Propelling by Microdrones

Drones are the future of data collection in a wide range of industries. They can go places that are either inaccessible or dangerous for humans and offer perspectives once never even dreamed of, delivering powerful insights to operations.However, none of that collected data is any good without the means to parse, analyze and leverage it in powering operations forward.That was the topic of this episode of Propelling, a Microdrones podcast, where host Daniel Litwin was joined by Microdrones' Sales Manager for the Southeast Region, Chuck Snow.Snow joined the Microdrones team after working with Earl Dudley Inc., a company providing the U.S. Southeast with surveying, mapping, industrial and construction measurement instruments.Before that, he ran his own aerial mapping businesses for timber and utility companies and the first digital mapping system to the state of Alabama, giving him a powerful perspective on how surveying has changed over the past decade or more.It also meant that he could lend insights into what surveyors need from their data and how they can bridge the gap between those needs and the data they collect from drones, giving the audience tools to leverage data like never before.To learn more, watch the full episode now.

What are today’s aerospace engineers doing to shape the future of long-distance air travel? One possible answer is the Flying-V. What began as an idea from TU Berlin student Justus Benad is now one step closer to reality with the successful launch of the scale model Flying-V.

Drones are here to stay, with UAVs and other solutions making surveying, imaging and a variety of other tasks much simpler. This can bring a wide range of benefits to your organization – provided you can avoid common pitfalls drone early adopters face.

Samuel Flick, Sales Manager for Central Europe at Microdrones, is a mini drone enthusiast. Flick joined Microdrones in 2015 to get closer to his passion and engage with the latest techniques. He spoke about LiDAR and its wide range of uses across a broad spectrum of industries.

With the pandemic requiring social distancing and adhering to regulations and protocols to keep people apart on the job site, being able to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles was something many companies took advantage of. Even with the pandemic hopefully coming to a close in 2021, the momentum the market picked up this year shows no signs of stopping, said Irene Jimenez, the sales manager for Southern Europe for Microdrones.

While touchless payment is widely accepted in countries like Russia or China, it’s not widely adapted in the United States. The same is true of unmanned autonomous vehicles, or drones, which are being used on nearly every product in an industry in some countries but are still being rolled out in others. Dave Pendrill, Sales Manager for the Northern Europe region for Microdrones, has extensive experience in South Africa but sees a booming drone market in the United Kingdom and one that is very receptive to the Microdrone as a Service solutions available from Microdrones. “In the UK, up until recently and in the drone sector, specifically, everybody has been buying. So, Microdrones have taking the initiative to come out with the ‘as a service’ portfolio,” Pendrill said. “I definitely see that it’s going to take the market by storm, because that’s what they do in the UK in construction, surveying – anything. If they need a tool and they don’t have it, they will hire it for the day, for the week or for the year.”

When passion meets innovation, great things take flight. That is what happened when RC model aircraft enthusiast, and engineer Gunter Zielke, CEO of Smoke-EL, wanted to switch from combustion-engine RC model aircraft to electric RC EDF jet. With his engineering know-how, and with some help from Schübeler Technologies in providing the right electric-ducted fan to power his propulsion system, Zielke was in business. In 2009 Zielke began to build a 35% to scale RC Krill SU29 model airplane. “The question was what type of engine should it be,” Zielke said. “Should it be a combustible engine or electric?” “I wanted to have smoke for my plane, so I preferred the combustible engine.” Zielke’s wife did not want the family car to smell of gas from the plane, and thus the quest was on for the right electric solution that also provided smoke effects.

How does Microdrones build a world-class distributor network? Microdrones’ Bret Burghdurf, Director of Marketing for Americas and New Markets, Mirjam Baeumer, Director of Marketing for EMEA and New Territories, and Abdel Diani, Director of Global Distribution, said it boils down to several “Ps.” The first P in Microdrones’ distributor formula is people.

