N.C. State University and its transportation research centers are working to make North Carolina a leader in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in civil applications. Civil UAVs are smaller and much less destructive than military drones.
Currently, drones can only be used for research and governmental purposes authorized by the FAA. The FAA has yet to develop regulations for integrating UAVs into national airspace. Between 2015 and 2017, the integration of UAV use commercially is expected to take place and predicted to add $153 million to North Carolina’s overall economy and $23.5 million to the agricultural sector reported in a recent study by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
