Quote 4 Drones Blog

  QuickSlide Ltd were looking for some aerial video footage of their factory site. They hope to be able to use the footage for their website and other marketing projects. Watch the video below to see what a drone was able to capture at the QuickSlide site.

  Many industries including construction now rely on drones to carry out their everyday tasks and with the increasing popularity of drones for professional jobs, businesses are looking for ways to adopt this method. Watch this video to see what a drone can capture on a motorway during a road construction project.

  Utilizing a drone for a roof inspection can help reduce costs and improve efficiency. Drones can obtain detailed information that can be overlooked by a roofer or surveyor. Identifying issues such as water ingress, loose tiles or broken guttering and other serious problems. Drones can access complex areas of a roof structure, eliminating the need for ladders, scaffolding, or climbing out of windows. A drone pilot has the skills to capture quality video recordings and photographs with a drone. Watch the video below to see what a drone can capture when conducting a roof inspection.

A Drone light show is a formation of Drones that are illuminated and synchronised to arrange themselves into various aerial formations. According to Verge Aero any image can be recreated in the sky by a computer program that changes graphics into flight commands, which then feeds this information to the Drones. So how does this work? While it looks incredibly impressive it is fairly straightforward. Firstly, a design team create a storyboard timeline, showing the images and effects. From this, the images are then animated in a particular software that translates them into synchronised flight paths for the individual Drones. The entire show is then sent via radio signal from a ground control station operated by a pilot. According to Verge Aero: ‘Verge Aero’s design software lets users select graphics and special effects and place them in a timeline, similar to those found in video editing software. This software calculates the flight paths of each drone to guarantee they don’t...

Using an underwater Drone for the inspection of reservoirs has so many benefits for not only the consumer but corporations too. One company based in Washington, called Clark Public Utilities, conducts routine safety and maintenance of 35 water reservoirs and has recently introduced underwater Drones. Traditionally, the reservoirs would have needed to be drained in order to have them inspected safely by an individual. Some of these reservoirs would contain 3 million gallons of water, which would incur drainage and refilling costs. So you can understand why CPU introduced an ROV called the DTG2 ROV, due to its portability.   With built in lithium batteries there is now no need to use a generator to power the ROV. On average, a 90-minute charge can allow up to eight hours of operation, unlike previous methods that would take hours to not only drain but refill. With the inclusion of this particular ROV, CPU claimed: ‘Some of our reservoirs are in a pressure zone with no other r...

Across the UK, local government have started using Drones following their receipt of a commercial Drone licence from the Civil Aviation Authority. According to research, North Yorkshire is the latest to use Drone technology for areas such as checking whether people have kept the size of their new extension within the agreed limits. But this has not come without concern from civil liberties campaigners. Their issue is that it could give a green light for state surveillance. According to reports, one resident used an online forum to write: ‘'wow, the councils are going to be flying around filming you all as you are going about your day, peering in your windows and back yards ' So now, the campaigning group Big Brother Watch has instigated the need for guidelines to make sure councils do not have the authority to zoom in on private property without a justified reason. So what are councils using Drones for? There appears to be a range of activities that local government...

For some reason, the aviation industry only decided to introduce drones in 2015 to conduct inspections. And the first airline was Easyjet who caught the attention of the rest of the industry when they carried their aircraft safety checks using a drone on its Airbus A320. The quadcopter, called a RISER was scheduled to scan and assess the aircraft. The data produced from the RISER allowed engineers to see what damage there was which may need further inspection or maintenance. The drone, which was developed by Blue Bear and Createc, incorporated a system of smart navigation and computer vision, allowing it to fly around the aircraft. And by doing so, the airline noticed a number of advantages of using a drone. One of which was the reduction of workers and equipment needed to carry out their safety inspection. Another advantage is members of the engineering team can now focus on other areas due to the time saving a drone provides. But since 2015, other airlines have taken inspirat...

