Aerial photography, delivery, spraying pesticides ... At present, drones are more and more integrated into daily production and life, and the scope of application has been widely expanded, becoming high-tech equipment with full affinity.
Has been used in many fields such as agriculture, plant protection, express transportation, disaster relief, mapping
"Litchi picked in the morning, arrived at the buyer's table in the afternoon, drones have greatly saved manpower and material costs." Yin Zhihong, director and senior engineer of Haiying Aviation General Equipment Co., Ltd. said that drones will become a solution to logistics Deliver technology products for the "last mile" issue.
Drones were first used in military applications such as aerial reconnaissance in the last century. By the beginning of the 21st century, with the emergence of new technologies such as global satellite positioning and cost reduction, civilian drones have begun to proliferate. As of the end of June 2019, the number of registered drones in China reached 339,000. Statistics show that China ’s consumer drone exports account for about 70% of the world ’s total drone exports, reaching more than 1.2 million. Shenzhen has 70% of the world's civilian small drone market share, becoming a global benchmark for drone products. Shenzhen also has more than 300 drone companies such as DJI, Yidian and MMC, with annual sales exceeding 20 billion yuan.
According to the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting and Regulating the Development of Civilian UAV Manufacturing Industry" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China in 2017, by 2020, the civilian UAV industry will continue to develop rapidly and its output value will reach 60 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of more than 40%. By 2025, the output value of civilian drones will reach 180 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of more than 25%.
Behind the rapid development of the drone industry is the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of the market.
"Drones are the result of the combination of traditional aviation and emerging electronics and communication technologies. This industry is mainly driven by technology." Shi Shengqing, deputy general manager of Zero Degree Intelligent Control, said that the development of integrated circuits and communications technologies in recent years has not only made traditional The volume and weight of the human-machine have been greatly reduced, and the unimaginable flight form of traditional aviation has become a 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 autonomous drones only take 5-10 minutes to discover The hidden dangers that cannot be found by the human eye are widely used. "
At present, drones have been applied in many fields such as aerial photography, agriculture, plant protection, express transportation, disaster rescue, mapping, and power inspection. In the next few years, drones will become a more common tool of labor. Shi Shengqing believes that drones have the possibility of integration with various industries, especially in helping to upgrade traditional industries, the advantages of drones are particularly obvious.
Industry insiders pointed out that DJI's success in the field of consumer drones has also promoted the development of the entire industry. In addition to aerial photography, the consumer-level intelligent drones they launch can also be applied in many fields such as forest patrols, line maintenance, traffic guidance, emergency rescue, and sports game penalties. "DJI's success has refreshed the world's understanding of drones. Low prices have led to the rapid proliferation of consumer drones, allowing the public to use, want, use, and dare to use drones." Liu Yang, CEO of Carrier Technology It is believed that the success of DJI has strengthened the determination of practitioners to enter the industrial and consumer drone markets.
Strengthen supervision, train talents, improve laws and regulations, and promote healthy competition in the industry
Drones need to fly higher and more securely without effective supervision. In recent years, relevant departments and local governments have issued many policy documents on drones, which have successively made regulations in the areas of registration, airworthiness, airspace management, operation management, and flight license management to protect the development of the drone industry. .
"Drones allow information acquisition methods to be upgraded from the ground to the sky, which reduces the burden of ground construction while receiving massive new information. At present, drones still have huge room for improvement." Shi Shengqing said.
Behind the boom in drone development, there are also problems. "Drones involve a wide range of industries and technologies are extremely complex. In addition to the particularity of the product, there is a large demand for talent and a large investment in research and development. Contradictions. "Shi Shengqing said.
The development of the drone industry is inseparable from the support of talents. As of the end of 2018, 4,049 drone companies in China have obtained operating licenses, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China has issued 43,000 drone driving licenses. Analysis of market agency data shows that the demand for drone pilots in the next five years is expected to be nearly 1 million.
Liu Yang said, "Aerospace is originally a highly professional industry. Unmanned aviation has to face the various needs of various industries and markets, and its specialty is more subdivided. In addition to development, the prosperity of unmanned aviation requires a lot of professional operations Team and applied talent. "
There is also chaos in the market operation of the drone industry. With the rapid development of DJI after 2013, civilian drones have become "capital darlings", many venture capital and commercial resources have begun to enter the civilian drone field, and a large number of drone companies have emerged. Ma Hongzhong said that civil drones, especially consumer drone manufacturers, have different strengths and weaknesses, and homogeneous competition is very serious. Drone industry access standards are not uniform, affecting the competitiveness of the industry.
In addition, relevant laws and regulations are not complete. Until the promulgation of the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Unmanned Aircraft Flight (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)", "Administrative Measures for the Operational Flight Activities of Civilian Unmanned Aircraft (Interim)", and other related regulations, the drones in China are subject to operating permits and penalties. Only in terms of methods and other aspects have they embarked on the road of "law-based". However, at this stage, there is still a certain gap between the relevant regulations from theory to practical application.
"It has only been 10 years since the drone entered the civilian market. The successful development of the flight hardware platform is only the first step. The supporting laws and regulations, control methods, business models, and later data processing have not yet kept up." Liu Yang believes that these problems restrict In view of the standardized development and healthy competition of the drone industry.
Drones are expected to enter an era of greater intelligence and miniaturization
In the wave of 5G and artificial intelligence technology, drones will usher in new opportunities. For example, image data can be transmitted faster, and the flying distance and control range of the drone can be further expanded.
"The low-latency characteristics of 5G will free drone control from distance restrictions. In this way, large-scale deployment of drones will become possible. The combination of drones and artificial intelligence will make them more compact." Shi Shengqing Said that 5G and artificial intelligence technology will push drones into an era of more intelligence and miniaturization. At that time, more drone applications will be generated that replace drones with artificial, sky with ground, and group operations with individual operations.
Yin Zhihong believes that the combination of drones 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 picture clearer, data transmission faster, and wider control range.
Since the drone gradually entered the sight of ordinary consumers, it has experienced rapid development for 10 years. In the future, the upgrading of technology, the expansion of consumer groups, and the expansion of application fields will bring broad development space for the drone industry.
Experts said that drones not only realize people's "flying dreams" in a high-tech, low-cost way, but also record our daily lives from a "overlook" perspective. This is an industry that expands the field of human cognition and activities, and it is also a technologically advanced industry. Establish industry standards, improve relevant laws, and cultivate a larger market. The drone industry will definitely provide more and better services for people's production and life.
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