Release from Skylogic Research.

Skylogic Research announced today the release of their Quick Start Guide to Drones in Construction. This report is the first in a new series of white papers, intended to provide a complete primer to drone use in specific industries. This year, they are building on the analysis they did for the 2017 Five Valuable Business Lessons Learned papers by providing guidance and industry-specific resources that will help you kick-start your practice. Skylogic’s goal is to help drone-based service providers and business users maximize the value that drones can bring to operational groups.

The report, which is authored by CEO and Founder Colin Snow, consolidates Skylogic Research’s best insights into the challenges and solutions drones add to the worksite. It shows how drones as a unified data collection device are bridging the gap between the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) silos. The report answers questions like:

• How big is the construction drone market, and who are the major solution providers?
• How are drones used in the AEC industry, and what are the challenges?
• What do you need to know about regulations, pilot certification, insurance, and training?
• What are the best practices for adopting drones into workflows?

Here is an excerpt from the lessons learned / cautionary tales section:

“Be clear about customer value – When drone business service providers talk publicly about the differentiation of drones, you’ll often hear them say: “It’s all about the data.” But one of the lessons learned from the early adopters of drones in construction is that it isn’t just about the data. It’s about getting good information that provides value for the construction or architectural firm. So whether teams are collaborating around one daily map for a construction site as “the single source of truth,” or providing floor-by-floor visualization views for a future building site, the ultimate goal is to provide valuable information for downstream customers—and drones alone cannot do that. What drones can do is offer a much quicker way of capturing different types of data, digitizing it, and making it something you can analyze immediately or over time to support construction variance analysis.”

The 10-page report also provides a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) for evaluating and designing your drone program and comes with an appendix that includes links to valuable online resources such as attorneys, advocacy groups, training & certification, and waivers & authorizations.

You can get the free report here.