  When applying to a University, it’s not only the course structure that is of importance but also the accommodation and amenities of the university campus. So what better way to showcase what the campus has to offer to prospective students than using Drone footage. As Drone technology continues to improve Universities around the world are now starting to realise its usefulness and have begun creating virtual tours on YouTube. Starting with a bird’s eye view of the campus, Universities are able to show off their picturesque surroundings and striking architecture. And let’s not forget the promotion of their halls of residence. In some videos you will see the layout of the kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms and common areas, to gain more of an insight into what they can expect. As each halls of residence is different regarding location, you will also get to see what amenities are nearby, especially if you are not familiar with the area. Ends

  Drones have become an integral part of many industries but now it’s been transferred into a sport. Drone soccer is a new air sport that involves two teams containing five members per team. The main aim is to score the highest number of goals. Drone Soccer has been included in the FAI Sporting Code as a provisional class (F9A) since 1st May 2019, and the first international tournament - demonstration - took place in November in Korea. Played both outdoor and indoors in a pre-arranged flying zone, a Drone soccer match consists of three sets and each set lasts three minutes. According to FAI.org: ‘The drones in play, which are operated by drone pilots standing at either end of the pitch, are encased in protective orbs lit up using colourful LED lights – enabling both players and spectators to easily identify members of the different teams. Only one player on each team – the “striker” – can score by flying his or her drone through the circular goal post placed 3m to 3.5 m abo...

An FPV drone, also known as a First Person View drone, is fast becoming a major tool in many industries. From slow crawls through confined spaces to 100mph freestyle flights for high-paced sporty shoots, FPV drones are completely versatile. They are also perfect for close up inspections as well as high energy filmmaking. An FPV camera is mounted onto a drone to send real time video along a video transmitter. Depending on the chosen drone, the FPV transmitter will send live video signal to any device including FPV goggles. According to Solent Sky, an FPV drone company, their use of these of drones reaches many different areas. Aerial inspections Called a ‘tiny whoop’ drone, these small FPV drones are usually used in small obscured spaces where an average person can either gain access to or view. They are able to fly between walls of a property, inside large machines and through deep dark caves. FPV Sport Drones These particular drones are specially designed for action sh...

The adoption of Drones in the security sector is becoming more common as the enhancement of technology makes them more useful in securing a large area. Drones can be programmed to follow a particular flight path to monitor assets broken down into zones. One advantage of using Drones for monitoring asset is the time saved compared to traditional methods. A zone can be inspected in rapid time in comparison to usual ground patrols. A drone will perform the same task while feeding real time information back to the main control centre, meaning the time spent on ground patrols are more efficient. Percepto AIM (Autonomous Inspection & Monitoring) is one of many companies offering this service. According to their website: ‘Autonomous robots managed by Percepto AIM, automatically, constantly and remotely conduct perimeter security patrols, gate inspections, parking lot monitoring, inventory inspections and more – all without the need for additional security personnel. With minimal...

  With a three-year contract signed and sealed last year worth £2.6million, Network Rail is introducing Drone technology for track inspection. Heliguy, who is a partner of DJI, the world leader of camera Drones, have undertaken the rail track inspection. Heliguy are using a fleet of Matrice 200 series V2 and Phantom 4 RTK mapping Drones to carry out 20,000 miles of rail track, 40,000 bridges and tunnels throughout the network. So what are the benefits? With the inclusion of Drone technology, this will not only limit the level of danger staff can be exposed to, but now that traffic will not have to be interrupted to carry out track inspections, it will most certainly reduce the financial impact. According to Network Rail’s website, the addition of Drones gathers data of the railways to better understand problem areas and repair them in a more cost effective way. The website continues: ‘Using drones for close-up inspections means we can reach areas that are usually diffic...

