While unmanned aerial vehicles have been in operation for nearly 200 years, drones, as we know them today, were first used by the military in 2006 before technological innovations turned them into in-demand children’s toys.
Now, industries, including mining, oil and gas, ports, utilities, and public safety teams, are starting to recognize their capabilities. When used for surveillance or inspection, they can protect workers from entering hazardous areas and deliver greater situational awareness about operations or incidents when every second counts.
Today, the industrial drone sector is rapidly evolving, with 2025 marking significant advancements in technology and applications across various industries. Several countries are making drones even more attractive for industrial use, allowing them to be flown beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) at low heights close to buildings and infrastructure.
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Drones for safer, more efficient operations
The global drone market is projected to grow from $36.7 billion in 2024 to $44.32 billion in 2025, with industrial applications being a significant contributor to this growth. This has the potential to unlock new Industry 4.0 use cases for operational efficiency and worker safety improvements.
For example, at vast mining sites, drones can handle site surveys more safely, effectively and sustainably than on foot or by plane. They can be dispatched multiple times, equipped with payloads including LiDAR sensors, HD cameras, magnetometers and thermal imaging cameras to gain greater intelligence or terrain mapping
Once a mine is operational, drones can inspect waste and stockpiles, relieving workers, often in the harshest of temperatures. They can also more accurately and rapidly calculate stock volumes for better management. Operational disruption and worker hazards are reduced when drones are flown to inspect the impact of blasting.
Using drones to handle perimeter surveillance at large industrial sites reduces reliance on people, vehicle wear and tear and fuel consumption which contributes to industrial enterprises sustainability efforts. Oil and gas companies can use them to inspect storage tanks, pipelines, cooling towers and substations.
Dispatching drones from one or multiple operation centers ahead of first responders enables early assessment of a situation’s severity, helping to support efficient resource allocation while also receiving AI-powered intelligence that can inform and accelerate decisions to help keep workers, property, and premises safer.
For instance, in a wildfire, drones can be flown lower than a manned aircraft, using thermal cameras to identify heat spots through the smoke. Using data accessed through drone flights, teams are better equipped to handle these situations and protect themselves, the community, and the environment. Today hundreds of US police departments have drone programs. Skilled police pilots operate drones for search and rescue missions, crowd and event monitoring, and various other tasks.
Integrating edge and AI technology for reliable drone flights
Connected to an edge and AI platform, drones can benefit industrial enterprises with automated activities that enhance efficiency and safety.
For example, leveraging AI, analytics and machine learning, changes in sensor data could trigger a drone flight – whether to monitor a perimeter breach, an equipment malfunction, or to notify the correct first responder teams. Using data and video from those drones, any team will be better informed, ensuring that the right people get to where they need to be faster with the right equipment.
To do this, industries must deploy an integrated digitalization platform that uses the right mix of technologies. That means reliable connectivity, real-time edge data processing, ruggedized drone hardware and an extensive range of software to enable new use cases.
To fly beyond BVLOS, connectivity must be robust, meaning seamless handovers at speed. Using Wi-Fi alone, as networks become overloaded, handovers between access points can be delayed, meaning that drones fail. However, by implementing a platform that integrates multiple technologies, including public and private 4G and 5G wireless and Wi-Fi, enterprises will benefit from redundancy and reliable connectivity even as the drone flies BVLOS.
An on-premises industrial edge processing solution allows data to be processed in real time and consumed by applications for new efficiencies. Real-time data will better inform teams of the latest situation, while enhancing productivity and ensuring the right people and equipment are in the right place at the right time.
Drone hardware must be ruggedized, built to withstand harsh industrial environments and weather conditions at sites including mines, agricultural areas and oil and gas facilities. A drone solution that can be used with a mix of payloads and software will unlock flexibility for any enterprise. Efficiency is enhanced further using drones that are charged remotely and flown further BVLOS.
The drone use cases will vary depending on the industrial enterprise’s needs, but in most cases, they will allow them to achieve multiple goals simultaneously. For example, industries can access more accurate data for operational improvements while also protecting their workers.
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