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Drone Technologies and Applications
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1001987
of a robot for special purposes with the results it produces. A drone that can fly is notable
for most industries. The capabilities and usage areas of drones will develop depending
on the technology development. Although drones are seen as the end
users of developed
technologies, they have the potential to be an important tool in the development of
technological innovation, depending on the needs.
6. Drone usage areas
Although the use and development of drones are always for military purposes, the
use of drones in both commercial and other sectors is becoming widespread today.
The evaluations regarding the usage areas still used in this regard and expected to
become more widespread soon are summarized below.
6.1 Agriculture
In agricultural areas, it contributes significantly to providing data to sector stake-
holders and increasing producers’ productivity by collecting data with regular land
observation. Drones in spraying, fertilization, and plant damage detection applica-
tions inspect the planted crops (
Figure 17
). The use of drones in agricultural produc-
tion is becoming
more common daily, and it provides convenience for producers to
optimize production by increasing efficiency and reducing physical load. Drones offer
significant time savings in agricultural research, planting seeds, monitoring livestock,
and predicting crop yields. Smart farming techniques will become more widespread
with drone and satellite data for producers to monitor their products and
plan for
planting, fertilization, and spraying times.
6.2 Environment
Depending on the increasing city population, drones are successfully used in
environmental control and emergency response processes. To prevent environmental
pollution, drones not only carry out projects aimed at cleaning the seas but also make
an important contribution to the fight against poaching and the tracking of endan-
gered animals. The behavior and disease conditions of animals can be followed thanks
to thermal cameras.
In addition, oil companies use drones for inspections of oil and
gas leaks. Drones with thermal cameras perform important tasks in detecting leaks
quickly and preventing possible risks.
Figure 17.
Agricultural drone.
