LiDAR Drone Market Size, Share - Segmented by Component, Product, End-user Industry, and Geography - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2019 - 2024)

LiDAR Drone Market 

In 2017, the global LiDAR drone market was valued at USD 20.982 million and is projected to reach a value of USD 126.15 million by 2023, recording a CAGR of 34.85% over the forecast period, 2018-2023. The scope of the report is limited to the solutions that are offered by major players, including providers of laser scanners, navigation systems, positioning systems, and cameras. While the regions that are considered in the scope of this report include North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

The increasing use of drones, across various applications, such as aerospace & defense, agriculture & forestry, and natural resources management, among others, is expected to propel the industry’s growth. Moreover, technological advancements with regards to drones, and the rising need for surveillance are further driving the market growth. However, high costs associated with LiDAR drones are restricting their adoption. Companies are striving to innovate and develop products, offering scope of opportunities for the market growth. Aiming at the burgeoning market for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in 2016, Velodyne LiDAR launched the world’s lightest 16-channel LiDAR sensor.

Technological Advancements In Drone Technology To Drive The Market

Huge leaps in the drone innovation and technology, there has been a big move from the high-cost fixed wing aircraft to the low-cost and more efficient UAV LiDAR drones. LiDAR sensors on UAVs capture images that previously needed an aircraft, large heavy LiDAR sensors and a crew to accomplish. A LiDAR sensor mounted on a UAV, along with a sophisticated software, can process LiDAR images quickly in the cloud. Therefore, effective decisions can be made by stakeholders and relevant parties in a short turnaround time. It is estimated that by the end of the forecast period, the LiDAR sensor sales are expected to rise threefold than that of 2014. In a short period of time, manufacturers of the best aircraft LiDAR sensors have engineered LiDAR sensors for small drones. The output from these UAV LiDAR sensors is outstanding and are expected to keep on improving as more manufacturers penetrate this sector.

Corridor Mapping Application Accounted For The Largest Market Share

In 2016, the corridor mapping application accounted for the largest market share. Corridor mapping is an important step during the planning and construction of roadways, railways, and oil and gas pipelines, among other crucial networking industrial applications. As highway corridors and projects are constructed with a long-term perspective, it is necessary to conduct a thorough feasibility study of the terrain on which the highway is to be constructed. LiDAR drones provide all this information by building three-dimensional (3D) elevation models of the surveyed area. Therefore, the corridor mapping and surveying application in the industry occupies the largest share in the LiDAR drone market.

North America Is Expected to Dominate the LiDAR Drone Market 

In North America, the agriculture & forestry industry is likely to remain prosperous and a major contributor towards the GDP. Aerial photography helps farmers to identify their crops and take decisions of whether or not increasing the water supply. Its application in farming has increased, reflecting greatly on the North American market. Moreover, North America is expected to continue its dominance in the LiDAR drone market, owing to rising investments in innovations in the defense sector. Military and defense applications in the region are likely to grow at an augmented pace, due to demand fueled by government investment. There have been increasing levels of investment in surveillance and security in the defense sector. Thus, North America is likely to continue leading the market, over the years to come.

Key Developments in LiDAR Drone Market 

• October 2017 - Velodyne LiDAR Inc., a developer of 3D vision systems for autonomous vehicles, partnered with YellowScan, in order to integrate its VLP-16 Puck and VLP-16 Puck LITE LiDAR sensors into YellowScan’s Surveyor for a turn-key and reliable LiDAR system for UAV applications. The result of this partnership was a real-time in-flight LiDAR monitoring platform, where users are able to see how the final map is being generated in the real-time during a drone mission, and the basic map datasets that are made available immediately after the mission.
• May 2017 - senseFly released senseFly Corridor, a new platform enhancement that simplifies the drone mapping of linear infrastructure and sites. It made its debut at AUVSI Xponential in Dallas. With senseFly Corridor, commercial operators can easily plan an automated corridor mapping mission, containing one or numerous flights.
• April 2017 – A 3D measurement solutions provider, Faro Technologies acquired, a laser scanner manufacturer, Nutfield Technology, aiming to expand its presence in key markets, as well as improve upon its existing product lines.

LiDAR Drone Market Major Players:

• Velodyne LiDAR
• Phoenix Aerial Systems
• Faro Technology
• Leica Geosystems AG
• Trimble Navigation Limited
• Riegl Laser Measurement Systems GmbH
• Sick AG
• Optech, Inc.

Reasons To Purchase LiDAR Drone Market Report

• To know what is the impact of opportunities that are offered by aerial imaging and increased surveillance needs.
• To analyze various market perspectives, with the help of Porter’s five forces analysis.
• To know about the growth of various hardware products, such as sensors, laser scanners, and navigation systems.
• To study the regional analysis of the market.
• To identify the latest developments, market shares, and strategies that are employed by the major market players.
• Three months analyst support, along with the Market Estimate sheet (in excel).

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