It has been just a couple of years or so since the consumerization of drones went into full swing. But it feels like we have gone through a decade of development and consumer adoption.<\/p>\n
The industry has grown so fast that even governments are having to rush to create accompanying regulations.<\/p>\n
One telltale sign of this hyper growth is the number and variety of ways people and organizations are using drones. Camera drones<\/a> have become especially popular in many industries from law enforcement to agriculture.<\/p>\n Here are some of the new ways we saw UAVs being used this year.<\/p>\n After hurricanes devastated parts of Florida and Houston, the race was on to help communities recover as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n Drones were a helpful part of these recovery efforts.<\/p>\n The FAA restricted flight over the devastated locations, as it does in disaster areas. This restriction extended to UAVs.<\/p>\n But they gave exemptions to at least 43 drone operators from organizations and experts who were involved in the cleanup and recovery operations in Houston.<\/p>\n Oil and gas companies were able to inspect their facilities for damage. Union Pacific also flew some drones to remotely survey rail infrastructure.<\/p>\n Eight volunteer drone pilots carried out humanitarian flights for the Red Cross and local government.<\/p>\n Even insurance companies used camera drones to predict and verify claims.<\/p>\n Drones have also been instrumental in showing the rest of the country the level of damaged caused by the storms. Thousands of people online have viewed drone videos of the floods like this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the US, companies like Amazon and Google are planning to make deliveries via drones. But in Africa and Switzerland, drones are already making life-saving deliveries<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Switzerland, a startup called Matternet has been testing a drone network that transports medical samples between hospitals and labs.<\/p>\n The startup uses a base station that automates everything from loading packages to deliver. With the new network, the company hopes to help hospitals save time, cut costs and improve medical operations.<\/p>\nHurricane Recovery Efforts<\/h2>\n
Delivering Medical Supplies<\/h2>\n