As you can imagine, though, being observed by an autonomous drone can feel a bit disconcerting, if not downright post-apocalyptic, for some people. One of the software's developers, Mani Golparvar-Fard, however, says cameras or people observing construction isn't new to the industry. "Yes, making this autonomous has a different feeling for the workers," he told MIT's Technology Review, "But you have to keep in mind that it's not really questioning the efficiency of the workers, it's questioning what resources these guys need to be more efficient."

The University of Illinois team is also working on getting drones to attach cameras on construction sites, as well as on a crowdsourcing platform that sounds like a micromanaging boss' dream. People can use the platform to categorize workers in video footage to see what they're doing with their time during work hours.

[Image credit: Golden 1 Center]