Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
UAVs are those aircraft with no pilot on board. UAVs can be remotely controlled or can fly autonomously on the predefined programmed path. UAVs are widely used for many applications among so many sectors. Sometimes it is said as “UAS” unmanned Ariel system to reflect the fact that this requires a complex system that includes ground stations and other elements. people many times misinterpret UAV as a drone but actually, the drone comes under the UAVs & UAV serves as an umbrella term for all such kinds of aerial vehicles.
The earliest recorded use of UAVs dates back to 1849 when the Austrians attacked the Italian city of Venice using unmanned balloons that were loaded with explosives. it was Without any control or monitoring systems but one of the first in terms of using Arial flight without any pilot or human intervention. this lead to mankind to think about such kind of aerial vehicle system that they can run without any pilots, in order to reduce human loss especially in the battlefield and we have observed that this came out initially as a military product & after lots of variation and updating now also used in commercial services but still hold the major application in military service.
There has been lots of research and invention during the early 1900s. in 1915, the Britishers used such kind of aerial vehicles against the germans to detect their military activities and operations. by the time US had done much research and came up with first pilotless aircraft later on US mary created UAV called “Kettering bug” followed by “Curtis “
After that Israeli airforce also done a lot in military drone applications and successfully developed high-end military combat and surveillance drones that they used against the Syrian aircraft and won the war, thereafter UAVs seek a lot of interest among the world masses
More recently, in 2000 the U.S deployed the Predator drone in Afghanistan while searching for Osama Bin Laden.
Aerial photography: it is one of the most used tasks for which drones are used. whether it is the military application or commercial use due to its high ability to meet requirements it is widely used. earlier it was done by helicopter or cranes which was very expensive. in sports industries, it is also used for the live broadcast of matches from various angles
Shipping: aerial delivery by drones is the future of modern delivery systems. the key benefits are saving in manpower, escaping road traffic, more certain delivery timings. many companies like Amazon, DHL & FedEx are in favor of drone delivery.
G eo-mapping: mapping is a huge task and requires skilled people but with the use of drones it can be done in quite less time and fewer efforts, high-resolution cameras, and sensors will help to accurately catch the data & generate virtual maps D isaster management: we have seen military & administration uses drones in a hard time such as flood or fire outbreak to reach people and share them food, medicine, or emergency kits. drones due to their small size can easily reach hard to reach places and save lives A griculture: drones are used to monitor crops and to spread pesticides and fertilizer over schedule times and also an infrared sensor is used to check crops’ health & let farmers react quickly.
law enforcement: Drones can be used for maintaining the law. They help in the surveillance of large crowds. They assist in monitoring criminal and illegal activities.
industrial inspections: in industries like petrochemicals & fertilizers inspection is a huge & time-consuming task, which is previously done by humans some part of it can be shifted towards the drones, as it can easily reach every corner of the plant and also detects a gas leak and fire fumes with sensors, which contrarily can’t be determined by the human naked eye.
science & research: many scientists and researchers are started using drones in their work for many tasks such as data collection, information gathering. As drones are versatile and by using various sensors along with them they can be tailored to meet any kind of research needs.
Mining: factor in favor of drones is, cheaper in comparison to a helicopter that was previously used in the mining industry to get the aerial perspective. with its mapping ability, it provides flexibility. and can be scheduled multiple trips in a day to track the mining targets.
Advertising: Drones can also be used as a physical medium of advertising by displaying banners or holdings at live concerts or high traffic areas.
live entertainment: Disney had filed so many drone patents for entertainment purposes. drones are used innovatively in the entertainment sector such as Synchronized lights shows, floating projection screens
Tourism: Many luxurious tourism and hotel chain started using drones for serving their guests around the vicinity of thair landmark and providing them luxurious adventure and also to deliver packages and room service quickly and autonomously.
Originally published at https://www.thelitthings.com on August 6, 2020.
