As the recent flood situation in Central Europe has arisen, it occured to me that using helicopters to monitor the areas affected by the floods is not exactly ideal, which is why I decided to write this article presenting the advantages of using UAVs instead of helicopters.
The first obvious advantage is the size of the vehicle. An average helicopter occupies the area of approximately 110 cubic meters, a Dragonflyer X6 model UAV approximately 0.25 – that is 440x less. The fact that you do not need very specific landing and take-off areas is very important. It is also possible to transport UAVs in any emergency vehicle without taking up the space which other crucial equipment needs. There is also a model that could fit into a suitcase thanks to its folding capabilities - Draganflyer X4- ES.
Next comes the ease of use. A helicopter needs a proffesional pilot which there might be not enough of in a situation of intense flooding. Nowadays, UAVs are very simple to control – the handheld controllers are akin to video game controllers – anyone can learn to use them effectively in very short time. They also come with many pre-programmed functions that even further simplify their usage, like the hold position setting, where you can easily order the UAV to hover in one place and focus only on controlling the camera.
The camera mounts are made in such a way that it is possible to switch the camera for more specialized types depending on the situation. In this case it might be necessary to make a thermal scan of an area for survivors, or perhaps it is night time and you need to get a visual of the area – a UAV can be equipped with IR and night vision cameras.
UAVs also have very low running costs because they run off of batteries instead of expensive fuel. They can maintain flight for about half an hour and then recharged for minimal costs.
All in all, UAVs are better in all situations where you need quality surveillance, helicopters should be used only in actual rescue missions.
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