UAVs mature, their roles of sensing and monitoring will eventually give way to robotic functions allowing them to operate as hybrids.  Drones soon will take on far more complex tasks.  Flying drone robots may soon be able to perform not only inspection but engineering modifications using onboard toolkits.   The UAS market in the U.S. hasn’t had the commercial jump start of growth from the energy sector seen in Israel, the U.K.  Much of this revolves around the regulatory challenges. Congress’s recently passed legislation requiring expedited integration of UAS into the national aviation infrastructure by 2015 should finally start the engines. UAS operation has historically been expensive when you add up the cost of hardware, software, training, technical support, and the occasional crash and burn event.  However, as the market continues to grow as does more affordable solutions.  Operators coming back from Afghanistan may find themselves met by more opportunities in the civilian world.  Soon UAVs might be familiar terrain features in the sky above the U.S.  However, integration of aerial vehicles may be easier said than done given the already crowed air space.  However the next decade unfolds, you can count on the fact that unmanned aerial vehicles and their even more robotic successors will be a big part of it.

UAV’S HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM TO LOOK AFTER THE BAAKEN

Civilian airspace might be crowded, according to the FAA, but as you can see from the image, it’s a little less crowded in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota.

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