Say the word drone, and most people first think of surveillance and the military, but this incredible technology is now increasingly being used for good around the world, supporting conservation and humanity, saving lives and helping more businesses serve more people.

Drones do a lot of good in the world, and there are many ways they can be used for good and the list is growing by the day. 

INTERESTING FACT: We always share news stories and relevant articles on our LinkedIn profile from companies that are using drones for good. You can follow us here.

Here are 13 more ways that drones are being used for good to help service humanity.

1 – A man has been captured with the help of a drone after he fled into woodlands. While the sheriff’s office, troopers from Ohio State Highway Patrol, and officers from the Findlay Police Department secured the area, it was the Hancock County UAV team that found the fugitive.

2 – Biosecurity Queensland has called in the drones in its war against the biggest threat to Australia’s $580 million banana industry – a soil-borne fungus.

“Farmers are being encouraged to maintain strict biosecurity practices after a suspected case of Panama TR4 disease – a soil fungus – was detected at a far north Queensland banana farm,” according to the Guardian. Read the full story here

3 – Engineers are using drones to map the $5.5 million improvement plans and equipment updates being conducted at the Mount Olive Wastewater Treatment Plant, North Carolina.

4 – Ideal for search and rescue, police and fire departments in Coos Bay and North Bend will start an interagency drone program, with nine pilots and two drones, to help in emergencies.

5 – Drones are helping ease traffic headaches while protecting officers at crash scenes following road accidents because they can map a crash scene within 9-20 minutes.

6 – Drones are becoming more and more an asset at power plant with  inspectors completing detailed inspections of about 10km of transmission lines and distribution poles a day using UAVs.

“Not only are they an ideal choice for time-critical inspections, but they also enable more strategic planned maintenance. Inspection data can even be sent to a smartphone app, allowing maintenance personnel to easily triage and route issues directly from the site”, according to T&D World.

7 – Meanwhile, BPA’s maiden operational flight of a quadcopter has been used to pull a line of rope between high-voltage transmission towers; and in doing so provided significant benefits to safety and cost-efficiency for transmission line maintenance.

8 – Drones will be used to support lifeguards in busy coastal areas, assisting with beach safety, coastal surveillance, search and rescue and sports videos on Australia’s beaches this year. Read the full story here

9 – China’s largest private courier, SF Express, has used drones to transport 70kg of medical supplies to the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in China’s coronavirus-affected Hubei province.

10 – In other news, to assist in the control and prevention of the coronavirus, an online registration system for vehicles returning to Shenzhen is in service, with drones transporting a QR code to increase efficiency.

11 – Drones are used for a myriad of things as well as searching for things that are difficult to find. Conservationists in Cameroon, in Africa, used drones to help them find and count giraffes. 

12 – A ground-breaking drone trial is using Ericsson’s LTE network to deliver defibrillators to rural parts of Canada.

TOP READ: How can we deploy drones in healthcare to save lives?

13 – At drone camp, kids are learning how to manually fly drones safely and legally, how to program them, learning about aerodynamics. The camp provides a different kind of learning for students. 

Could your organisation benefit from an effective drone program? Get in touch with Mirragin today for a consultation at admin@mirragin.com.au

Or to find out more about drones and their future in business, subscribe to our podcast.