Software Is the Future of the Drone Industry: DJI Modify and Why More and More Drone Makers Are Getting into the Software Game

We just finished updating our list of the top drone companies in the world.

One thing that stood out when doing the update is that, compared to past updates, there are now so many more drone software companies—in total, the list now has 36 hardware companies and 24 software companies.

(Of course, these numbers aren’t exhaustive—there are way more companies out there in both categories.)

Based on the growth we’ve seen on the software front, we wouldn’t be surprised to see even more software companies that deserve a spot on the list in future updates.

Credit: Pix4D

Why Software Is the Future

A few years ago at Commercial UAV Expo we were talking to a drone inspection expert from MFE Inspection Solutions about one of the biggest U.S. drone makers. And something they said really stood out.

The drone hasn’t really changed, and it probably won’t change that much. For commercial applications, it’s the software that really matters.

These words opened a door in our mind.

And it made sense. At their core, drones are really just data collections tools. You can think of them as flying sensors for gathering visual data, thermal data, LiDAR data, or whatever you need for your work.

DJI Modify | Credit: DJI

What really matters is what you can do with that data.

Can you make a 3D model that helps you understand exactly where a defect is located deep within a sewer pipe? Can you create an orthomosaic that’s detailed enough to help you sell that large piece of real estate to a high end buyer?

And, as our uses for drones grow more sophisticated and tailored, the importance of software will only grow.

Flyability’s Inspector Software

At Flyability, a company that makes drones for inspections in confined spaces, the importance of software has grown significantly over the years.

As its indoor drones get more and more sophisticated, the software the company makes for inspectors has kept pace.

Flyability’s Inspector 3.0 allows you to create a 3D model in real time as the drone flies, using SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) so that inspectors can geolocate defects.

Why is this important? Because it’s notoriously hard to know where something is in visual footage when you’re flying inside uniform spaces.

Inspectors often resort to using manual methods to locate defects in their drone footage, like counting the number of bolts and approximating the distance between each one. When you need to dig into the ground to fix something, as you would for sewer maintenance, or build scaffolding 60 feet in the air, as you would for boiler maintenance, knowing exactly where the work needs to be done is really important.

Internal inspections are a multi billion dollar industry. And Flyability’s software is enabling inspectors, allowing them to use the company’s drones to their fullest capacity.

But this is also just one specific use case. And, from here, you can imagine just how many types of software could potentially proliferate to support various types of drone operations.

DJI Modify

Another example of a drone maker investing significantly in software is DJI, which just put out its first ever intelligent 3D modeling software.

Called DJI Modify, the software “makes it simple to complete model editing efficiently.”

As DJI puts it, when you pair DJI Modify with one of its enterprise drones and DJI Terra—DJI’s 3D model reconstruction software—you get a comprehensive solution for editing your models.

On its face, DJI Modify is software made to democratize 3D drone modeling so you don’t need special skills or training to do it. According to DJI, the new software is made to support surveying and mapping, firefighting, emergency response, and transportation.

Here’s how it works:

• You collect your drone data.
• You use DJI Terra to create a 3D modeling project with that data.
• Within DJI Terra, you launch DJI Modify to create 3D models and do model edits.

So why would DJI invest so much money in creating high end software?

For the same reason Flyability and so many other drone makers are doing it: Because helping their customers get more out of their drones will help them sell more drones.

But it’s also about the software itself.

In addition to enabling customers, software presents an incredibly enticing revenue model. With software, you get recurring subscription fees—called recurring annual revenue, something investors love for its reliability—whereas when you sell a drone you just make a single sale.

These two factors combined—helping people do more with their drones while also creating reliable revenue streams—are powerful drivers of company goals.

And, in this case, what’s good for the company is also good for its customers.

After all, the more we get high-quality, easy-to-use software like DJI Modify, the more useful drones become. And the more useful drones become, the more work there will be, and potentially the more use cases, too, presenting a flywheel of opportunity for drone pilots.