$HALB When talking about UAV market and the potential markets that can emerge. Aerial mapping. This is a huge segment. As the civilian sector starts utilizing more and more UAV’s this would be an ideal situation. New emerging technologies are making image resolution so good that it is like watching high definition TV. Now add the GIS perspective to this and you now have an aerial surveyor. This would essentially make the traditional surveyor obsolete. This can all be done by adding the differential GPS to the platform. By using this ground technique of surveying you take the known position of a bench mark and have it incorporated into the GPS coordinates. This technique virtually eliminates all errors.
The prohibitive area today is the limitations placed on operators by the weight restriction of the airframe by the FAA. After the first of the year that restriction will increase to 55 pounds. Now you have a viable platform that can carry the necessary equipment to perform services like this to revolutionize the mapping industry. It can cover greater areas in far less time at a greatly reduced cost per square mile.
So today we are talking about a 6+ billion dollar sector with growth potential to more than double in the next 10 years. Did they miss the estimates and marks? I really don’t think the analysts are thinking far enough outside the box to understand how big this segment can be in 10 years. Are you thinking outside the box yet? Just food for thought.