  Drones have evolved at such a rapid rate over the years it is hard to imagine life without it. So much so, now, the inclusion of artificial intelligence within the drone industry is due to change life as we know it. The incorporation of AI (Artificial Intelligence) allows drone vendors to use data from sensors attached to the Drone in a bid to collect visual data. So how has AI influenced the drone industry? Until recently drones were only able to capture what the in-built camera saw. But now thanks to AI software, drones can soak up more of its surroundings, enabling it to track objects, map areas and provide analytical feedback in real time. Neurala, based in Boston, is a network that helps drones sift through crowds to identify a person of interest. The company claims that with the use of AI software, it can understand an image of an individual in 20 minutes rather than hours or days, when carried out by traditional equipment. Using this service, is a company called th...

Trying to convey an idea on paper can be challenging to say the very least. But with the introduction of photorealistic architectural visualisation, this allows the client to see exactly what a particular structure will look like once constructed. So this in itself manages the expectations of the client making life a lot easier. So is there a need for drones? The answer is yes. As we know, a drone captures the tiniest of details and shows off a structure from every possible angle. From taking still images and videos, architects can now produce an outstanding 3D image to showcase a realistic visual of the structure. But how much will the introductions of drones cost? It is not so much how much the drones itself costs but how much it saves on time. And by that we mean images and videos can identify particular issues before plans for construction even takes place. If the use of drones were not in place and plans for construction commenced before noticing certain problems, it would...

    With airline travel restrictions fluctuating due to Covid, staycations are becoming more and more popular in the UK. And this has provided more of a demand for Brits to holiday at caravan and holiday parks. So there is now every reason for Holiday Parks to use and benefit from drone virtual tours, as travellers can get more of an idea of what to expect when they see amazing landscape and amenities of the parks. One company providing this service is Whoosh Creative. They use high-end technology to create 4K video footage to promote Holiday and Caravan Parks. But it’s not just Drone-inspired footage that companies like Whoosh Creative can offer, video production promoting these sites can also include search engine optimisation, aiding marketing communication cross all platforms. Long gone are the days of catalogues as video content has now become invaluable in terms of SEO customer engagement and conversion. If a potential customer clicks on a Holiday/Caravan Par...

Wow, this is certainly a subject which needs detailed exploration as Drone technology has immersed itself in so many industries and continues to do so. So let’s start with the main areas which build the infrastructure of society. Education According to reports, Google air delivery service, Wing, will start to deliver library books to students in particular parts of America, so their education does not suffer. Due to the current pandemic, it was a librarian in Virgina, who realised the benefits of Google’s air service by having her groceries delivered by Wing. She claimed that Covid had meant that some students struggled to keep up with their summer reading material due to libraries being closed, or were unable to afford it on Kindle. So how will this work? Kelly Passek, the initiator of this library air service, will order the reading material through Google’s form, pick them up from the specific libraries, package them and deliver them to the Wing delivery ce...

The future of payload Drones is huge. Not only are they being used in every sector of society, but its evolvement knows no bounds. For example, tech giants including Facebook and Google are using Drones to boost internet connection in remote areas. By this, we mean that in 2019 it was reported that Facebook had been working on creating small, bird sized fixed wing aircraft that can be used to boost data speeds. According to reports, the goal would be to augment existing 2-G level connections to allow smartphone users to stream and carry out other data necessary tasks. The increase in demand for mapping services including LiDar in sectors such as agriculture and military, fuels the growth of the payload industry. The military sector uses payload Drones for safeguarding border areas, drawing up boarder maps and executing rescue missions. Between 2016 and 2022, it is forecasted that the payload market would generate $7,018, registering a compound growth rate of 5.5% within six yea...

It’s been a venture for over many years to create a Drone that can carry passengers. And in 2017 it was reported during the World Government Summit that Dubai was to launch a Drone taxi in July of that year. The vehicle carried only one passenger weighing up to 100kg, who can select a destination via a touch screen but there were no other controls inside the aircraft. It was also reported that to become a passenger of the Drone taxi cost an estimated $200,000. And in August last year it was confirmed that a deal had been struck to create sky lanes for the Drone taxis. The deal was signed between the Roads Transport Authority and the Dubai Air Navigation Services. The deal was all part of Dubai’s Self-Driving Transport strategy drive. But Dubai is not the only country demonstrating a futuristic world, South Korea is too, by unveiling a two seater Drone in Seoul last November. The government laid out plans to commercialise air travel by 2025. At an event held in Han River n...

