Technology, Working & Uses of Drones
Drones became the most loved gadget nowadays. People not only utilizing drone technology in their professional and personal life but also appreciating its benefits as well. Drones are getting huge demand in the market. Amazing aerial photography is the main reason drones are used by photographers, businesses for spectacular shots.
Drones could be extremely helpful during rescue operations in the mountains and in the forests. Just imagine how many lives they can save with timely delivered medical supplies or simply a bottle of water!!
Drones were used mostly by the military in the old days. But now, an every-other photographer, a traveler is using drones to expand photography and capturing amazing photos or videos. There are many drone companies that manufacture drones but some of them are only chosen by people. It all depends on the technology used in drones, flight time, photography use, etc.
Let’s see how these drones work, the technology, history behind it, and its uses.
Drone Information & History
A drone is an aircraft type officially known as ‘An Unmanned Vehicle’. Which means an aircraft without a human pilot abroad. There are different types of drones for different purposes.
From 1849 to 1986, drones were only used by the military in wars. Later, cameras were attached to drones for photography. This expanded the uses of drones in engineering too. Professional started using drones for photography/videography of Building and structural inspections, Land surveys, Real estate sales, Agricultural advancements and automation, Forestry management and monitoring, Emergency Services, Law Enforcement, etc. Later, Yamaha company also came up with its special agricultural drone.
Parrot, GoPro gave some amazing drones. In 2006, DJI came into the market and started a tough competition in drone manufacturers. Today, most of the photographers and filmmakers use DJI drones.
Technology & Working of Drones:
Drones are meant to fly therefore they are made up of lightweight composite materials. Different types of technologies are used in different drones according to purposes. Military predator drones are very big compared to the latest small drones like DJI SPARK.
All drones start with the framework. This is typically made up of plastic or carbon fiber.
Then propellers and outboard motor, electronic speed controller, batteries are attached.
Gyro stabilization technology is used in drones for smooth flight capabilities. The gyroscope provides essential navigational information to the central flight controller. FPV (First Person View) technology uses a radio signal to transmit and receive the live video to the operator.
Drones have a built-in multi-band wireless FPV transmitter along with an antenna. Depending on drones, a receiver of the live video signals can be either the remote control unit, a computer, tablet, or smartphone device.
Advanced VIO (Virtual Infrastructure Optimization) technology is used in drones to calculate positioning and speed. This algorithm makes drones easy to use in a complex environment. Dual-vision sensors, infrared sensing system, a group of computing cores and IMU redundancies is also used in it. Together, they collect and transmit information from the surrounding environment to the high-performance processor for more precise hovering and better flight performance.
Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS) allows the drone to bypass obstacles in front of and behind it actively.
This technology makes the drones easy to handle and operate.
Different Uses Of Drones:
Aerial Photography, Filming & Journalism:
Drones are largely used for Aerial photography, Filming, and journalism. Drones provide ‘Bird View’ which is just amazing and with drones, one can capture mind-blowing aerial photos from ‘birds sight’. Filmmakers use drones for aerial videos or chasing car scenes. The journalists also use drones to cover news from different angles.
Military use these unmanned vehicles (drones) for airstrikes, observation of enemy camps. The defense of any country usually tends to conduct regular surveys in order to ensure the protection of the people and the place. The drone makes these surveys easy task without interfering in public.
Real Estate :
By using drone cameras, real estate photographers are producing stunning shots of landscapes and building, recording videos of residences in ways never imagined before. The laws in the UK, Canada, India, and the USA currently allow commercial, for-profit use of drones in real estate under registration and limited access. Drones are giving an overwhelming response from customers because of stunning property photos. This boosts sales of property.
For example, just look at this pic below. Do You want to buy that beautiful house????!!
If you are a farmer and love technology, if you want to complete farm work in less time and increase work efficiency then drones can be your best friend! Farmers can use a drone to save time scouting their crops, getting a better idea for crop rotation, and mapping out their farm, applying pesticides to crops. Below is the main list of uses of drones in agriculture:
- Provide data on soil fertility to refine fertilization by detecting deficiencies
- Identify pests, disease, and weeds. Optimize pesticide usage through early detection
- Help with land management as multi-spectral imagery will show whether crops need to be rotated in fields
- Control crop irrigation by identifying areas where water stress is suspected and if extra drainage or water is needed
- View damage to crops from farm machinery and make repairs or replace problematic machinery
- Count plants and determine spacing issues allowing estimation of crop yield
- Monitor livestock and also find sheep or cattle if lost
- Survey fencing and farm buildings
Rescue Operations & Health-Care:
Drones are giving valuable contributions to rescue operations and providing ‘health care’ boxes to the victim. It is possible to send drones faster to the victim directly instead of road transport. Areas like floods, earthquakes have major problems with transportation. Drones can be easily used there and it can save lives.
Surfers using drones in a different way. Instead of only photography of ocean and surfing, these surfers use drones to pull a rope of surfer. This eliminates dependent on waves for good surfing. These drones are powerful enough too!
Drones are changing the way we watch sports. From marathon to rally races, these machines can give amazing shots. High-speed drones can follow racing cars to catch live updates or to get aerial view racing experience!
Check out this WRC – YPF Rally Argentina 2016: DJI DRONE SPECIAL footage.
So these are some amazing uses of ‘An Unmanned Vehicle’. It’s absolutely amazing how we will get to use drones in almost every aspect of our lives, from surveillance and bomb detection to racing, delivery, and agriculture. Checkout Our Best Drone List in drones Category.