The field of healthcare and emergency services has seen some of the most interesting innovations that will become more common as Federal Aviation Administration guidelines are continually relaxed. Drones have been used to deliver crucial medications in hard-to-reach areas such as the Appalachian mountain region of Southern Virginia and depopulated towns in rural Mississippi. In Africa, the United Nations has used drone technology to distribute products to isolated areas of Ghana where doctors are sparse.

In parts of the world where medical labs are few and far between, drones can ferry blood samples for testing and return the results in a fraction of the time it used to take. Other African nations such as Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Mozambique are considering implementing these techniques to reduce delivery times from days to mere hours.

These logistical advances have also been put to use in consumer markets. Domino’s has already delivered pizza by drone in New Zealand and e-commerce giant Amazon has tested drone deliveries through their Amazon Prime Air program. They hope to reduce shipping costs to less than one dollar per shipment. Reduced shipping costs can reduce prices for consumers and increase profits for shareholders while also improving customer satisfaction with even faster deliveries.

The oil and gas industries have also found ways to implement drone technology. Energy companies are using specially-designed drones to inspect pipeline leaks and malfunctions in isolated terrain that would require days for manned crews to check, saving money and time while reducing environmental damage. At refineries, drilling rigs, and other facilities, drones are used to inspect dangerous areas of the facility that previously required great safety risk for human operators to access. The aftermath scene of a tornado, flood or fire and the hard-to-reach roofs, smokestacks, or even cell towers hundreds of feet above the ground provide ample opportunities for drones to prove their worth.

These advances are only the tip of the iceberg in regard to new business and industry opportunities possible with drones. Want to create the next specialized drone fleet? We can design and manufacture a custom battery pack for your project.