DroneDeploy is out of beta
- by Rick Wilson
- Apr 2, 2015
- 1 min read
DroneDeploy launched their mobile application on Tuesday. The company’s product allows users who have no drone expertise or experience to plot a route, and capture imagery or even a 3D map. This is a killer feature for agriculture, construction, research, and real estate. Previously, you would need to pilot the drone yourself, or invest in an expensive and complicated pc based autopilot mapping system. But now anyone can buy a $1000 drone, subscribe to DroneDeploy for $99 a month, and get imagery data of whatever they want. This is huge for this industry since it allows anyone to be able to operate and use UAS without a technical expert or pilot. The app will also create a gridded flightpath for optimal image acquisition. Also the app creates 3D maps with volumetric estimates. In the future, the feature set will be expanded with use of new camera systems, like infrared for crop monitoring. Of course there are major concerns with complete automation, especially in densely populated areas, but for farmers in rural areas it is exactly what they need. It is unclear whether or not the drone will be able to be piloted manually via the app, but there should be some type of override so operators can safely take over in an emergency. DroneDeploy just launched out of beta for $99 a month, and has raised $9 Million led by Emergence Capital. The company currently only has 12 employees but we can expect that number to rise very quickly.
Source: Techcrunch