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Drones Used In Construction

Introduction
The role of drones in construction is new and something which can bring revolution to the construction world. Earlier all the work had to be executed manually starting from drawing to building houses or detecting structural defects that arise from time to time. All these have been replaced by technology to a large extent. Calculations like building estimates needed extensive time in calculating with the help of a pen, paper, and calculator but now software is available that reduces time and effort for doing cumbersome calculations. Similarly, drones provide various advantages that are beneficial for saving time and labor work. Not only this, accuracy in work increases, and better perception of the ongoing work is facilitated. All the pros and cons along with additional data are discussed here.

Fig 1- Application of drone in construction industry
Fig 1: Application of drone in construction industry
Courtesy: The Denver Post

Why the need of drones in constructions?
The construction sector has embraced technology in work at a faster pace. Studies show that about 239% increase in revenue and efficiency was observed when drones were used in constructions. Drone photography has taken place in this sector in earlier times too but using drones other than photography is new. Some of the reasons behind the use of drones are –

Fig 2- Drones in BIM3
Fig 2: Drones in BIM
Courtesy: Drone U

Some of the cons of drones
It is no surprising fact that a thing can have both advantages as well as disadvantages. Some of the key points are –

Future Scope
Drones are the future of the construction industry. Apart from having certain limitations, it has been proved to be excellent in operation in hot climatic areas where adverse weathers are not major problems. Also, certain modifications are going on regarding drones which need time to test as quick results cannot be expected because of its sophisticated technology used. Wingtra is one such company making drones that provide advanced features in the field for better operation. Other companies like DJI, Yuneec, UVify, Hubsan, Parrot, and many more. Among these, DJI is the largest manufacturer of drones and it produces 70% of the drones globally. Cost is the main criteria that govern the construction industry and so many companies are making efforts to make affordable drones.

Conclusion
Although challenges are emerging for making a drone that is efficient and economic, many other problems are needed to be tackled like employment problems, mobility problems, etc. which can be troublesome in the future. It has tremendous advantages like mapping, surveying easiness, and so on and all these are not to be overlooked just for the sake of a few disadvantages. Thus, drones can even be more helpful in life-saving and many more important works for the progress of a nation.

References

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Kanwarjot Singh

Kanwarjot Singh is the founder of Civil Engineering Portal, a leading civil engineering website which has been awarded as the best online publication by CIDC. He did his BE civil from Thapar University, Patiala and has been working on this website with his team of Civil Engineers.

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