ROBOTICS CLUSTER

Key Market: Commercial Drones
The small unmanned system (sUAS) market is the fastest-growing and most dynamic UAS sector. Compared
to larger systems, sUAS, those systems weighing less than 25 pounds, are much lower in cost to purchase
and operate, offering young companies the opportunity to create novel solutions based on UAS technologies
that deliver real value.
Commercial sUAS ecosystem revenue
will reach more than US$5 billion
by 2019, up from US$651 million in
2014.
At this time, the consumer UAS is currently engaged in a race to the bottom in terms of pricing, a process
that will continue as technology becomes commoditized and new companies enter the market. At the same
time, defense funding for sUAS technologies remains flat. As a result, providers of both consumer and
defense sUAS are reengineering their offerings and amending their business plans to quickly provide commercial
sUAS solutions. In doing so, they are joining a large number of young, entrepreneurial firms focused
on the same markets, many who have recently received sizable sums of early-round investment funding for
commercial drone technologies. Examples include Massachusetts-based CyPhy Works, as well as Precision-
Hawk, Airware, and more. Funding rounds for these firms are given in expectation that the base hardware
platform is only one component of a larger offering that can include:
• Platforms: Base sUAS platform, plus customary technology required for system use. Includes
airframes, standard sensor/camera payloads, control technology, battery chargers, etc.
• Systems/Platforms Support and Services: Ancillary hardware and software technologies provided
by the platform supplier or services firms. Includes additional/custom payload options, redundant
components, toolkits, training, technical support, service/repair, casing, launch or recovery equipment,
hardware (HW)/software (SW) updates, etc.
• Application Services: Includes data services, modeling services, operator services, licensing/permitting
services, legal/liability services, industry specific applications and services, etc.
Commercial sUAS revenue will
reach US$5 billion in 2019, up from
US$651 million in 2014.
• Enabling Technologies: Enabling technologies that replace, augment, improve, or extend the functionality
of UAS. Includes specialized/custom payloads, motors, propellers and balancers, control systems,
cameras and gimbals, batteries/power, communication HW/SW, navigation/monitoring HW/SW,
airframe components, and more.
According to ABI Research, the total commercial sUAS ecosystem revenue will reach more than US$5 billion
by 2019, up from US$651 million in 2014 for a CAGR of 51.4%. Perhaps more importantly, the bulk of 2019
revenue will be the result of application services (Figure 9).
Most commercial drone applications
fall under “field robotics.”
Most commercial sUAS applications fall under the aegis of “field robotics,” with applications targeting some
of the largest industries in the world. In 2015, approximately 25% of all commercial sUAS applications were
for agriculture, followed by infrastructure/industrial inspection (15%), geology/mining (13%), and oil and gas
(10%) (ABI Research, 2015).
www.abiresearch.com
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