We at Drone Freaks love our drones. These miniature flying machines are by no means new though as RC Helicopters and planes have been around for quite some time. What makes drones awesome though is the number of things you can do with them which makes them a little more serious than toy RC copters. As such, we love how drones are becoming more and more common these days.
Still, what’s up with the sudden explosion of drone use? The answer has to do with smart devices and miniaturization.
Back in the day, only the military could use small devices that can control aircraft. Even then, those devices were considered too bulky. When smartphones were introduced, things changed. The race to create, smaller, faster devices was on.
One of the greatest examples of persuasive achievement regarding smartphone technology is your ability to play games that involve axis interpretation. This is when you tilt your screen when playing and a small accelerometer chip inside the device measures the tilt before sending the appropriate reaction.
Now, with the advancements in microelectromechanical systems, microscopic silicon simple machines can be built. This allows for the measurement of acceleration in three spatial directions with a chip about the same size as a dime.
More than that, GPS technology has also advanced significantly thanks to the smartphone race. Now, these GPS chips are so small that they can fit in the slimmest, smallest smartphones and perform better than the most advanced GPS technology than even just five years ago. With such small GPS chips, putting them in aircrafts to track their location precisely is hardly a challenge.
Then there is the matter of taking high definition photos and videos with drones which use the same cameras as what can be found in smartphones. Those micro SD cards you use for storing your selfies? Drone technology uses that too.
Because these devices are so small, their energy consumption is almost negligible compared to previous technology. As a result, drones have smaller parts to fly with, extending their flight time and making them exponentially more fun.
Thanks to such advancements, drone use has exploded since more and more people see the sense in using them, and not just for fun either. More than that, the ban that the FAA issued in 2007 is set to expire. This should propel the number of drones flying in the sky even higher.