The drone revolution is well and truly underway in many nations, but has that revolution reached Mexico? For Jesus Zenteno, Microdrones Sales Manager for Latin America, we still need to wait and see, but there are signs that drone use in Mexico will be very common for companies in the near future. “The revolution is still a bit flimsy. However, we’ve also started to see businesses, in the private sector as well as the public sector, have started to make their first efforts,” Zenteno said. “They’re beginning to develop a few internal departments where they’re starting to make investment in equipment, in specific areas for drones. With companies like Microdrones, that make the price of technology more accessible, Ruben Ramos, UAS manager for Precision GPS, says that now not only can companies get information but they also can get better information they can use to cut spending. “Although I know we don’t all have $100,000 in our pockets, it’s not even a tenth of what this technology cost before,” Ramos said. “Before, you paid thousands and thousands of dollars and you just go the information. Now, for that same amount, we can have technology that generates much more precise information than before.” While other markets around the world may be more advanced than Mexico when it comes to UAVs, there is no doubt it’s an area of growth in the country.

Jeremy Stafford used to get some strange looks when he turned up to mining expositions or other shows with an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV. “Everybody was always like, ‘Why do you have this drone? Why do you have that little whirly-bird toy sitting there on your display?’” said Stafford, Vice President of IdealBlasting. “Nobody was really considering that this was a tool, not a toy.” Four years later, that’s hardly the case. “I can be at a conference, and I’ll be walking through the lobby on the way into the exhibit hall, and you’ll see one or two people with UAVs sitting on their table having coffee with their colleagues,” he said. “It’s a huge paradigm shift in how they’re viewed.” The mining and blasting industries are starting to understand just how valuable UAVs can be, not only with the tools they can provide but in the increased level of safety given to workers now that certain parameters are easily acquirable. “With LiDAR, specifically, and the accuracies you can get now, you’re able to build a pretty picture that’s not only a pretty picture but also a useful picture of what’s going on on-site,” said Matt Rosenbalm, Sales Manager for the Southern United States for Microdrones. “The engineers can then take that 3D model and make different recommendations and decisions to ensure they’re getting the most out of that mine or quarry, whether it be where they dig next, where they should blast next or how they should set up a blast. “The LiDAR and different sensors you can carry on drones now fit and mesh really well with the expectations of getting the most out of the quarry.”

Syamsul Bahri, Australasia Regional Sales Manager for Microdrones, started out selling surveying equipment, then working in the mining industry. Bahri knows firsthand how useful drones can be in those businesses. Now, he works for Microdrones, and Bahri came on Propelling to talk about Microdrones’ rising growth in the Australasia market since its entry to the region two years ago. “If we’re talking about mining, specifically, drones are used to capture updates of the mines and use high-resolution photos to take in-depth pictures of the mines,” Bahri said. Microdrones is a full solutions-based drone provider, which includes the complete packages customers are looking for with the training and software they need to operate these products successfully. Bahri said there are three main packages offered: mdLiDAR , for extreme geomatics productivity, mdMapper, a surveying solution, and mdTector, an integrated aerial methane inspection package. “What makes Microdrones different today than what they did before is the addition of more and more LiDAR sensors into our product portfolio to cover all the market needs,” Bahri said.

The LiDAR technology market’s expected growth is up to USD 2.2 billion by 2024, according to Markets & Markets. The adoption of Lidar systems in UAVs is a contributing factor to this expanding growth. Chuck Dorgan, Microdrone’s Director of Sales for the Americas, and Sebastien Long, Microdrone’s Canada & US Sales manager, shared their perspectives on the LiDAR boom with host Daniel Litwin. “LiDAR sensors are getting smaller and smaller,” Long said, “And, worldwide, more and more companies are offering sensors.” But with so many different LiDAR sensor products on the market, certain factors make a difference. The type of data gathered by the sensors and the LiDAR sensor workflow can be a product differentiator, Long said. And one of the issues Long often sees with so many choices is that a lot of first-time users don’t understand how to use the technology or make the right choice. Microdrones has a customer care team in place to help clients out, something many other providers in this industry do not have. This piece of the LiDAR/UAV integration puzzle, both Long and Dorgan said, is essential for full product integration. “We don’t want our clients to be left on the side after they purchased one of our systems,” Long said. “We want to be able to help them with any issue or question they may have.” Because Microdrones owns their entire LiDAR workflow and created a complete, integrated solution, Dorgan said this helps early adopters and people new to the technology. “The better the integration, the easier the workflow gets for every client,” Long said. The workflow Microdrones provides helps clients achieve the results they want to get out of their UAV system. With so much excitement around the possibilities of LiDAR technology, what does the future hold for the UAV industry? Long said sensors will get smaller and lighter, the software will improve, and Microdrones will be on the lookout for integrating the best of this technology as it becomes available.

