P50 - Drone Usage in industrial fields
- Event
- iCCC2026 - iCampus Cottbus Conference
2026-05-05 - 2026-05-07
Cottbus - Band
- Poster
- Chapter
- Mobilität
- Author(s)
- P. Werban, M. Nattke, P. Naeser - BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus
- Pages
- 318 - 321
- DOI
- 10.5162/iCCC2026/P50
- ISBN
- 978-3-910600-10-2
- Price
- free
Abstract
Drones are increasingly used across industrial environments for monitoring, inspection, and safety-related tasks. While their ability to cover large areas and collect high-quality data provides significant operational advantages, most industrial deployments still rely on manual piloting, limiting scalability and efficiency. This paper examines the distinction between autonomous, semi-autonomous, and non-autonomous drone operations and highlights the benefits of integrating drones into industrial software systems such as maintenance, security, and monitoring platforms. By analyzing typical use cases, including solar field inspection, surveillance of industrial sites, and early fire detection in open-cast mining areas, this work discusses when autonomous and integrated systems offer measurable advantages and when manual operation remains more suitable. In addition, regulatory constraints for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations are considered, with a focus on the risk-based classification into open, specific and certified categories. The findings show that recurring and predictable missions benefit most from autonomous and integrated approaches, while irregular or highly dynamic scenarios still require human intervention. Due to the frequent use of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations in industrial contexts, autonomous drone missions typically fall into the specific category, requiring structured risk assessment and operational documentation. Overall, integrated autonomous drones can significantly reduce labor effort, increase data availability, enable compliant BVLOS operations and improve decision-making in industrial workflows.