5 Ways to Shaping Smarter Cities with UAVs

Revolutionary technologies need an infrastructure that can sustain them. UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, commonly known as drones, were never thought to be used by civilians in the past. However, in today’s day and age, we can look at various industries and the general public indulging in drone related applications. 

The takeaway from these developments can be pin pointed at the boom of the internet, and various other technologies during the course of the last 20 years. Common application of drones by individuals range from people taking cinematic shots of a scenic view for high quality video content, to engaging themselves in a competitive drone race that involve specifically tuned drones which can reach speeds of up to 120 miles/hour. 

Taking a look at the broader scheme of things, according to Fortune Business Insights the global commercial drone market size was valued at USD 1.509 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 8.52 billion by 2027. These numbers are majorly dominated by drones in the military with a market share of 70%, followed by consumer drones at 17%, and ending with commercial or civil industry drones at 13%.

Source: Fortune Business Insights

Smart cities are the talk of the town, and maybe that town itself is on the way to become a smart city in the near future. After its launch in 2015, the National Smart Cities Mission has selected a list of 20 cities to become a part of their initiative to develop cities by making them citizen friendly and sustainable.

Here are some of the ways with which drones can contribute to the smart city initiative:

1. UAVs can play a vital role in surveying the topography of a piece of land using a Geographical Information System (GIS), which is the ability to capture and analyse spatial and geographic data. It can thus, help in providing data from areas that are beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) for the groundwork of architectural and civil engineering projects.

Drones can scan a wide range of geographical area. (Source: asoggetti on Unsplash   )

2. To monitor emissions, drones can be placed near exhausts or chimneys of various effluent discharge industries. Constantly predicting the air quality index around industrial areas can reduce a lot of stress on the environment in general. 

3. If there is a huge congestion on city roads, drones can alert nearby car owners to avoid such routes and monitor the situation until further notice. Ambulances, fire trucks, VIPs can benefit from the same.

Monitoring road traffic situations through UAVs can be the future for traffic cops. (Source: Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash)

4. A swarm of drones can be placed at accident prone locations, which in turn can send alerts immediately to the hospitals and authorities in case of a mishap. A similar application of UAVs can be used to detect wildfires or other fire hazards. 

5. Drones have the capability to act as a point of surveillance for criminal and prohibited activities. Multiple law enforcement authorities can send drones in dangerous locations like multi-level buildings to track and bust illegal actions by individuals.