LiDAR as an applicable technology has found its stride, and the demand for new uses continues to grow. According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global airborne LiDAR market alone is set to grow at a double-digit rate over five years, hitting a market value of $673 million USD by 2025. Irene Jimenez, Southern Europe Sales Manager at Microdrones, joined host Tyler Kern on this episode of Propelling to talk about integrating drone-based LiDAR, its applications and advantages. The application of LiDAR is known in many different fields such as construction, energy, rail, and mining, but the industry is growing with new possibilities available through drone-based LiDAR. Jimenez said that drone-based LiDAR is capable of regular applications of surveying, but drone-based allows Microdrones to cut down the time it takes to capture and process data. She said that recently in France, a power company needed to scan a hydro-electric dam and by using Microdrones’ drone-based LiDAR, what would have taken a crew weeks to scan, the drone completed in 110 minutes. She said that the data captured at the site only took 30 minutes to process, and if done in the traditional sense could have taken 10 to 12 hours. The obvious advantage to using drone-based LiDAR is access to difficult places, but it and Microdrones can offer other advantages too. Jimenez said that drones allow them to have a significantly lower cost compared to other aerial LiDAR systems. Microdrones’ has been in the market for 10 years and has “the best solutions for users” said Jimenez. She also said that they “own the full process of products,” from capturing to processing data. This allows them to be “one point of contact” and relieve the traditional hassle of going through and waiting on the different channels.

Surveying has always been a labor-intensive, precise industry. The technological advances from Microdrones have increased precision while reducing the manpower required. On this episode of the Propelling podcast, Matt Rosenbalm, Microdrones Sales Manager for the Southern US, Ross Kenney, UAS Sales and Support Lead for Navigation Electronics, and Robert Martin, Licensed Surveyor & Senior Technical Lead Survey Sales for Navigation Electronics, sat down with host Sean Heath and they discussed a few of the ways that Microdrones is changing the face of surveying. While surveying maintains the same exacting demands as always, today’s tools are much more efficient. “Surveying can sometimes be so labor enforcive, that your biggest overhead is going to be your employees,” Martin explained. “As technology progresses, I can see more and more uses for being able to take a drone, fly it around a piece of property, bring it back to the office, process it, and be able to create a deliverable that would have taken a surveyor weeks to do, he might be able to actually accomplish this in days now.”

“There’s never a lack of interest in what can be done with a drone," said Rick Rayhel, sales manager for Microdrones. Here on Propelling, a Microdrones podcast, we’ve experienced the same sentiment, exploring UAVs used for all sorts of innovative purposes. Today, we highlighted their role in crime and crash scene analysis. Though new to this market, drones are making waves in their new role in law enforcement, saving communities thousands of dollars and collecting evidence with startling accuracy. To expand upon the use of drones in this capacity is a full panel of professionals: Rick Rayhel, sales manager at Microdrones, along with Steve McKinzie, owner of CSI Mapping, Curt Haberlach, reconstructionist for McKinzie & Associates, and Kris Keberlein, accident reconstructionist for McKinzie & Associates. Anyone who has ever caught an episode of CSI will recognize the roll of yellow measuring tape often used by agents. But this archaic form of mapping is on its way out as UAV’s arrive on the scene, taking measurements more accurately, faster, and more efficiently. McKinzie, a 20 year veteran of forensic mapping, explained how holes in the industry brought about a technological revolution. A demand for accurate, shareable data was the impetus behind bringing drones onto a crime scene. With drone data determining courtroom verdicts, clean and indisputable evidence was a necessity. Drone’s capabilities have positive, far-reaching trickle-down effects. They are saving communities thousands of dollars. Haberlach explained how by unpacking the process of surveying a crash. Step 1: isolate the scene. This involves shutting down traffic and ramping up manpower, drawing into overtime for technicians onsite. Drones speed up the collection process and get a roadway quickly back to normal. The economic significance of this saved time is enormous. “We’re only going to see this technology adopted more often by agencies as we see the benefits come to fruition.” Rayhel said, asserting the dominance of drones in this specialized role. Give this panel discussion a listen to hear more on the use cases, impact and future of drones in law enforcement.

