Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones)
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History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
Drones are aircrafts without a human pilot on board and are controlled remotely. They were initially developed for military purposes to be deployed in risky and difficult situations, for example, the United States have used them in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.Today, the most technological advanced drones are operated by the militaries, as they offer many advantages such as reduction in military causalities and lower operating costs.
One of the drones used by the United States is MQ-1B Predator, which is used for SCAR missions: Strike, coordination and reconnaissance
This multi-mission drone is equipped with wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision weapons that allow it to collect information and perform a precision strike. It reportedly cost $20 million. Due to the militaries’ heavy investment in drone technology, the commercial sector started showing interests in it. The Most common commercial use is radio-controlled drones:
More sophisticated uses of drones such as in safety, filming, and logistics have also emerged. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted some film production companies approval to use drones for filming.
Companies such as Amazon and Google have also started developing prototypes of logistics drones that can deliver products to customers. Amazon have announced that it is planning to lunch Prime Air service which will use a drone to deliver products of weight less than 5 pounds to customers within 30 minutes of making a purchase.
Google’s Project Wing has been running for two years and a drone version was put to test in Queensland, Australia.