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Robotics Research
Posted on May 21, 2021 by  & 

Fixed-Wing or Rotary: Which is Better?

Drones are a key market that impacts many different aspects of industry and commercial use cases. IDTechEx's new report covers the hardware, software, sensors, and use cases for this key industry in "Drone Market and Industries 2021-2041". The report forecasts that drone hardware sales alone will contribute $8.9Bn by 2031, and in total the entire drone market will be over $22Bn by 2041.
 
Drone companies typically fall into one of two categories: Fixed-wing or Rotary drones. These drones typically also have different use cases. Fixed-wing drones require a take-off and landing zone and are used in long-distance flights as they typically have longer flight times. On the other hand, rotary drones are used in cases where more maneuverability is required, for example, for inspection of infrastructure.
 
Different drones have different applications. Rotary drones are typically more efficient for smaller drone sizes due to their design. With four fixed-pitch props, there are few moving parts, and this reduces the cost of the drone. However, this design does not scale up very well.
 
Quadcopters require stabilization for each of their motors in order to fly. For the drone to stay stable in the air, it needs to individually adjust the thrust in each of its props. As a quadcopter requires its motors to speed up or slow down to adjust the thrust, there needs to be a built-in time delay to how fast the drone can react, as it takes time to change the speed of the prop due to its inertia. So scaling the drone up to a larger size does not work because the larger the propeller, the more energy it takes to change its speed. This either needs a drastic oversize of each motor which would increase the weight, or have a slow dynamic response, which would impact handling.
 
 
The range of use cases available for drones permits a range of drone solutions. As a result, fixed-wing craft are typically used in long flight use cases, such as agriculture, mapping and localization, in forestry management, and other similar applications. On the other hand, rotary drones are typically cheaper, used for both consumer and prosumer uses, and commercial uses such as infrastructure management.
 
In the recent report "Drone Market and Industries 2021-2041", IDTechEx analyses and compares the key trends and changes over the next two decades, with forecasts for drone hardware, sensors, and use cases providing you with all the detailed information you need for this exciting and innovative market.
 
What key questions does this report "Drone Market and Industries: 2021-2041" answer?
 
• What are the main use cases for drones in 2030, 2040?
• Who are the major players in the drone market?
• What are the key drivers for market growth?
• What is the projected revenue for the drones market from 2020 onwards?
• What is the drone market segmentation?
• What is the drone segmentation between consumer and commercial drones?
 
For more information on this report please see www.IDTechEx.com/Drones or contact research@IDTechEx.com.
 
 
What is the impact of COVID-19?
 
The drones market has continued to see growth throughout 2019 and 2020 according to IDTechEx analysis. This is due to the vast range of use cases which drones can be used for, and their continued benefit to collect detailed data and mapping of areas which are difficult to cover by humans.
 
What other reports are available from IDTechEx?
 
This drones market research report for 2021-2041 is part of the Robotics portfolio in IDTechEx's research. For the full portfolio of Robotics research available from IDTechEx please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Robotics.
 
IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.
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