Consumer-level unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be purchased off the shelf and be up in the air as soon as the batteries are charged, but the data-driven world of construction surveying often demands something a bit more robust. In anticipation of up- coming regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration, surveying and mapping equipment firms are making big investments in UAVs. Many companies are already offering their own drones that are tailored to the needs of construction surveying.
"Anybody can run to a hobby shop, get a quadcopter [UAV] and throw a GoPro [camera] on it. But that's just a photo," says Bryan Baker, Leica Geo- systems' NAFTA region sales manager for unmanned-aircraft systems. "People in construction are going to want this integrated into their CAD systems, their building information modeling, their construction design tools. You're not going to get that from a hobby shop." Leica now offers two unmanned aircraft systems: the high-end Dragon 35 syncopter from original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Swissdrones, Sevelen, Switzerland, and the more compact, less pricey Aibot A6 hexacopter, made by Aibotix, a Kassel, Germany-based drone maker Leica acquired in early 2014.