Three major reasons to go automated with your industrial UAV

When it comes to innovations in industry, there are two main types of technology garnering all the buzz: automation, and drones. For good reason, of course. While automation is helping organizations reach new levels of efficiency and precision, drones are taking care of the dirty, dangerous and repetitive tasks that can put human employees at risk. So impressive are these advancements that it would appear there is only one way you could currently top the benefits of automation, or the benefits of a drone – and that would be by combining them.

Here are three major reasons to make your industrial organization’s next game-changing investment an automated industrial UAV.

Reason #1 to get an automated UAV: because emergency response means emergency response

When an incident occurs in an industrial facility it is not hyperbole to say that the lives of employees and civilians can hang in the balance, as can the state of critical infrastructure and the environment. While any industrial UAV is capable of safely providing essential aerial awareness that can help inform emergency response, it is only the automated industrial UAV that can do so immediately. No waiting for a pilot as these UAVs can launch, fly, collect and transmit data and land on their own, and no waiting for any necessary maintenance to be completed as these UAVs can also change their own batteries and equip themselves with the correct sensors and payloads.

The difference between life and death in an industrial facility can be a matter of seconds, and only the automated industrial UAV won’t cost you any time in an emergency.

Reason #2 to get an automated industrial UAV: because the need for inspections is constant

Whether regularly scheduled or on-demand, inspections are a constant necessity in an industrial facility. However, when these inspections are completed by human employees, they put those employees in danger, send those employees to remote and hazardous locations, and require costly equipment shutdowns. While regular inspections completed by a standard industrial UAV are a step-up because they protect those employees and allow equipment to keep running, they end up being costly due to the necessity of keeping a drone pilot on the payroll. Further, those on-demand inspections that are needed to ensure a piece of equipment isn’t on the brink of breakdown or catastrophic failure? Your organization will find itself deciding between waiting for the on-call drone pilot to report, or putting a human inspector at risk to save time. Neither of these are good options, especially considering all regular and on-demand UAV inspections could be fully automated.

Reason #3 to get an automated industrial UAV: because industrial facilities always need more security

CCTV has been the standard security set-up for industrial facilities for a long time, and there’s a reason for that: CCTV is an excellent security tool. It provides security personnel with invaluable information on the state of security in the facility, and on emerging situations such as break-ins.

However, industrial organizations and their security teams face a deluge of threats ranging from theft and vandalism to sabotage and even terrorism and do so with valuable assets as well as critical infrastructure to protect. As the risks and potential consequences continue to grow, security measures need to improve. An automated industrial UAV is the perfect complement to a CCTV security system, providing unlimited aerial awareness, eliminating blind spots, providing cost-efficient surveillance of remote or unmanned sites, and even providing intruder detection and additional alerts via thermal imaging and other advanced sensors. With no need for a pilot, automated UAVs can do all of this as regularly scheduled tasks and on-demand. As mentioned above, they are also the best choice for providing information during an emergency and can help security personnel formulate the safest and most effective response to an intruder or other security event.

In addition

The three most frequently cited reasons for investing in an automated industrial UAV as opposed to a standard industrial UAV are the cost savings, the time savings, and the elimination of the potential for human error. Excellent reasons indeed, but it helps to know how combining two of the top technologies is specifically going to improve an industrial organization. If your organization is in a position where it needs to consider emergency response, requires plenty of inspections to keep everything operating safely and efficiently, and has a security situation that could stand to be improved, then this leading technology combined with a leading technology is your answer.