Drones aren't toys; they're solutions. On this episode of the Propelling podcast, host Daniel Litwin sat down with three Microdrones team members for an in-depth discussion on drone distributorships, branding, and the tremendous marketing opportunity that exists for third-parties looking at drones to ride the wave into the future. Today's show features Director of Marketing for the Americas and New Markets Bret Burghdurf, Vice President of Global Marketing Mike Dziok, and Creative Director Justin Palmer. "We're not selling drones, we're selling solutions," Burghdurf said. Microdrones works closely with distributors to provide training, customer service support, and even unique marketing content to help third-parties be successful. By using a storytelling approach to marketing, Microdrones features distributors as the experts highlighting their product out in the field through their customer's eyes. "The distributor is still the expert in what their customer wants," Dziok said. Also in this episode, the three discuss how Microdrones' brand has come to mean different things to different industries — different solutions solved with a drone, but consistent quality across the board. "Brand consistency is key because consistency builds trust, and that's what branding is all about," Palmer said.

Developing content and telling great stories has become a fundamental pillar for modern marketing. While developing content in-house is a major function of marketing teams, crowdsourced content is integral too, connecting to audiences in really personal way. That’s exactly what the team at Microdrones is doing, using stories from their B2B end-users and distributors to create content that benefits Microdrones...and the distributors. On today's episode of Propelling, we were joined by an impressive panel from the Microdrones marketing team to share their insights on the topic: Mike Dziok, Vice President of Global Marketing, Mirjam Baeumer, Director of Marketing for EMEA & New Territories, Bret Burghdurf, Director of Marketing for the Americas & New Markets, and Justin Palmer, Creative Services Manager. The drone industry is quite intriguing, something any marketer appreciates. “The drone industry is interesting. People want to ask questions and are eager to hear your story," Dziok said. “There are really no boundaries. People all over the world are excited about the opportunities," Baeumer said. This excitement has allowed the company to expand across the country and gives them a unique perspective on content. “The starting point of much of our content is video. We want to tell the story from the field and from the perspective of the user. We are always really happy to share the stories of our clients. It’s one thing for me to say our stuff is great. When we share the stories of our clients, it’s more impactful. People are rightly skeptical about this new technology, so it enables trust and assurance that a drone system can solve challenges," Dziok said. "Distributors are first ones that talk to end users and use our products, know the value and translate it to the users, more information about what end users want then we can take those ideas and develop content that resonates," Baeumer said. Not only does this kind of content better communicate the technology, solutions and impact of Microdrones' product line, but it gives distributors and end-users something to be proud of and something to engage with with a personal stake. Palmer explained the company’s perspective on content and why they lean into the numbers instead of the drones themselves. “It’s easy to focus on how cool drones are, put the real objective is collecting data points, and we’ve changed marketing to feature that aspect. That means we aren’t just using content of drones taking off and landing. There’s much more to the process, and our stories reflect this," he said. Give this podcast a listen to learn more about Microdrones' use of crowdsourced content and how their team has been successful in delivering content that engages and excites their audience.

En comparación con los helicópteros y otras aeronaves tripuladas, los UAV son convenientes y económicos, requieren menos mantenimiento, menos combustible y representan menos riesgo para la vida humana en operaciones potencialmente peligrosas. Lo que comenzó como un dispositivo de pasatiempo volador ahora se ha transformado en un fenómeno industrial global, que ofrece beneficios para la agricultura, la minería, la construcción, las comunicaciones de negocios, la ciencia atmosférica, el servicio de entregas y muchos otros sectores en todo el planeta. Latinoamérica no es la excepción. En este episodio del podcast Propelling de Microdrones, el presentador Daniel José Litwin, la voz de B2B, se sienta con Jesús Zenteno y Robson Augusto, gerentes de ventas de Microdrones para latinoamérica, para una conversación en español examinando la proliferación de los UAV al sur de la frontera de los EE.UU. Al igual que en otros países, los drones entraron a las regiones del hemisferio sudoccidental como un dispositivo de entretenimiento. Zenteno vio de inmediato el potencial de los datos capturados por los UAV, desde la generación de mapas más asequibles hasta el análisis de métricas de suelo menos costoso en la agricultura, decidiendo entonces y allí, seguir una carrera en tecnología de drones. Augusto ha liderado diferentes roles en la industria latinoamericana de los UAV, y tiene una perspectiva única sobre los factores que impulsan la tecnología y su influencia en varias industrias regionales. Hoy, Zenteno y Augusto discutieron con entusiasmo los beneficios de ahorro de tiempo que los UAV han permitido en varios procesos de negocios, las regulaciones que gobiernan el uso de vehículos aéreos no tripulados, la educación y calificaciones de pilotos, los conceptos de ciudades inteligentes, y cómo tener la herramienta adecuada afecta tanto a las industrias como a la ciudadanía latinoamericana con operación fácil, y captura de datos poderosamente mejorada, pero menos costosa. No se pierda esta interesante discusión que sigue la trayectoria creciente de la implementación de los UAV en los cielos de latinoamérica.

