While until not so long ago drones were mainly used in the domains of military industry and miniature enthusiasts, they have now become becoming part of our everyday life. The key issue in the project preparation is choosing either a fixed wing drone (airplane), or a drone featuring (one or more) rotor blades.
Which type of drone you choose depends on how you intend to use it. For this purpose, answer the following questions:
- How large is your area of observation?
- What is the structure of this area?
- What object resolutions do you want to achieve?
- In what weather conditions do you want to use it?
- How much landing space do you have available?
The table below explains the core differences between what a fixed wing drone and a rotary UAV have to offer:
| Fixed Wing Drone | Rotary Drone | |
| Applications | land surveying (rural) agriculture GIS quarries and open mines environmental management construction |
inspection and monitoring real estate land surveying (urban) construction emergency response media |
| Cruising Speed | high | low |
| Coverage | large | small |
| Object Resolution | cm/px | mm/px |
| Take-off / Landing Area | large | very small |
| Flight time | long | short |
| Wind Resistance | high | low |