We have all seen how beneficial drones are in sectors of industry that are operated outside and even underwater. However, drones are now being used indoors in areas including warehouse inventory management. Valued for their aerial capabilities delivery drones in warehouses are an invaluable tool. Manual inventory management means that a staff member has to physically scan every label within a warehouse. And this can be incredibly time consuming considering the hours it takes, resulting in companies spending more money. According to research, drones can scan RFID tags (Radio Frequency Identification) 50 times faster than a member of staff. An example of this was conducted by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) where they tested RFID tags from metres away with an average error of only 19cm. And this reduces manual handling which is a health and safety risk. A start up called Ware uses Skydio drones for warehouse management. According to a recent report, Skydio follows...

Underwater Drones are fast becoming the go to for deep sea inspections across the world. Using an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) inspection, saves on cost, efficiency and lessens human risk as deep sea divers are not as needed as much as once before, in the oil & gas sectors. An ROV, on a general level, is connected to a cable which is used to communicate to the remote control, providing visual feedback to the piloting monitor when taking pictures. And this will allow engineers to spot problems and areas for repair or replacement. Some underwater Drones vary but the Falcon ROV can carry up to 14kg payload and can submerge itself up to 300m. The camera, as you can imagine is one of the most important components of an underwater Drone. And one is the DTG3 which is designed to work well in low light. The 4k internal camera gives a 270 degree rotation. The visual feedback is up to 8 megapixels. Another is the Revolution underwater camera. This has greater payload capabilities, deeper ...

  Believe it or not, Drones are becoming quite an integral part of the sport industry. And the filming of sporting events has made Drones an invaluable tool. As long as a Drone does not interfere with the sport itself, it can film the most amazing shots. So, a Drone can fly out into the ocean and take breath-taking shots at a wind surfing competition, whereas, traditionally, a film crew would have to use a helicopter to garner something similar. Action sports Skiing, car racing, Supercross and skateboarding are just a few sports that have made good use of Drones. Due to the fast moving and unpredictable nature of the sports, Drones are most commonly used to film the events because of its manoeuvrability and efficiency. As these events are not in an arena, it makes it hard for fans and camera crews to keep up with the pace. But as a Drone can quite literally be feet away from athletes, the footage is usually second to none. During the winter sports at the Olympics, Drones ...

  Drones, as we know have multiple purposes including repair, maintenance and promotion. But now it seems, the superior definition of drone footage can also aid the enhancement of members to a golf club. And while the landscape of a golf course it pristine, it is not always easy to show off the complete beauty using a ground video. And this is where a drone comes in.   Now the marketing team at golf clubs can use drones to show off the beauty of the clubhouse, landscape and surrounding countryside to promote membership. And here’s how: High quality footage According to a recent report the latest drones come complete with 4k cameras and six axis stabilisation technology, making it easier to film good aerial shots.   Interactive tours:   A virtual tour can help with allowing new members and existing members to understand the golf course better. According todronezone.com: ‘Being able to study each hole using interactive golf videos will help im...

  When it comes to highlighting the benefits of a Drone, the current pandemic has done just so. On realising the complications and limitations Covid placed on retail, delivery and other sectors of industry, drones literally stepped up to the plate and became a lifesaving element. Food delivery - Zomato And one sector is food delivery. Zomato, a food delivery company based in India saw a solution in using drones to efficiently deliver food through dense traffic. Testing a payload delivery the drone carried a payload of 5kg and covered over 3 miles in 10 minutes at a staggering 49mph. Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato said, ‘Fifteen minutes is only possible if we take the aerial route – roads are not efficient for very fast delivery. While our biker fleet nowadays delivers in 30.5 minutes on an average (which is the fastest in the industry as far as we know), every incremental minute with our fleet becomes harder as it separates our users from their ordered food.’ Retail is ...

