Professional Practicality of the Drone

By Liam Godin

Since around the time of the release of DJI's "Phantom" in 2013, the commercial drone and its progress as a technology has been in the front line of the mainstream. Camera drones such as the Phantom series and several similar products have been adopted by photographers and videographers alike for their ability to capture pictures not possible to create before. 

Example picture from Phantom 4 camera

Professional uses for drones however, do not stop there. More recently, state researchers have been using camera drones to survey land in a much faster and more efficient manner than previously. Since 2012, Micheal Wing, director of the Aerial Information Systems Laboratory at Oregon State University has been experimenting in unmanned vehicles to explore land. He has said that most flights with the quadcopters have complications. He still believes that many research opportunities are made possible through the unmanned vehicles.

 

Micheal Wing (right) and doctoral candidate Cory Garms fly a
DJI Phantom 4

The DEC has also rolled out a drone program, hoping that they will aid in petroleum spills, wildlife surveys, search-and-rescue missions, forest fires, natural disasters, and several other tasks. DEC commissioner Basil Seggos said "The use of drone technology will help us do our jobs better and faster while saving taxpayer dollars" So far, there have been 14 pilots trained for several months in order to fly these drones efficiently. Several early missions have already been carried out with these drones.

Early DEC drone image of survey on damage caused
by Southern Pine Beetle on Long Island