Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The drone (UAV) was initially developed for military purposes in order to reduce
the risk of pilots. Significant for a drone is that it can fly by itself or be remotely
controlled by a operator. The drone's size, price and handling have made it more attractive to the forest industry. Education of Forest Engineers is adaptive and
should be characterized by what current research shows and what the forest
industry considers to be the necessary knowledge for a forest engineer. Thus, the
School for Forest Management considering whether to implement drones in the
education.

The first purpose of this study is to analyze which laws and regulations apply
when using drones. The second purpose is to accomplish a market survey to
identify how/if potential employers use drones and which models are possibly
used.

The literature study has been carried out by analyzing scientific articles, Rules and
regulations of The Swedish Transport Agency, internet sites and previous degree
projects. The market survey is made as a qualitative study with telephone
interviews. The interviewed companies are divided into categories:
 Member Organizations
 Forestry companies with large land holdings (> 1000000 ha)
 Other forest companies
 Management
 Authorities
 Certification Company
 University
 Consulting company with drone
 Software developer

In the study, 31 companies were surveyed and 25 have participated. The most
common uses are to get a quick overview from above, manufacture of orthophotos, inventory of bearings and instruction films. The most common
models are DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Phantom 4 Pro.

Conclusions are that 47 percent of the operational organizations use the drone
regualarly in the business. The remaining categories use the drone recurring.
However, all respondents believe that the drone will be used more frequently in
five to ten years in their organizations. Threats are the design of laws, software
development, knowledge and other possibilities in the form of satellite images and
laser scanning. A forest engineer should know which laws and rules apply when using drones and what opportunities exist. Methods for calculating stock volumes
are underway but accuracy remains.