An equally novel application is using drones in construction work. “They are just a platform and you can attach things to them, so why not?” says Wisniewski. “They could do small repairs on power lines, or telecoms towers and antennas where there’s not only the risk to humans of working at height but the danger of a shock or powerful electromagnetic radiation.”  Insurance could also be a big market for drones. UAVs can assess large-scale damage quickly, but the real benefit could be in before and after comparisons, allowing insurers to assess the true extent of a flood or fire.  “The aim is to get insurance companies to build a database of what they insure,” says McClure. “That way afterwards they can compare the data, and can even click down to the single brick level.”  Other uses include stock checking, particularly of large items, with one example being rail wagons in goods yards. The speed of drones mean that such bulky items can be monitored much faster than by a human on foot.  Security is another area where an eye in the sky can deliver benefits; DPS says that when drones were used to monitor a Polish rail goods yards for stock checking it had the added benefit of slashing thefts by 60pc.  However there are obstacles in the way of drones. In the UK operators are limited by aviation regulator the CAA to “line of sight” flight, with similar controls in many other nations. In practice this means that drones cannot fly more than 1500ft from the pilot or at an altitude above 400ft, and operations in built-up areas require special permission.  The authority also limits their weight, reducing endurance and the payloads they can carry.
Amazon&rsquo;s drones might be grabbing the headlines, but right now aerial delivery of orders to your back garden is something of a flight of fancy - at least until legal restrictions are removed.