What are today’s aerospace engineers doing to shape the future of long-distance air travel? One possible answer is the Flying-V. What began as an idea from TU Berlin student Justus Benad is now one step closer to reality with the successful launch of the scale model Flying-V.

Propelling by Microdrones

How the Flying-V Project Could Revolutionize Aerospace

Drones are here to stay, with UAVs and other solutions making surveying, imaging and a variety of other tasks much simpler. This can bring a wide range of benefits to your organization – provided you can avoid common pitfalls drone early adopters face.

Mistakes Made by Drone Early Adopters – And How to Avoid Them

Samuel Flick, Sales Manager for Central Europe at Microdrones, is a mini drone enthusiast. Flick joined Microdrones in 2015 to get closer to his passion and engage with the latest techniques. He spoke about LiDAR and its wide range of uses across a broad spectrum of industries.

Helping Businesses and Improving Survey Efficiency with Drone LiDAR

With the pandemic requiring social distancing and adhering to regulations and protocols to keep people apart on the job site, being able to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles was something many companies took advantage of. Even with the pandemic hopefully coming to a close in 2021, the momentum the market picked up this year shows no signs of stopping, said Irene Jimenez, the sales manager for Southern Europe for Microdrones.

Why The Spanish Drone Market Is Set To Boom

While touchless payment is widely accepted in countries like Russia or China, it’s not widely adapted in the United States. The same is true of unmanned autonomous vehicles, or drones, which are being used on nearly every product in an industry in some countries but are still being rolled out in others. Dave Pendrill, Sales Manager for the Northern Europe region for Microdrones, has extensive experience in South Africa but sees a booming drone market in the United Kingdom and one that is very receptive to the Microdrone as a Service solutions available from Microdrones. “In the UK, up until recently and in the drone sector, specifically, everybody has been buying. So, Microdrones have taking the initiative to come out with the ‘as a service’ portfolio,” Pendrill said. “I definitely see that it’s going to take the market by storm, because that’s what they do in the UK in construction, surveying – anything. If they need a tool and they don’t have it, they will hire it for the day, for the week or for the year.”

How Rentals Are Growing the UK Drone Market

When passion meets innovation, great things take flight. That is what happened when RC model aircraft enthusiast, and engineer Gunter Zielke, CEO of Smoke-EL, wanted to switch from combustion-engine RC model aircraft to electric RC EDF jet. With his engineering know-how, and with some help from Schübeler Technologies in providing the right electric-ducted fan to power his propulsion system, Zielke was in business. In 2009 Zielke began to build a 35% to scale RC Krill SU29 model airplane. “The question was what type of engine should it be,” Zielke said. “Should it be a combustible engine or electric?” “I wanted to have smoke for my plane, so I preferred the combustible engine.” Zielke’s wife did not want the family car to smell of gas from the plane, and thus the quest was on for the right electric solution that also provided smoke effects.

Smoke Systems for RC Model Electric Airplanes and EDF Jets with Gunter Zielke.

How does Microdrones build a world-class distributor network? Microdrones’ Bret Burghdurf, Director of Marketing for Americas and New Markets, Mirjam Baeumer, Director of Marketing for EMEA and New Territories, and Abdel Diani, Director of Global Distribution, said it boils down to several “Ps.” The first P in Microdrones’ distributor formula is people.

The Benefits of the Microdrones Distributor Program

The drone revolution is well and truly underway in many nations, but has that revolution reached Mexico? For Jesus Zenteno, Microdrones Sales Manager for Latin America, we still need to wait and see, but there are signs that drone use in Mexico will be very common for companies in the near future. “The revolution is still a bit flimsy. However, we’ve also started to see businesses, in the private sector as well as the public sector, have started to make their first efforts,” Zenteno said. “They’re beginning to develop a few internal departments where they’re starting to make investment in equipment, in specific areas for drones. With companies like Microdrones, that make the price of technology more accessible, Ruben Ramos, UAS manager for Precision GPS, says that now not only can companies get information but they also can get better information they can use to cut spending. “Although I know we don’t all have $100,000 in our pockets, it’s not even a tenth of what this technology cost before,” Ramos said. “Before, you paid thousands and thousands of dollars and you just go the information. Now, for that same amount, we can have technology that generates much more precise information than before.” While other markets around the world may be more advanced than Mexico when it comes to UAVs, there is no doubt it’s an area of growth in the country.

