HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONESFOR
BUSINESS
PART 1: SELECTING THE RIGHT
DRONE STRATEGY

Contents
CONTENTS
Introduction

Getting Started

Understand the regulations

Outsource or own the drone?

How to ensure your drone can capture the data and quality your
organisation needs

What spares will you need?

What type of flight experience do you need?

Conclusion

10

Appendices

11

INTRODUCTION

Contents

There are clear benefits of using

This guide is intended for

drones in business today. But the

businesses or individuals who are

range of options and considerations

looking to use drones on worksites

can make it look difficult to get

and should help you to select the

started.

right partners and tools to make

your drone operation successful.

If you know the basics about the

regulations and you have a good

Its based on Propellers practical

idea of what your organisation

experience working with drone

wants to achieve, choosing the right

operators and the people who use

drone strategy is simple.

their services on mines, quarries,

landfills and construction sites.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

Contents
GETTING STARTED
Government regulations, company

This guide will go into a lot of detail

processes and the layout of your

around these factors in order to

worksite are the main factors that

give you an idea of how you can get

will determine the drone

the most out of the drone you

technology you should select.

select, but the checklist on page 11 is

a quick way to determine what you

The specific technical features of a

will need.

drone will only be a significant

factor in a few situations.

The first question: does your

country allow you to use a drone at
all? As 2017 begins, many countries
have legal frameworks that
regulate commercial drone
operations.

In many cases, operating a drone

commercially means passing a test
or registering for a license from
aviation authorities. Depending on
how much effort this requires, you
might choose to outsource drone
flights to a specialist operator.

If the regulations allow you to

operate a drone yourself, the model
you select will primarily depend on
the location of the site you are
aerially surveying, the type of data
you require, and how that data will
be used by the enterprise.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

"The type of airspace your site sits

within will determine whether you
can purchase a drone yourself or
will need to engage a certified drone
operator instead."

Contents
UNDERSTAND THE REGULATIONS
While the rules for operating a

Keep in mind though that even if

drone for commercial purposes

you can operate the drone, if your

vary from country to country, they

site is close to an aerodrome or

generally define the weight of the

otherwise falls within a restricted

drone that can be used and the

airspace, you will either require

height it can fly, and the airspace it

special permission or not be able to

can operate in.

operate the drone at all.

Most countries require some sort of

However you still have the option

certification, although some

of engaging a drone operator who is

countries like Australia and Canada

certified to operate in restricted

allow drones 2kg or less to be

airspaces, which is usually still cost

operated commercially without

effective and has a number of other

certification. In the USA, the recent

benefits.

release of Rule 107 by the FAA has

made it easier to legally operate a
drone commercially.

"If the regulations or other

reasons discourage you from
purchasing a drone, utilising
the services or a certified
drone operator is the best
option."

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

Contents
OUTSOURCE OR OWN THE DRONE
?

Outsource: Certified drone operators

Commercial drone service providers

are usually experienced with the

are required in most countries to

flight process and the relevant

hold Public Indemnity and Liability

operating and safety regulations,

insurance policies. Using their

which saves you the effort of

services means you dont have to

training your own staff and having

take your own policy, which can be

to buy and maintain your own

costly and especially if you are not

drone hardware.

planning frequent missions.

Where your site is large (over 50 ha

Insource: If you do choose to buy

or 120 acres), has frequent very

and operate your own, you can now

high winds, or some other challenge

get commercial grade drone

for typical drone operations,

technology for a consumer price.

engaging a drone operator will

Pro versions of popular consumer

reduce the risk of the survey

drones like the DJI Phantom 4

mission failing, saving you the costs

include high end camera,

of a failed mission or having to redo

performance and stability while

it.

remaining easy to fly.

Even in less challenging

Industrial grade drones like the DJI

environments, specialist operators

Matrice are more customisable

can reduce the overall risk of

without costing that much more.

operations, and get better data from

your drone by optimising the flight
and camera settings and choosing
the right time of day to fly.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

Contents

HOW TO ENSURE YOUR DRONE CAN

CAPTURE THE DATA AND QUALITY
YOUR ORGANISATION NEEDS
Just like when selecting enterprise

Sensor Resolution: Selecting a

software or a laptop, the business

camera with a high resolution

requirements should always drive

(megapixels) will positively impact

the what drone technology you

the quality of your mapping and

choose and not the other way

modelling data.

around. If your main requirement is

The higher the megapixels, the

to acquire images, then the camera

more detail on the ground is

is going to be the core component of

captured. Aerial imagery quality is

your drone. Its a good idea to think

measured by Ground Sample

of the drone as a flying tripod.