For decades the construction industry has remained largely unchanged in its practices and the technology that powers it. However, no one in AEC can deny the impact that drones, or UAVs, have had on construction design, surveying and mapping, and many see them as the future of the construction industry. Rick Rayhel, Microdrones' Sales Manager for United States' Western Region, is one of those people; he's seen first hand how drones can enhance the construction business. In the U.S., drones have only been used to aid construction in the last couple of years. On the precipice of drone potential, Rayhel said, “There’s never a lack of ideas or interest on what can be done with drones.” Today, drones are used for volumetrics, aerial photos, mapping, and 3D sketching to name a few applications. Drones assist in the many stages of a construction job, including monitoring safety and progress. Perhaps the biggest advantage of drones in construction, though, is their cost-effectiveness. On this episode of Propelling, Rick emphasizes that UAVs can save a company thousands of dollars in manpower. Instead of filing costly insurance claims after a safety incident, these vulnerabilities can be found before they lead to damage. Instead of laborious and often treacherous ground scanning done by humans, a UAV can collect data quickly and efficiently. Drones are collecting data at a dizzying rate, but that data is useless if a construction business does not know what to do with it. That is where Rayhel and Microdrones solutions come in. “Purchasing and flying the drone is the easiest part of the equation," Rayhel said. What is crucial is how companies take that data and implement changes that lead to profit for your business. Post-processing may be the most important part of using UAVs in the industry. Rayhel dives into detail about what to look for in a drone for construction work, and he divulges what crucial questions to ask before bringing UAVs into a business model.

Mapping is much different than it was even just a few years ago. Three-dimensional models are the new standard, improving upon the traditional two-dimensional renderings and blueprints. Drones are a big part of this revolution and are giving everyone from architects to surveyors unprecedented access to landscapes, structures and worksites. Irene Kwan, Microdrones' Sales Manager for Southeast Asia, joined Propelling to explain how construction companies and municipalities are taking a new look at the way things have been done in the past. “Traditionally for urban planning, it is carried out in two dimensions. So mostly, they have the experts there and they do the planning based on their feelings and their experience. But there is the problem, that we don’t actually know how accurate it is,” Kwan said. Accuracy is important in any business decision but especially when mapping out entire city landscapes. Drones are providing this accuracy and, when coupled with technology like augmented reality, can give professionals complete immersion into a space. This level of precision is unprecedented and is opening new insights into the best use of land, materials and budgets. In southeast Asia specifically, this accuracy can be lifesaving. Many areas in the region are prone to flooding and natural disaster, so it is crucial that public office holders have exact routes mapped out for citizens. Drones are helping to identify vulnerabilities in cities that would have previously gone unnoticed until was too late. Listen to Kwan explain how three-dimensional modeling can be applied to urban sprawl, land development, virtual reality, emergency management and even some incredible Hollywood special effects.

Drones are revolutionizing the way that many companies do business all over the world, and that’s not limited to just a few countries. Though everyone feels the impact, not every country handles the growth the same. The United States is under FAA regulation and Canada follows Transport Canada rules; what do the laws and regulations look like in countries within the Middle East, and how do they're projects influence the market in unique ways? On this episode of Propelling, we sat down with Charles Al Rachid, Middle East regional sales manager for Microdrones, and since 2009, he’s been with the company that started using drones as a service. Back then the Middle East had no regulations for drone technology to be implemented in the market, but he and his team worked with different government agencies within the UAE and Saudi Arabia, paving the way for some of these regulations that have taken shape over the years. According to Al Rachid, the goal is always to enable companies “to be able to provide their services in a safe, secure, and legal way.” And they’ve definitely revolutionized the certification process as well. It used to be that an inspector would come out, watch you utilize the drone, analyze and evaluate data, followed with a lengthy trail of paperwork. Now in 2019, it’s completely online, with pilots merely having to pass an evaluation to become licensed and companies having to register their drones. Any company can have multiple drones, but all drones need to be registered, and with each permit, you have to specify which pilot will be operating which drone. It’s a “very easy, quite straightforward automated online process,” Al Rachid said. Where things get tricky is a variety of different rules and regulations. The region hasn't unified their drone regulation under one framework, meaning from city to city, drone pilots are going to fly by different rules. Sometimes the changes are small and minute, sometimes they're drastic. Al Rachid points to a need for educating pilots on the ever-changing and diverse set of regulations in the Middle East. Listen to Al Rachid explain the most interesting use cases for drones in the Middle East, the best ways to get clients to find tangible benefits from implementing drones into their workflow, and the biggest inhibitor for the growth of the drone market (as well as the greatest positive catalyst) in his region.

