How is a drone operations platform integral to Drone-as-a-Service?

The scope and potential of drones have grown over the years. The introduction of the Drone-as-a-Service model can be considered a watershed moment in the journey of drones that will redefine the use of drones not only in the current times but the future context as well. Commercial and industrial drones are now a reality and Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) is the catalyst expected to aid businesses to make the most of what drones have to offer. 

A drone operations platform, which is an integral part of DaaS, attaches unmatchable data storage and analytics capabilities with drones. This allows businesses to create high-resolution, full-fledged models (Digital twins) of their sites and assets - Models they can observe and analyze before they start working on the real sites and assets. With these solutions, businesses not only have a better way to represent their assets but also have access to vital information that they can use to plan, forecast, and create applications. 

The drone operations platform, which enables and enhances DaaS offering, generates value in the form of the consolidated view of assets and sites it offers businesses, without having them spend time and resources on building in-house capabilities. Let’s now have a look at a few benefits of a drone operations platform that makes it such an important aspect of DaaS:

Higher measurement accuracy

Industries, in which aggregate space is a concern, DaaS-powered drones can help in detecting volumetric changes. A fitting example is a mining site and the stockpiles it carries. Commercial drones are expected to provide high-resolution imagery, but it is the advanced image processing capabilities that a drone operations platform offers that make a difference in the end. With the right platform at their disposal, businesses can record a significant jump in the accuracy of measurements.

Continuous forecasting

Several heavy industries have been long relying on laser-based survey equipment and other such tools for conducting forecasts of resources and services required for successful exploration, once every quarter or year. With a drone operations platform, these companies can make forecasting an ongoing process that can happen every few weeks or months. This will allow companies to reassess their plans based on forecasts almost on a daily basis. For example, if a mining company can update its forecasts using a drone operations platform, it will be a game-changer in terms of figuring out the right locations to mine and/or the best ways to optimally utilize resources.

All-round, error-free asset inspection

We all know how drones can be used to inspect the most hard-to-reach areas – whether it is a location with overgrown vegetation, an island, or a wind farm, drones can perform their jobs irrespective of the complexities associated with these locations. But you need a cloud-based drone operations platform that can help you plan, fly, visualize, and analyze, without having to turn to any other platform or worry about efficiency. It also helps in eliminating errors associated with human inspection. A drone operations platform can considerably increase the efficiency of inspections.

Faster identification & resolution of issues

DaaS, enabled by a drone operations platform, is a lot more effective in helping businesses get closer to the truth than drones and their imagery alone. You need a platform that not only gives you access to all your drones as well as related flights and missions but also critical data about assets, resources, and sites. It helps you identify and classify issues faster; allowing respective stakeholders to resolve those issues faster, and as a result, minimize downtime considerably.

Complete view of projects

With a drone operations platform at their disposal, businesses can expect to have a 360-degree view into all their projects, spread across different locations, at the same time. They will be able to know about the status of different projects at any given point in time, in addition to information on assets and resources that are being used in those projects.

Some of these benefits will undergo refinement in the coming years as DaaS and associated drone operations platforms continue to evolve. These benefits are a glowing testimony to how the integration of DaaS and drone operations platforms into industrial and commercial applications is likely to expand in the years to come.