Growing Demand For Underwater Drones

Drones have made their way into a variety of different market spaces today: medical deliveries, fire fighting, policing, sports training, real estate, tourism, and much more. Over the last several years, many different types of drones in all different sizes, shapes, and prices, have come to market. You can find some that fit into the palm of your hand and others (much larger) that are the size of a backpack. You can spend anywhere between a few hundred dollars to several thousand; depending on what you are looking for.

It's estimated that someday soon the world overall might be spending roughly $120 billion a year on commercial drones alone. As it stands currently, hundreds of thousands of drones are still being sold every year.

There are many people using their drones to explore new places and film quality content for a variety of reasons and different platforms, and a growing number of folks are now looking to send their drones under the sea.

At the moment, there are a number of companies looking to market underwater drones specifically and one of those at the forefront is Blueye Robotics that is said to be pioneering the underwater drone for an affordable price so as to open up this technology to even more consumers.

The drone from Blueye is estimated to cost around $3000, but this doesn't really seem affordable for the average consumer. The waterproof drone is able to be operated like a video game, descending up to 450 feet under water. The device, referred to as the Pioneer, weighs less than 18 lbs, is able to be used to record and stream 1080p videos at 30 frames per second.

The Pioneer from Blueye is already said to be accepting pre-orders and expected to start shipping sometime next year.

Consumers are able to use the drone in conjunction with a virtual reality headset and really feel like they are exploring the sea. The device is said to be very easy to use and the drone looks to satisfy the growing demand for those who are looking to find a combination of both VR and drones.

The PowerRay, another popular underwater drone option, is a bit different from the Pioneer, in that this device is only able to travel up to a depth of 98 feet and can last for roughly 4 hours at a time. It's also a bit cheaper, estimated to cost around $1500 US.

As mentioned above, they aren't the only ones. There are numerous companies in this space that are looking to create the perfect underwater drone for the market. Others in the space aside from the Pioneer are those like PowerRay, the Biki, iBubble, the Splash Drone 3, and others.