In this Careers Podcast, we sat down with Eva Spexard, Recruiting & EMEA HR Manager for Microdrones, to explore one of the company's most exciting open positions: Experimental Engineer, a position that's as much a design job as it is a technical one. This engineer would be in charge of designing electronic circuits and prototyping those same systems, as well as putting their work to work, testing new aerial systems and sensors that are often first to market for the entire industry.

As drones have become more widespread in the consumer market, new regulation has been needed and set in order to ensure air traffic safety. In 2018, the U.S. introduced the FAA Reauthorization Act, which helped provide clarity to pilots of unmanned vehicles. Now, Transport Canada has announced new drone regulations as well that will go into effect in the middle of 2019. Similar to the U.S. Act, Canadian regulations hope to guide expectations for commercial pilots and hobbyists. Drone manufacturers are being affected as well, as their products will need to be reviewed for compliancy. Microdrones’ Sales Manager for US/Canada, Sebastien Long, shares his outlook on how these regulations will affect the market.

Hanno Truter, Sales Manager for Microdrones Africa, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, discusses some of the challenges and advantages drone users across the continent are facing. Africa is unlike all of the other Microdrones territories when it comes to sheer size and scope. “First of all, let me give you a bit of perspective on the actual size of Africa,” explains Hanno. “If you look at it from South to North, you’re talking about 8,000 kilometers and from East to West about 7500 km. North America, China, India, Eastern Europe, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan all can fit into Africa itself. So that’s quite a vast area to cover.” Although size and travel can be a challenge in Africa, Hanno explains what makes it so unique is that it’s very less institutionalized than the Unites States and Europe, meaning there’s a lot of room for entrepreneurs to experiment. Drones have similar applications in Africa as other markets including agriculture, mapping surveying, and inspection. However, distinctive to African countries are uses for land planning, emergency medical delivery routes and wildlife conservation. According to Hanno, the deployment of drone technology in Africa still faces technological, economic, social and legal regulatory challenges. Only 28% of African countries have official regulations in place which covers the use of drones. It’s a very unique market compared to the United States and Europe.

Audrey Pann, Sales Manager for southern and western Europe, notes on this episode of Propelling that successful distributors of Microdrones are well versed in the different features, qualities, pricing, and applications that each integrated solution provides. This has been achieved by developing great partnerships with the distributors. “Our relationship with our distributors has evolved since I started with Microdrones,” explains Audrey. “As the technology advances, the Distributors become more aware of their customer’s needs and the applications that must be fulfilled. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to build a strong partnership with our distributors.” The most successful relationships and partnerships are forged through great communication with the sales team. This includes onsite visits, tele-conferencing, sales meetings, customer development forums, and training. Cultivating the relationship is the best way to help the distributor acquire all the tools they need to be successful.

Often times, when people think about drones, they think about taking a toy, like a remote controlled airplane, out to a field and having a fun time. However, the technology in drones has become incredibly more advanced and the applications and uses for a drone are much more professionally focused. With this shift has come a boom in potential careers within the drone industry, from piloting to manufacturing. Eva Spexard is the HR Manager for Microdrones. Prior to working with the company, Eva had a background in human resources and global recruitment. She was not very familiar with drones, and shared the misconception that drones were a toy that photographers could use to take better pictures. Eva said, “Now that I am working in the industry, I see on a daily basis professionals using drones to help them do their job. Our UAVs can be used for surveying, mapping, construction, inspection, precision agriculture, mining, and other commercial applications. It’s so much more than just taking pictures from above. I really think the drone industry is the next automotive industry.” As the commercial growth of drones continues, the number of applications and ways they can be deployed is expanding too. Microdrones, a global market leader in professional UAV solutions, provides a number of unique integrated systems to assist their customers on the job. Eva notes that not only do the tools provide a different perspective from the air, but they also provide many new technological options to analyze data. “The mdLiDAR3000 is our newest LIDAR system,” says Eva, “and it’s really a revolution in professional geomatics. The new system is used in construction, land development, engineering and it combines our heavy lifting md4-3000 drone with a Riegl LiDAR and a SONY camera for rapidly producing colorized pointclouds.