How drones are becoming more accessible to many industries in Mexico

Jeremy Stafford used to get some strange looks when he turned up to mining expositions or other shows with an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV. “Everybody was always like, ‘Why do you have this drone? Why do you have that little whirly-bird toy sitting there on your display?’” said Stafford, Vice President of IdealBlasting. “Nobody was really considering that this was a tool, not a toy.” Four years later, that’s hardly the case. “I can be at a conference, and I’ll be walking through the lobby on the way into the exhibit hall, and you’ll see one or two people with UAVs sitting on their table having coffee with their colleagues,” he said. “It’s a huge paradigm shift in how they’re viewed.” The mining and blasting industries are starting to understand just how valuable UAVs can be, not only with the tools they can provide but in the increased level of safety given to workers now that certain parameters are easily acquirable. “With LiDAR, specifically, and the accuracies you can get now, you’re able to build a pretty picture that’s not only a pretty picture but also a useful picture of what’s going on on-site,” said Matt Rosenbalm, Sales Manager for the Southern United States for Microdrones. “The engineers can then take that 3D model and make different recommendations and decisions to ensure they’re getting the most out of that mine or quarry, whether it be where they dig next, where they should blast next or how they should set up a blast. “The LiDAR and different sensors you can carry on drones now fit and mesh really well with the expectations of getting the most out of the quarry.”

How UAVs and Drones Are Taking Over the Mining Industry

Syamsul Bahri, Australasia Regional Sales Manager for Microdrones, started out selling surveying equipment, then working in the mining industry. Bahri knows firsthand how useful drones can be in those businesses. Now, he works for Microdrones, and Bahri came on Propelling to talk about Microdrones’ rising growth in the Australasia market since its entry to the region two years ago. “If we’re talking about mining, specifically, drones are used to capture updates of the mines and use high-resolution photos to take in-depth pictures of the mines,” Bahri said. Microdrones is a full solutions-based drone provider, which includes the complete packages customers are looking for with the training and software they need to operate these products successfully. Bahri said there are three main packages offered: mdLiDAR , for extreme geomatics productivity, mdMapper, a surveying solution, and mdTector, an integrated aerial methane inspection package. “What makes Microdrones different today than what they did before is the addition of more and more LiDAR sensors into our product portfolio to cover all the market needs,” Bahri said.

Microdrones’ Rising Growth in Australasia

The LiDAR technology market’s expected growth is up to USD 2.2 billion by 2024, according to Markets & Markets. The adoption of Lidar systems in UAVs is a contributing factor to this expanding growth. Chuck Dorgan, Microdrone’s Director of Sales for the Americas, and Sebastien Long, Microdrone’s Canada & US Sales manager, shared their perspectives on the LiDAR boom with host Daniel Litwin. “LiDAR sensors are getting smaller and smaller,” Long said, “And, worldwide, more and more companies are offering sensors.” But with so many different LiDAR sensor products on the market, certain factors make a difference. The type of data gathered by the sensors and the LiDAR sensor workflow can be a product differentiator, Long said. And one of the issues Long often sees with so many choices is that a lot of first-time users don’t understand how to use the technology or make the right choice. Microdrones has a customer care team in place to help clients out, something many other providers in this industry do not have. This piece of the LiDAR/UAV integration puzzle, both Long and Dorgan said, is essential for full product integration. “We don’t want our clients to be left on the side after they purchased one of our systems,” Long said. “We want to be able to help them with any issue or question they may have.” Because Microdrones owns their entire LiDAR workflow and created a complete, integrated solution, Dorgan said this helps early adopters and people new to the technology. “The better the integration, the easier the workflow gets for every client,” Long said. The workflow Microdrones provides helps clients achieve the results they want to get out of their UAV system. With so much excitement around the possibilities of LiDAR technology, what does the future hold for the UAV industry? Long said sensors will get smaller and lighter, the software will improve, and Microdrones will be on the lookout for integrating the best of this technology as it becomes available.

The Sky’s the Limit with LiDAR Technology, with Chuck Dorgan and Sebastien Long

LiDAR as an applicable technology has found its stride, and the demand for new uses continues to grow. According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global airborne LiDAR market alone is set to grow at a double-digit rate over five years, hitting a market value of $673 million USD by 2025. Irene Jimenez, Southern Europe Sales Manager at Microdrones, joined host Tyler Kern on this episode of Propelling to talk about integrating drone-based LiDAR, its applications and advantages. The application of LiDAR is known in many different fields such as construction, energy, rail, and mining, but the industry is growing with new possibilities available through drone-based LiDAR. Jimenez said that drone-based LiDAR is capable of regular applications of surveying, but drone-based allows Microdrones to cut down the time it takes to capture and process data. She said that recently in France, a power company needed to scan a hydro-electric dam and by using Microdrones’ drone-based LiDAR, what would have taken a crew weeks to scan, the drone completed in 110 minutes. She said that the data captured at the site only took 30 minutes to process, and if done in the traditional sense could have taken 10 to 12 hours. The obvious advantage to using drone-based LiDAR is access to difficult places, but it and Microdrones can offer other advantages too. Jimenez said that drones allow them to have a significantly lower cost compared to other aerial LiDAR systems. Microdrones’ has been in the market for 10 years and has “the best solutions for users” said Jimenez. She also said that they “own the full process of products,” from capturing to processing data. This allows them to be “one point of contact” and relieve the traditional hassle of going through and waiting on the different channels.

