next big hurdle, because even drones have to network. If you’ve got a great drone, the clients will follow…eventually.

There’s much more in the full report, but we wouldn’t want to drone on. Soar through the rest of the insights with our recap and access to the full report.

* Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition is a proud supporter of this annual report.

How Robots are Helping FDNY Fight Fires

We just dropped a new article about how the FDNY is using drones and robots to fight fires, save lives, and even keep an eye on beach-goers. Mike Leo, who leads the FDNY Robotics Program, shared the inside scoop at the Energy Drone & Robotics Summit.

Here’s what you’ll find in the article:?

Drones spotting hidden fire hazards like pros (sorry, they’re not available for backyard BBQs).?

Robot dogs braving building collapses, because it’s too risky to send in the real dogs.?

Shark patrol drones...because when you’re not saving the city from fires, why not keep an eye out for Jaws?

It’s a mix of cutting-edge tech, life-saving innovations, and a few curveballs. Check it out and get your fix of robotics heroism—minus the capes but plus the fins.

Read the session recap and find out how to access the full recording

WHAT ELSE?

• As regulations governing leaks and emissions become increasingly stringent globally and regionally, oil and gas asset owners are under more pressure than ever to ensure their operations are in compliance. The first step to navigating upcoming regulatory changes is understanding the rules. Check out a breakdown?from?HUVR?of the key updates from SCAQMD and what they mean for operations like yours.
• DroneDeploy?has?announced the launch of?Safety AI, the only solution of its kind to automatically identify safety risks on construction sites using a combination of in-house developed proprietary AI and large multimodal models from Google and OpenAI.
• Cyberhawk? announced a strategic enhancement to its flagship iHawk? enterprise SaaS visual data management platform: Visualive?. This latest version of iHawk's image inspection module delivers new capabilities and leverages AI to enable the instant analysis of drone-captured asset data, significantly streamlining the inspection process.
• Nauticus Robotics, Inc. began its second round of qualification testing of its flagship underwater vehicle, Aquanaut Mark 2, in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).
• Ondas Holdings has received an USD 8.0 million purchase order directly from a military customer to supply multiple Iron Drone Raider systems. The order includes Raider systems, associated elements and infrastructure, and supporting services for aerial protection against hostile drones.?
• Windsor-based robotics firm Optimotive has secured $2 million USD in investor funding to help accelerate the expansion of their business.

ABOUT US

The Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition is focused on innovating energy operations with dynamic UAV, Robotics, Data and Automation solutions.

The Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition (aka EDR Coalition or EDRC) is a forum dedicated to launching, growing and scaling enterprise unmanned systems operations in energy companies worldwide by bringing the leaders in the drone and robotics ecosystem together with the energy industrial complex asset owners and end users.

The EDRC brings innovators together to advance the industry through digital resource sharing (like the weekly Energy Drone & Robotics Newsroom, resources on the website, blogs, podcasts and webinars), as well as live, virtual and hybrid events (including the annual Global Gathering, as well as smaller meetups throughout the year).

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