Drones have been used in pesticide spraying in agriculture since the 1980s. Drones have become smaller, lighter and more high-performance machines. In addition to agriculture, they have been used in various fields, including the construction, medical and entertainment industries.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which regards the expansion of the drone business as the “Aerial Industrial Revolution,” created the “Road Map for Aerial Industrial Revolution” in 2017 and has revised it several times to date.
METI’s road map sets four levels of drone use. Level 1 is for human-piloted flights with visual-line-of-sight operations, which are used for filming from the sky and inspecting infrastructure at high elevations where it is difficult for people to reach.