  Age old methods of selling a property would usually involve in-house props and the aroma of freshly baked bread. But now, all that has changed and imagery is fast becoming a selling technique to reach a property’s maximum value. Here Quote 4 Drones explains why. According to Savills, a high-end estate agent, drone photography and videography allows sellers to use affordable winning shots to catch the eye of website viewers, providing ‘an emotional response’ prompting potential buyers to arrange viewings and drive sales. ‘Certainly a 30-second film clip, where the viewer feels as though they are flying down a tree-lined drive, then rising up over the house to reveal a stunning water view can be mesmerising and beneficial to a successful sale’, says a Saville representative. But drone technology is not only useful for sales but valuation and surveying teams. Roofing and structural issues of a property can be easily identified and rectified. And this all helps the bu...

A drone’s ability to cover vast areas with high-resolution aerial images makes it a tool that companies rely on to optimise their efficiency. So what better way to aid the solar energy industry than using drone technology. With the use of thermal sensors, companies are becoming even more efficient in their procedure of gathering data. In response to the growing concerns of climate change and carbon emissions there has been no better reason to focus on renewable energy. Traditionally, solar panel inspections are carried out using handheld thermal imagers to check for defective cells and cables. But now, drones can eliminate the risk element on having people working in hazardous situation and data can be recorded more efficiently. Drones such as the DJI Matrice 210 RTK V2, equipped with the XT2 thermal payloads can survey large areas within a solar farm, collecting high-resolution thermal images in one single flight. Drones reduce inspection time by 70% in comparison to tra...

Surveys are now one of many industries that are making use of drone technology, and it is fast becoming an effective method. A drone captures aerial footage by the use of downward facing sensors, such as RGB or what is termed, multi-spectral cameras and LiDAR payloads. By taking pictures from different angles the data is then tagged with co-ordinates and this is then used to create 2D or 3D maps. So what exactly are the benefits? Ok so, the obvious benefit is that a drone is up to five times faster than land-based methods, according to reports and it also requires less manpower – heightening its cost effectiveness. Another benefit is that a drone can fly almost anywhere, so you are, as a land surveyor, not limited to reachable areas. Unlike traditional methods, you now do not need to close motorways or train lines. So what aspect of surveying are drones used for? Land surveys Following 3D images generated by drone, this data, using photogrammetry software, can produce e...

The one thing that sets a drone inspection apart from human inspections is the aspects of safety and efficiency. So when it comes to inspecting wind turbine blades there appears to only be one solution – Drones. Terra Drone, a drone service provider, uses software called Blade Insights, which uses algorithms to identify at least 90% of defects on wind turbine blades. This system has been used on 3,900 blades. According to the Terra Drone website, their wind blade solution consists of a payload carrying a 42 MP camera and LiDAR under a drone. The drone automatically takes pictures of the blades from a safe distance, with the help of the LiDAR. From these pictures, defects of the blade can be measured and all data can be used for repair. And according to other reports there is another method of data collection – manual. Manual collection consists of a drone pilot taking consistent and clear images of all angles of the blade. The pilot will then need to check camera settings, contro...

  The current pandemic has affected the world and has made society across all angles of the globe re-evaluate their lifestyles. However, how it affects industry is a completely different area to discuss. And one area that needs exploration is the Drone industry. So has Covid-19 affected the Drone industry? And if so how? Here, Quotes 4 Drones explains it all. It’s not rocket science to understand that the Drone industry was initially met with hesitation but since the pandemic, it looks as though the positive elements to this industry, has out-weighed the negatives. And here’s a few reasons why Drones are a good addition: Sanitisation: In a bid to reduce the rise of the infection rate, the use of agricultural spray Drones are now being used to sanitise public spaces. And while it’s too soon to analyse data to see if this method actually works and if there any risks involved, it is quite clear that, for now, it can only help. Healthcare: With an investment of an ...