Integrating Drone-Based LiDAR Into Your Business

Surveying has always been a labor-intensive, precise industry. The technological advances from Microdrones have increased precision while reducing the manpower required. On this episode of the Propelling podcast, Matt Rosenbalm, Microdrones Sales Manager for the Southern US, Ross Kenney, UAS Sales and Support Lead for Navigation Electronics, and Robert Martin, Licensed Surveyor & Senior Technical Lead Survey Sales for Navigation Electronics, sat down with host Sean Heath and they discussed a few of the ways that Microdrones is changing the face of surveying. While surveying maintains the same exacting demands as always, today’s tools are much more efficient. “Surveying can sometimes be so labor enforcive, that your biggest overhead is going to be your employees,” Martin explained. “As technology progresses, I can see more and more uses for being able to take a drone, fly it around a piece of property, bring it back to the office, process it, and be able to create a deliverable that would have taken a surveyor weeks to do, he might be able to actually accomplish this in days now.”

First Class Support with Matt Rosenbalm, Ross Kenney and Robert Martin

“There’s never a lack of interest in what can be done with a drone," said Rick Rayhel, sales manager for Microdrones. Here on Propelling, a Microdrones podcast, we’ve experienced the same sentiment, exploring UAVs used for all sorts of innovative purposes. Today, we highlighted their role in crime and crash scene analysis. Though new to this market, drones are making waves in their new role in law enforcement, saving communities thousands of dollars and collecting evidence with startling accuracy. To expand upon the use of drones in this capacity is a full panel of professionals: Rick Rayhel, sales manager at Microdrones, along with Steve McKinzie, owner of CSI Mapping, Curt Haberlach, reconstructionist for McKinzie & Associates, and Kris Keberlein, accident reconstructionist for McKinzie & Associates. Anyone who has ever caught an episode of CSI will recognize the roll of yellow measuring tape often used by agents. But this archaic form of mapping is on its way out as UAV’s arrive on the scene, taking measurements more accurately, faster, and more efficiently. McKinzie, a 20 year veteran of forensic mapping, explained how holes in the industry brought about a technological revolution. A demand for accurate, shareable data was the impetus behind bringing drones onto a crime scene. With drone data determining courtroom verdicts, clean and indisputable evidence was a necessity. Drone’s capabilities have positive, far-reaching trickle-down effects. They are saving communities thousands of dollars. Haberlach explained how by unpacking the process of surveying a crash. Step 1: isolate the scene. This involves shutting down traffic and ramping up manpower, drawing into overtime for technicians onsite. Drones speed up the collection process and get a roadway quickly back to normal. The economic significance of this saved time is enormous. “We’re only going to see this technology adopted more often by agencies as we see the benefits come to fruition.” Rayhel said, asserting the dominance of drones in this specialized role. Give this panel discussion a listen to hear more on the use cases, impact and future of drones in law enforcement.

Meet Your Newest Member of Law Enforcement: Drones

Drones aren't toys; they're solutions. On this episode of the Propelling podcast, host Daniel Litwin sat down with three Microdrones team members for an in-depth discussion on drone distributorships, branding, and the tremendous marketing opportunity that exists for third-parties looking at drones to ride the wave into the future. Today's show features Director of Marketing for the Americas and New Markets Bret Burghdurf, Vice President of Global Marketing Mike Dziok, and Creative Director Justin Palmer. "We're not selling drones, we're selling solutions," Burghdurf said. Microdrones works closely with distributors to provide training, customer service support, and even unique marketing content to help third-parties be successful. By using a storytelling approach to marketing, Microdrones features distributors as the experts highlighting their product out in the field through their customer's eyes. "The distributor is still the expert in what their customer wants," Dziok said. Also in this episode, the three discuss how Microdrones' brand has come to mean different things to different industries — different solutions solved with a drone, but consistent quality across the board. "Brand consistency is key because consistency builds trust, and that's what branding is all about," Palmer said.

How Microdrones Sets Distributors Up to Succeed with Marketing Support, Content with Mike Dziok, Bret Burghdurf, and Justin Palmer

To propel is to drive, to push, to move forward; you might say that the Microdrones team, its distribution partners and end users are always propelling. This is Propelling, the Microdrones Podcast, where each month, we'll talk about our work, what we see in the field, and what it means to technology professionals in the geomatics, construction, engineering, aviation and software trades.

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Propelling by Microdrones

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