Samuel Flick, European Sales Manager for Microdrones, sees great opportunity ahead for the commercial drone industry, especially having recently completed a successful BVLOS corridor mapping mission on the Autobahn. The mission was a key advancement in Beyond Visual Line of Sight, (BVLOS), making it possible to use drone aircraft for extended lengths of time and distances that would not otherwise be possible in advanced corridor mapping. "Microdrones is really at the forefront of this," Flick said. "Right now in Germany, the law requires a 400 meter line of sight. BVLOS really unlocks the potential of the drones." BVLOS is currently not allowed (or it's highly restricted) in most countries throughout the world. Drones are required to be flown within a certain line of sight of the operator due to safety concerns, operational control and flight duration times. Samuel says, “By law it’s forbidden to fly out of the line of sight. To get approval for BVLOS you need to get a lot of regulatory obligations and you have to be mindful of the air space around you. You need to be able to prove the drone is capable of safe flight, the pilot is trained, and the operation is planned.”

As Microdrones continues to grow and expand into new countries and markets, we find ourselves employing some of the top professionals in the business. Such is the case with Dominik Wojcik, who was recently hired as the Microdrones Eastern European Sales Manager. Based in Warsaw, Poland, Dominik will focus on a large portion of Eastern Europe including Poland, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania. When it comes to flying drones in Eastern Europe, countries have many different and varied regulations as to who, where, and how a drone may be operated. Fortunately for Dominik, Poland is ahead of the curve. “In 2016, Poland already had over 4,000 drone operators, which was the third highest in the world after Japan and the United States,” explains Wojcik. “In fact, since 2016 that number has tripled to over 12,000 operators. Getting a license isn’t easy. You need to pass a National exam. But as the number of operators continue to grow, the number of drone services also expands. We are already talking about BVLOS laws, a corridor for autonomous flight and those changes are coming to the market.” Beyond Poland, Dominik sees abundant opportunities throughout Eastern Europe to put Microdrones to work. Wojcik explains, “The eastern part of Europe is way behind in infrastructure, especially when it comes to roads compared to Western Europe. So basically, it's one big construction site, and our products are suited for helping with this." The challenge is keeping current with the various restrictions and laws from country to country.

Sion Rowlands, Sales Manager for Europe, has an extensive Geospatial background beginning with an education in Geomatics and Geospatial surveying. Throughout his career he’s focused on business development and Geospatial consulting throughout the United Kingdom. Now, in his role as Sales Manager, Rowlands showcases, promotes and sells Microdrones integrated systems throughout the European Geospatial community. On the podcast, Sion recaps his experience at the 2018 Intergeo conference, the global hub for the geospatial community. He noted that this year there was a much stronger influence and presence of UAV companies and solution providers. “There’s always been a strong focus on the traditional geospatial data collection methods: GPS, control stations, laser scanners and the like. However, this year there was a much heavier influence and presence of drones and solution providers such as Microdrones,” Rowlands said. "We’re at the point where there’s beginning to be a shift within the industry that UAVs have become an important tool in the geospatial portfolio.”

On this episode of Propelling, the Microdrones podcast, Elmer Guardado and Mike Dziok take the conversation across the Pacific to speak with Darren Wilkinson, Sales Manager for Microdrones in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, about the drone business in his region. Darren discusses drone market trends, his methodology for building relationships with clients, and how drone technology has evolved, been adopted and been appreciated in his regions.

This month, we interview Sebastien Long; Sebastien is the Sales Manager for Microdrones in Canada and parts of the northern U.S. With a background in aviation, Sebastien started his UAV career with drone services company Avyon/Flyterra, which later merged with Microdrones in 2016. He discusses the difference between selling drones vs. a full solution, what he learned from selling service work, and how it applies to developing the fully integrated systems of today, including LiDAR.