Inside Unmanned Systems

FEB-MAR 2016

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

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ENGINEERING. PRACTICE. POLICY. 41 unmanned systems inside January/February 2016 BY THE NUMBERS $199 million (€183) 2015 revenue for Europe's small UAS industry (estimated). $117 million (€108) 2014 revenue for Europe's small UAS industry. Source: Dan Kara, ABI Research Switzerland is the exception that proves the rule. One of Europe's smallest countries, it is home to some of the continent's largest, most successful and most interesting drone manufacturers and service providers includ- ing senseFly, Pix4D, SwissDrones and Fly- ability. The country's long history of precision engineering and world-leading expertise in the measurement and materials sciences are sure to have given the mountainous micro-nation a headstart in the micro-technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries. Matt Wade, Marcomms Manager at senseFly Ltd., in Lausanne, cites two concrete reasons to explain the drone monster that is little Switzerland. "Two of our universities—EPFL (École Poly- technique Fédérale) in Lausanne and ETH (the Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich— have cutting-edge robotics labs," he said, "and the start-up environment is pretty friendly, with some good support programs, incubators, etc." Whatever the reason, Kara said, in the drone market, "the Swiss are exceptional." Not Unlike the Rest of the World The market in Europe and regions such as the U.S. or South America, Kara said, "are similar in that you can find examples of companies tar- geting the military, civil, commercial, hobbyist and toy markets. Still, there are differences in emphasis." For example, Asian firms dominate the hob- byist and toy markets—companies like DJI of Shenzhen, China and Yuneec Electric Aviation of Shanghai—but France's Parrot SA is also a ma- jor player. Meanwhile, for both small and large drones for military and security applications, North America and Israel dominate, but, again, there are a number of strong European firms. Europe's real advantage, however, is among professional UAS users. "Where Europe is very strong is in the com- mercial drone space," Kara said, "led by sense- Fly, Aibotix, Pix4D, Delair-Tech and others." Kara expects the commercial market to ex- pand as the platforms themselves evolve. "Generally speaking," he said, "consumer drones will continue to increase in functional- ity, and much faster than most realize—becom- ing easier to f ly and perhaps opening up new applications. This will drive market growth." Even so, cutthroat competition is already changing the market. The consumer airframe market is in a race to the bottom in terms of pricing, cautioned Kara, even as systems become more capable, with hundreds of new companies coming to market with products. The eXom rotorcraft, built by SenseFly of Lausanne, Switzerland, can provide high defi nition and thermal video imagery, and HD still images.

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