An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) commonly known as a drone is an aircraft without a human pilot on board and a type of unmanned vehicle. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS); which include a UAV, a ground-based controller, and a system of communications between the two. The flight of UAVs may operate with various degrees of autonomy: either under remote control by a human operator or autonomously by onboard computers.
Drones have proven to be a unique tool which gives the ability to access awkward areas and give us a ‘birds eye view’ which lends itself to many applications. High level building inspection, land surveys, bridge inspections and coastal erosion are just some of the possible applications.
Video content can be captured during these flights to allow a visual record to be made while high resolution still images that can through a process of photogrammetry, be converted into three dimensional models that can be scrutinised, kept as a digital record of shape and form, and through further processing utilised in creating virtual/augmented reality ready assets.