Are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles the Future?
Imagine a world where you order a pizza or some clothes and receive it almost instantly. Wouldn’t that just be amazing?
Well, this is now possible through the power of UAVs such as drones. From delivering food to spying on your next-door neighbour, drones can be used to perform a variety of tasks that can sometimes be useful but also really creepy 👀
What are Drones?
In a nutshell, a drone is a UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that is normally operated by a human with a controller.
But what if they could operate themselves?
Wouldn’t that be even cooler?
Well, it is cool and is currently happening, so let’s get into it!!
UAVs like drones can be used to implement precision farming by mapping and measuring the best areas to grow crops and determine solutions for problems. But not only that, in addition to monitoring crops, they could change lives by providing internet to those who don’t have access to it, transporting goods to consumers at an unbeatable pace, monitoring buildings for flaws and the list just goes on. Don’t be surprised if you see drones delivering diapers or mail in the near future because it isn’t that far. We already possess the technology to allow drones to function autonomously, but due to regulations from the FAA, such services can’t be put into effect yet.
For example, Amazon came out with a new service called Prime Air that promised to deliver packages 30 minutes after the order being placed.
One other key advantage to drones is that they can go where humans can’t, so let’s say there is an emergency, Drones can be used as surveillance tools to study the scene and inform first responders by creating maps to avoid them from going in blind. This can be very useful when there are natural disasters as many lives could be saved.
Drones can not only be used for commercial use but also consumer use. DJI is a leader in drone tech and sells drones for commercial and consumer use.
How do Drones work?
Drones use sensors and scanners to map the environment and understand where the obstacles are to travel safely. While drones have some level of autonomy like flying, hovering or navigating without input from a pilot, they require controllers that utilize radio waves to communicate with it. And not only that but they also require tons of tech like ultrasonic sensors and a camera to create a map and so it could triangulate itself.
Parts of a Drone :
All drones need to include :
- Gyroscope: Detects the direction of the drone
- Accelerometer: Measures the speed of the drone
- GPS: Maps space for the drone
- Processor: Powers the drone
- Camera: Allows drones to capture images and be more autonomous
Why Drones?
Some of you may be thinking why drones instead of cars??
Drones just make more sense as the skies are clear and therefore faster while roads are more congested. Even though Autonomous systems can have accidents, they learn from their mistakes and improve so the same mistake doesn’t happen again.
The problem in 94% of the accidents that take place every year is human error. Autonomous vehicles aim to reduce human error entirely as they can’t text and drive. They can’t drink and drive and they can’t even look away from the road to tend to noisy passengers, but instead, they are always focused on their activity. This is without taking into account the level of efficiency a network of drones or a “swarm” would achieve.
Just think about it…
A system of drones where each drone communicates with one another to plan their respective routes to reduce overall traffic and make navigation for each drone much better.
What are they being used for?
Drones are being used by insurance companies to assess damages, while farmers use it to collect crop and soil data. Drones can provide huge carbon footprint reductions, as it leads to less emission per delivered package. Drones need not be used only for ‘convenience deliveries’ like fast food, but can also be used to provide great social impact
They are useful tools in combatting poaching, delivering critical medicines to remote areas, and assisting in the search and rescue of refugees.
Zipline is the world’s first drone delivery system to operate at a national scale by transporting blood and plasma to communities in need in countries like Rwanda.
Drones are used in situations where manned flight is considered too risky or difficult. They provide troops with a 24-hour “eye in the sky”, seven days a week. Each aircraft can stay aloft for up to 17 hours at a time, loitering over an area and sending back real-time imagery of activities on the ground. They also possess the capability of reaching the most remote areas with little to no manpower needed and require the least amount of effort, time, and energy. This is one of the biggest reasons why they are being adopted worldwide, especially by these four sectors: Military, Commercial, Personal, and Agriculture/Farming. Drones are also used for pipeline surveillance and damage detection.
Key Takeaways
- UAVs are being developed by companies such as Google and Amazon to deliver goods in a more faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly way than what’s possible on the ground
- Federal Aviation Authority is partnering up with its UAS integration pilot program to accelerate unmanned aerial systems
- Drone systems are utilizing advanced AI to communicate with fellow drones as an extra precaution to avoid collisions and navigate tricky urban cityscapes including skyscrapers
- Being used to deliver critical medicines to remote areas, and assisting in the search and rescue of refugees and scanning areas after natural disasters
- From quick deliveries at rush hour to scanning an unreachable military base, drones are proving to be extremely beneficial in places where a man cannot reach or is unable to perform in a timely and efficient manner
And that's a wrap!
Thank you for reading!
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