Drones: 10 Novel Uses For Your City

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(Image: ivansmuk/iStockphoto)

Drones have a pretty bad name.

They're mostly thought of as killing machines or privacy invaders. Many of us envision a world with millions of them buzzing through the skies, causing constant noise, or with drones falling from the sky like hail and crashing around us.

But drones are also cheap and incredibly useful tools. Because FAA regulations still limit who can use them, "drones-as-a-service" will remain relatively rare, for now. But state and local governments have started seeing the potential.

The obvious first potential is in police work. Everyone sees the killer drone as the extension of the SWAT team or the bomb squad. That’s all well and good, but for drones to get out of the Hollywood-created perception that they are killing machines we need some other uses for them.

Drones are cheap. Police in Tennessee estimate they can run a drone for $3.80 per hour, compared to a helicopter, which costs $600 per hour. Because of the relative cheapness, there is no reason to restrict the drone's role to that of extension of the police. We found 10 cities around the world that are using drones for other situations.

[Want to learn more about drones? Here's a look.]

Some are still related to emergency services. Some are probably a little frightening. A fair number could be money-makers for governments. But all have a money-saving component. In the right environment, a drone can save governments money and do a job better than traditional assets.

One recent example happened after an earthquake in Washington, D.C. Instead of using drones, human teams rappelled down the side of the Washington Monument to check it for cracks. The same service could have been performed faster, cheaper, and safer by drones.

Hopefully, these 10 use-cases can inspire cities to be more creative with drones. Check them out, and tell us which you think more cities should be trying.

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