The application field of drones continues to expand

Speaking of drones, everyone is no longer unfamiliar.

Aerial photography, delivery, pesticide spraying... Currently, drones are increasingly integrated into daily production and life, with a wide range of applications, becoming high-tech equipment with strong affinity.

It has been applied in multiple fields such as agriculture, plant protection, express transportation, disaster relief, surveying and mapping, etc

"The lychees picked in the morning arrive at the buyer's table in the afternoon, and drones greatly save labor and material costs." Yin Zhihong, the chief designer and senior engineer of Haiying Aviation General Equipment Co., Ltd., said that drones will become a technological product to solve the "last mile" problem of logistics and distribution.

Drones were first used for military purposes such as aerial reconnaissance in the last century. At the beginning of the 21st century, with the emergence of new technologies such as global satellite positioning and the reduction of costs, civilian drones began to surge. As of the end of June 2019, the number of registered drones in China reached 339000. Statistics show that China's export of consumer drones accounts for about 70% of the total global drone exports, reaching over 1.2 million units. Shenzhen has a market share of 70% of the world's civilian small drones, becoming a benchmark for global drone products. Shenzhen also has over 300 unmanned aerial vehicle enterprises, including DJI, Yidian, and Cobit, with an annual sales total of over 20 billion yuan.

According to the Guiding Opinions on Promoting and Regulating the Development of Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Manufacturing Industry issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2017, by 2020, the civil unmanned aerial vehicle industry will continue to develop rapidly, with an output value of 60 billion yuan and an average annual growth rate of over 40%. By 2025, the output value of civilian drones will reach 180 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of over 25%.

Behind the rapid development of the drone industry is the continuous progress of technology and the continuous expansion of the market.

"Drones are the result of the combination of traditional aviation and emerging electronic and communication technologies. This industry is mainly driven by technology," said Shi Shengqing, Deputy General Manager of Zero Degree Intelligent Control. In recent years, the development of integrated circuits and communication technologies has not only greatly reduced the size and weight of traditional drones, but also turned the unimaginable flight forms of traditional aviation into reality.

Ma Hongzhong, Chairman of Haiying Aviation General Equipment Co., Ltd., believes that market demand is also driving the development of the drone industry. "People are increasingly realizing that drones can perform tasks that are inconvenient for humans. For example, it takes 1-2 hours to manually inspect a tower, while drones' autonomous inspection only takes 5-10 minutes. They can also detect hidden dangers that cannot be detected by human eyes and have a wide range of application scenarios."

At present, drones have been applied in multiple fields such as aerial photography, agriculture, plant protection, express transportation, disaster relief, surveying and mapping, and power inspection. In the coming years, drones will become a more common labor tool. Shi Shengqing believes that there is a possibility of integration between drones and various industries, especially in helping traditional industries upgrade. The advantages of drones are particularly obvious.

Industry insiders point out that DJI's success in the field of consumer drones has also driven the development of the entire industry. The consumer grade intelligent drones they have launched can not only be used for aerial photography, but also in various fields such as forest patrols, route maintenance, traffic guidance, emergency rescue, and sports competition penalties. "DJI's success has refreshed the world's understanding of drones, and its low prices have enabled the rapid spread of consumer grade drones, enabling the public to use, want to use, know how to use, and dare to use drones." Liu Yang, CEO of Dianen Technology, believes that DJI's success has strengthened the determination of practitioners to enter the industrial and consumer grade drone market.

Strengthen supervision, cultivate talents, improve laws and regulations, and promote healthy competition in the industry

Drones cannot fly higher and safer without effective supervision. In recent years, relevant departments and local governments have issued many policy documents related to drones, successively making regulations in registration, airworthiness, airspace management, operation management, flight license management, etc., to safeguard the development of the drone industry.

"Drones have elevated the means of information acquisition from the ground to the sky, reducing the burden of ground construction while obtaining a massive amount of new information. Currently, there is still huge room for improvement in drones," said Shi Shengqing.

Behind the flourishing development of drones, there are also problems. "Drones involve a wide range of industries, with extremely complex technology. Coupled with the unique nature of the product, there is a high demand for talent and a large investment in research and development. However, the effectiveness of research and development results is slow, and users' acceptance is slow. The contradiction between limited investment and endless demand has always been faced by enterprises." said Shi Shengqing.

The development of the drone industry cannot be separated from the support of talents. As of the end of 2018, 4049 unmanned aerial vehicle enterprises in China have obtained business licenses, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China has issued 43000 unmanned aerial vehicle driving licenses. According to data analysis by market institutions, it is predicted that there will be a demand for nearly 1 million drone pilot talents in the next 5 years.

Liu Yang said, "Aerospace is already a highly specialized industry, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have to face various market demands in various industries, with more specialized specialties. In addition to research and development, the prosperity of UAVs requires a large number of professional operation teams and application talents."

There is also chaos in the market operation of the drone industry. With the rapid development of DJI after 2013, civilian drones have become the darling of capital, and numerous venture capital and commercial resources have begun to enter the field of civilian drones, resulting in a large number of drone enterprises emerging. Ma Hongzhong stated that civilian drone manufacturers, especially consumer grade drone manufacturers, have uneven quality and severe homogeneous competition. The inconsistent admission standards in the drone industry have affected the competitiveness of the industry.
In addition, the relevant laws and regulations are not perfect enough. It was not until the promulgation of relevant management regulations such as the Provisional Regulations on the Administration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight (Draft for Comments) and the Interim Measures for the Administration of Commercial Flight Activities of Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Provisional) in 2018 that China's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) embarked on a path of "having legal basis" in terms of business licenses and punishment methods. However, at present, there is still a certain gap between the theoretical and practical application of relevant regulations.



"It has only been 10 years since drones entered the civilian market, and the successful development of flight hardware platforms is only the first step. Supporting laws and regulations, control measures, business models, and later data processing have not kept up." Liu Yang believes that these problems have constrained the standardized development and healthy competition of the drone industry.
Drones are expected to enter a more intelligent and miniaturized era

In the wave of 5G and artificial intelligence technology, drones will usher in new opportunities. For example, faster transmission of image data can be achieved, further expanding the flight distance and control range of drones.

"The low latency feature of 5G will enable drone control to overcome distance limitations, making large-scale deployment of drones possible. The combination of drones and artificial intelligence will make them more miniaturized." Shi Shengqing said that 5G and artificial intelligence technology will drive drones into a more intelligent and miniaturized era. At that time, there will be more drone applications that replace manual labor, sky replaces ground, and group operations replace individual operations.

Yin Zhihong believes that the combination of UAV and 5G will accelerate the formation of space-based Internet. In terms of aerial photography of consumer drones, 5G technology will enhance the user experience, making the images clearer, data transmission faster, and control range wider.

Since drones gradually entered the sight of ordinary consumers, it has gone through a decade of rapid development. In the future, the upgrading of technology, the expansion of consumer groups, and the expansion of application fields will all bring broad development space to the drone industry.

Experts say that drones not only achieve people's "flying dreams" in high-tech and low-cost ways, but also record our daily lives from a "bird's-eye" perspective. This is an industry that expands human cognition and activities, as well as a cutting-edge technology industry. Establishing industry norms, improving relevant laws, and cultivating a larger market, the drone industry will undoubtedly provide more and better services for people's production and life.