How 5G drones will help deliver digital twins

Autonomous drones could save infrastructure owners tens of billions of dollars a year

Skydio is preparing to use 5G to enable its autonomous inspection drones to coordinate their activities and quickly and reliably relay images and scans of critical infrastructure, and construction and accident sites to decision makers. Regular inspections will enable infrastructure owners to create digital twins of their assets, which can be used to guide proactive maintenance and design improvements.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more commonly known as drones, are an exciting and compelling market segment for advanced communications services based on 4G and 5G. With a wide range of hardware products available to commercial and consumer markets, the applications for drones continue to grow rapidly. Drones are implicitly mobile, and connectivity already features strongly in the operation of these devices. Yet most drones are limited by the technologies available and this constrains the potential market development, especially in the commercial sector.