With all the traction that drones are getting right now, it’s inevitable that people will start finding new practical ways to use them. And even though we try to stay ahead of the curve and think of everything possible use, before anyone else, so that we can integrate it into our SDK, there will always be people imagining things which we never could. We feel that these people deserve to be mentioned on the Flyver blog, because they can serve as inspiration for our developers more than anyone else. We present the top 5 practical applications for drones of the week.



1. The Ambulance Drone

Currently, the response time for an emergency call in Shanghai is anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes. While that is undoubtedly an impressive feat, sometimes it’s simply not fast enough. The reaction speed of the emergency services is limited by current road infrastructures, however, as TU Delft graduate student Alec Mormont realised, a drone has no such problems. His project, the ambulance drone, is equipped with a fully functional defibrilator and can fly at speeds of up to 100 km/h. The drone can get to most emergencies in single a minute, increasing chance of survival for victims by 90%. Of course, the drone is by no means a replacement for regular ambulances, because it can’t transport victims or completely replace the presence of a real paramedic, however it can serve as a great tool to provide initial aid until a regular ambulance arrives at the site of the emergency, and sometimes this can make all the difference.

2. Monitoring the melting of Greenland’s Ice Sheets



Greenland is one of the most remote and alien territories on earth. However it is also one of the areas most affected by human activity. To showcase the increasing speed with which the ice sheets in Greenland are melting, Jason Box’ Dark Snow Project uses specially designed drones equipped with several cameras flying over the vast areas of snow and ice. Unfortunately for us, what he discovered is quite shocking. Thanks to human activity, the snow in Greenland is becoming darker and darker, absorbing more energy from the sun instead of reflecting it back into the atmosphere. In fact, according to Box, in the last ten years alone, the speed with which fresh snow in Greenland melts has doubled. To produce a more detailed study of dark snow, Jason Box is preparing another expedition with drones, only this time they will be “longer ranged”. Of course, that is only a problem when the drone needs a pilot. If the drone were to be programmed using the Flyver SDK, it could fly autonomously, without ever needing the aid of a human pilot. More spectacular footage from the current expedition can be seen on Motherboard.

3. Monitoring Lava Flow in Hawaii

A team of researchers from Hawaii University successfully managed to map the lava flow on Kilauea using a drone. They used a SenseFly SwingletCAM equipped with a visible camera to take stills of the lava flow, which would later be merged together into a mosaic. The use of a drone in such a case is far more logical than that of a helicopter because it is far cheaper, saving tax payer money and also puts no human lives whatsoever at risk.

4. Showing All the Protesters on the Streets of Hong Kong



The protests in Hong Kong were and still are a very important event. The sheer amount of people that stormed the streets of the city is huge. While the media were downplaying the significance of the protests, a single drone user, Nero Chan, went ahead and took aerial footage of the protesters using his drone. The video shows the increasing number of people through the night of September 29th. With the increasing popularity of drones, a completely new era of amateur journalism can come about. Drones allow people to stay safe while simultaneously taking close footage of significant events, which could otherwise be manipulated by mainstream media.

5. A Carrier Drone Launching a Smaller Drone



This video shows a drone taking off and the another drone taking off from on top of it while it is in the air. That’s a significant achievement in its self, but the best part is that the whole thing is completely home made. The carrier drone is basically a large quadcopter with a flat surface on top of it, allowing it to transport a smaller fixed wing drone. In the video we see that the contraption isn’t quite perfect, as the carrier is obviously suffering from balance issues, however it is nevertheless inspiring. Now hopefully we can start some Avengers style flying carriers soon!

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below!