Drones are helping save lives and improve conditions in an industry known for some of the most hazardous sites for workers, i.e., mining. At some mining sites, drones have completely changed traditional ways of working by providing technologically advanced methods that help to prevent gas leaks, floods, rock falls, and explosions and reduce human involvement in risky environments. Similarly, drones are changing the way surveillance is done for different industries.
From surveillance to inspections using sensors, there are numerous use cases of drones in the mining and surveillance industries. This blog discusses the most common and futuristic use cases of drones that are changing industries.
- Performing mining surveys and creating maps and models: Drones in mining help with photography with different types of cameras. Drones can capture photographs from different angles, helping create maps, terrain maps, 3D cloud points, and other models with geospatial measurements. The process is generally cheaper, more efficient, and doesn’t require human involvement in dangerous areas.
- Creating plans for excavation: The data collected from drone photography is used to develop geological maps, which are used to plan the excavation of mine sites. These help stakeholders plan a safer and more efficient plan of mining.
- Security and hazard prevention: Regular aerial surveys of mining sites with drones for security help miners get more control over the complete area and detect unusual activities or problems. This helps in preventing accidents from happening and better management in case of emergencies.
- Stockpile management: Measuring the quantity of stock from the ground is a pretty challenging task because of the height, size, and shape of how minerals, rocks, or other mining materials are stored. Aerial terrain models created by drones in mining can easily calculate the quantity of stored materials, helping with efficient stockpile management.
- Operations management, drilling, blasting, and more: Aerial inspections help identify the best spots for drilling and blasting. Models created with the help of drones in mining combined with thermal imaging and other technologies help with efficient excavation planning while significantly cutting down on costs.
- Surveillance of tailing dams: Tailing dams are built to prevent waste and other harmful materials from reaching nearby areas of the mining sites. Drones in mining help with the effective surveillance of these sites, which ensures the prevention of accidents and cost-effective automated surveillance. Surveillance with drones although is not limited to the mining industry but is spread across numerous sectors, which is what we are going to discuss now.
Use cases of drones in surveillance
- Traffic surveillance: Drones for surveillance are capable of advanced traffic management, which includes identifying vehicles to be fined for illegal parking, lane changes, and other illegal traffic situations.
- Disaster management: Drones for surveillance can help manage disaster situations by procuring images and videos that can be used to create evacuation plans, identify the effects of the disaster, prevent further damage, and other use cases.
- Wildlife monitoring: Drones help with anti-poaching efforts by automated surveillance against wildlife poachers.
- Border patrol: Drones are used for surveillance alongside borders, helping reduce the massive involvement of humans and high costs.
- Other use cases: There are numerous other examples like livestock surveillance, surveillance over large areas, environmental linked surveillance, and other use cases.
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Different types of surveillance and mining drones, when combined with sensors and other technologies, can exponentially increase efficiency and reduce costs for various industries.
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Image credit Desh Gujarat