Ukrainians learning to profit from mini-drones

The first launches of aerial platforms (multicopters) assembled in Ukraine used for photo and video shooting were conducted in 2008 in small communities of model makers, design engineers and programmers. At the moment, there are around 30 such enthusiasts in Kyiv alone. The boom happened literally over the past six months, tells Director of Kyiv office of the computer academy Shah (Step) Ivan Dovhal. Members of such communities open their own companies and learn to earn money by providing services of commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), which now not only feature photo and video shooting at a certain altitude, but also include delivery of shipments, drafting of maps and modeling of surfaces, inspection of facilities, solutions for companies in the agrarian complex and the energy, telecom and construction industries. “The area of application is quite wide and continues to grow,” says co-founder of Drone.ua Valeriy Yakovenko. His company appeared in early 2014. It assembles multicopters to meet the needs of a client. Then, the device can be either sold or leased. Drone.ua does not develop the platforms. “But we are thinking about it,” shares Yakovenko.

Making money from aerial photo and video shooting

There are few amateur model makers that turned their hobby into a profitable business. Five companies make commercial multicopters, says Dovhal. They mainly purchase finished parts and develop software for them. The expert estimates the production cost of a reliable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for a professional camera at US $6,000-8,000 and another US $3,000-4,000 must be spent on suspension for the camera. Together with all land stations, the assembly of a drone costs US $10,000-15,000. At that, thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars can be earned on the sale of one multicopter. Its lease together with the operator-pilot (who flies the drone remotely) may cost US $1,000 per day. There is practically no competition on this market in Ukraine, while finished devices sold in stores are only designed for amateur photo and video shooting.

Flying in the wrong direction

Development of one item that is not targeted at the mass consumer market may cost dozens of thousands of dollars, says Andriy Palekha, the head of FlyCamStudio, which provides commercial drone services. A number of multicopters currently available on the mass market are manufactured based on the principle of maximum economy. That is why they often create problems in the process of use, for instance flying in the wrong direction. “We are not aiming at developing a platform for mass use,” he explains.
FlyCamStudio currently sells around two dozen drones per year and has 50-60 working shifts. “The market as such is only starting to form,” says Yakovenko. Palekha, however, claims he does not view shooting from a copter as a separate business. “It is just an additional “power-up” of the main business,” he believes.

Courier drones

Major world companies are actually thinking about such “power-up”. For instance, the founder of the largest online retailer Amazon Jeff Bezos said at the end of last year that his company will be able to start using UAV for delivering orders within the next five years. It is expected that drones will be able to deliver an item from the warehouse to the buyer within 30 minutes after the purchase is made on the website.

This year, the government of the United Arab Emirates has begun talking about using drones in large-scale projects. It wants to launch a fleet of drones flying at low altitudes for delivery of documents, for instance passports or IDs or ensuring emergency services in places that are suffering from disaster.