Distance (GSD) which is the

number of centimetres of real

What type of sensor? Buying a

world in each pixel, with a lower

prosumer drone with an integrated

number (e.g.: 2cm) indicating higher

camera like the Phantom 4 Pro is

quality. As an example, the

probably going to meet the

difference between an image of a

requirements of most use cases. If

house with a GSD of 5cm and 30cm

you need more complex data, like

is the difference between seeing the

infrared or LIDAR, you will need a

individual roof tiles or just the roof

model like the Matrice that allows

itself.

you to swap different components

in and out.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)
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Contents

HOW TO ENSURE YOUR DRONE CAN

CAPTURE THE DATA AND QUALITY
YOUR ORGANISATION NEEDS
Sensor Lens: A camera lens with a

point clouds or elevation models,

wide angle will capture a larger

you will also need to use Ground

surface area per image, but at the

Control Points (GCPs).

cost of resolution and

photogrammetry quality. A fast

GCPs are physical objects with an

(1/1000 second or faster) shutter

independently verified geolocation

speed will minimise the distortion

that can be recognised in the image

that is unavoidable when taking

by the photogrammetry software

photos whilst travelling at high

for validating the true spatial

speed.

position of that image. As the below

example shows, not using GCPs can

Positioning and Data Accuracy: As

result in seriously degraded data

well as high resolution, each image

quality.

needs to have its geospatial position

accurately recorded. The
photogrammetry process that
creates maps from images uses that
positional data to assemble each
image in its right place, a bit like
building a jigsaw puzzle. This can be
achieved in a couple of ways:

With Photo Geotags: The drones

internal GPS unit will record its

Using Aeropoints for Ground Control:

location as photo is taken. Unless

While setting up GCPs has

your drone is a high end

traditionally required first

commercial model equipped with a

physically marking the location and

RTK unit, the geospatial data you

then having its geolocation

will be getting will not be sufficient

coordinates measured and recorded

for anything beyond basic

by a surveyor using a high-end GPS,

orthophoto maps.

Propeller Aero has developed

AeroPoints - smart ground control

With Ground Control: If you need to

points that have an inbuilt GPS, and

accurately measure distance, area,

can be deployed within minutes.

volume or gradients; or generate

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)
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Contents
WHAT SPARES WILL YOU NEED
?

Any experienced drone operator

The next most critical item in your

can tell you about a time a survey

spares set are a propellers. As the

was aborted due to component

component that moves the most,

damage or failure. Propellers,

they are subject to significant wear

batteries and other components are

and tear. It goes without saying that

subject to not only wear and tear

without functioning propellers,

but also the risks involved in being

your mission (not to mention your

transported to often remote and

drone) will not get off the ground. If

challenging locations.

your selected drone model offers

spare propellers with a quick-

Not only should the ease of making

release function, this will minimise

field repairs using common spares

down time during field repairs.

be taken into consideration when

purchasing a drone, but your

Other spares to consider include

budget should also include

charging units (especially when

provision for spares. If you plan to

combined with a battery hub that

regularly survey multiple sites, then

can simultaneously charge up to 4

you should consider a set of spares

batteries), remote controllers,

for each of those sites. It may cost

propeller guards, camera and/or

more upfront, but will save you a

camera filters, gimbals and data

lot more by avoiding unnecessary

storage cards. The guiding principle

wasted time travelling to a worksite

in selecting spares should be to

and then not being able to fly.

ensure that every planned mission

is completed successfully (outside of

Each field spares set should at a

adverse weather conditions).

minimum consist of spare batteries,

which also have the advantage of
extending the missions flight time
in order to capture a larger area or
richer data.

If you select a drone

that has a return to base function,

you can fly half the survey on one
set of batteries, swap out the
batteries and the drone will resume
the survey where it left off.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

WHAT TYPE OF FLIGHT

EXPERIENCE DO YOU NEED?

Contents

The drone flight experience for a

fly at similar speeds to fixed wing

commercial operation needs to be

drones, though their ability to fly

decided by different factors than

slower can result in higher quality

you would use when buying a

images. They do this by combining

drone for fun. You need to think of

slow flight with fast shutter speed

your drone as a hovering camera

to compensate for motion induced

tripod, meaning that stability is far

blurring. If you can fly at 10 m/s

more important than aerobatic

with a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a

capability.

second, your drone will have moved

1cm while the shutter was open. If

Comparing the benefits of

you can set the shutter speed to

fixed-wing versus multi-rotor

1/2000 of a second, that distances

drones is a common discussion in

would be only 0.5cm.

the drone industry. As this guide is

focused on selecting a drone for site

Keep in mind that while taking the

surveying, only multi-rotor drones

above approach will produce better

are recommended for a number of

quality data, it will be more of a

reasons.

drain on your batteries, giving

another reason for having spares

Firstly, multi-rotor drones offer

and a charger.

more stability than fixed wings,

especially when controlled by less
experienced pilots. Obstacle sensing
systems such as the one found on
the DJI Phantom 4 Pro, detect and
avoid objects such as trees, people
and even other drones. As they
dont require a runway, they are
also easier to launch and land
safely, especially when equipped
with an automated return to base
functionality.

The latest multi-rotor drones like

the Phantom 4 and Matrice 100 can

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

Contents
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, the drone you select will

However, selecting the right drone

come down to personal preference

is only a small, albeit necessary,

and the evaluation experience. By

part of utilising this emerging

using the criteria outlined in this

technology to benefit your

guide to compare different models

enterprise. The greatest impact will

and brands, you should have the

be in how the data your drone

confidence that your selection and

collects is presented, analysed and

any required supporting business

shared. Part 2 of this guide will

case has benefited from real-world

show you how to fully maximise its

commercial experience.

benefits.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

10

APPENDICES

Contents

APPENDIX 1: DRONE REGULATIONS

AND SELECTION CRITERIA

APPENDIX 2: RECOMMENDED
ACCESSORIES AND SPARES

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH

DRONES FOR BUSINESS (PART 1)

11