Abstract
We describe our UAV imaging research and development from a business perspective. Our main goal is to increase business opportunities for our drone services.
We build on experiences from an already deployed drone service provided by our IT company. The application is using a commercial tool for processing photogrammetry.
Its advantage is accuracy, but the main disadvantage is the time needed for annotation by a trained human operator. Our methodology is based on user studies and knowledge gained in communicating with potential customers at IT trade fairs and exhibitions.
We analyse the duration and automation of the service as key factors. We consider two types of higher automation of the solution.
First is the automation of annotation - less accurate, without human intervention. The second is automation in flight planning and implementation.
The use of other drone peripherals or hybrid drones can also create new types of services. In particular, there is a demand for immediate execution of on-site flight imaging without any pre-calibration.
Our considerations, expanding our services, also include various inspections or direct involvement in industrial processes. Some improvements were tested on an experimental prototype.
The results indicate improvement making services cheaper and faster.