Running head: Drone Technology 1

Drone Technology

Students Name
University Affiliation
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A drone is an unmanned aeronautical vehicle that is driven overboard with no human

pilot on board. Instead, they are usually controlled by an individual on the ground or

autonomously by using a computer based program. The usage of these devices has gained

popularity not just for war and other military activities but also they are used for wildlife

surveillance, atmospheric research to dictate even at sports photography. Besides drone have

become eye to the scientist whereby they use them in surveying the ground for the

archaeological site, signs of illegal hunting and in crop damage. Further, this drone can be

utilized for personal purposes, for instance, taking photos or videos. Therefore these technologies

have a greater impact on the society (Kumari, 2015).

According to Floreano (2016) in his article on drone technology, he expresses the various

types of drone that available with their usability. The drones are grouped according to the type of

fixed wing and the number of rotors they have, the degree of liberty, the volume and weight and

the power source they are using. Further, when choosing a drone, the cruising range is checked

with the maximum flight time, plus the loading capacity of the device. Thus the main types of

drones that usually exist are the fixed wing models and the multirotor models. Fixed Wing

model, is a kind of system they have a static arm in union with the impertinent airspeed that is

used to cause a lift for the drone. These drone uses the mechanism of traditional airplane and

kite. While in multirotor models are considered as a subset of rotorcraft whereby they use

rotating wings to enhance it to create lift. This drone apply the mechanism of a traditional

helicopter. The rotorcraft has either one or a multi-rotor that are necessary for creating stability

for the drones.

Level of Autonomy
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These drones have some level of autonomous systems that can deal with unexpected

situations by using preprogrammed rules to assist them to deal with unexpected circumstances.

These systems have a high efficiency given they are autonomous. In that, they are humanly

operated in which the human pilot executes all the declarations regarding to the drone operations.

As a result, these systems perform its function depending on the human control. As such they

carry out the task delegated to it when there is a human input (Kumari, 2015).

Size and Weight

According to Kumari (2015), he distinguishes between large and small drones whereby

he says that the large drones are expected to carry no more than 150kg for the fixed wing models

and 100kg for the multirotor drones. For some nations, for example, the Dutch Human

Environment and Transport Inspectorate usually gives a contrast for the drones as light drones

and dark drones. In many cases, the large drones are used in military exercises.

Power source

There are four types of the energy sources that are utilized by the drones namely: Aircraft

fuel, battery cells, fuel cells and solar energy. The aircraft kerosene is mostly employed in the

large fixed wing drones, for instance, the military predator drones, whereby they are mostly

utilized in the U.S army with well-equipped sensors. And in some cases they fitted with rockets

and other sorts of munitions. For the battery cells, they are used by the small multirotor models,

whereby these devices are used in short span tasks, and usually, they need less running period as

compared to the kerosene type drones. These devices are used for recreational purposes which

make it more efficient for the drone to operate on a rechargeable battery cell (Kumari, 2015).

Widely Used Drone Models

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Some new models that have been developed on the drone technology are expressed

below.

Delfly Explorer

This model was exhibited at the Delft University of Technology that can fly like a

dragonfly whereby it can take-off and operate in an entirely self-governing mode within a closed

setting. It is equipped with the ability to avoid obstacles through the ability of its installed

cameras. This drone has a weight of 20g. As a result, it operates for only 9 minutes since the

battery constraints it operation capability. In the future, this model is intended to be used for

surveillance and air photography. Further, the developers, are aiming to utilize it in inspecting

greenhouses (Floreano, 2016).

Husbsan x4 Drone

It is a modest multirotor device that was generated by the Chinese company called

Hubsan. It has a simple structure with simple operation capability. They have inbuilt cameras for

taking pictures and recording videos. It weighs almost 30g with service period of 7min.

Parrot AR Drone

This drone was mainly developed for recreational purposes whereby it was regulated by a

smartphone or a tablet. The drone has a capacity to operate in 12-18 min. It flies at 18km/h

within a limit of about 50m.The drone is equipped with Bluetooth, WIFI technology and utilizes

GPS waypoints. This drone is one of the mostly used drones in recreational activities.

DJI Phantom
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This drone was created for recreational schemes whereby it has a camera which is

regulated by a smartphone or a WIFI controller. These drone can fly around 54km/h and operates

for about 25min.

Raven

This drone was generated by the US army. It was designed for the purpose of surveillance

and was controlled remotely or through a preprogrammed for autonomous operation. It weighs

about 2kg with an ability to operate for 60-90min within a range of 10km.The drone has an optic

and infrared camera (Kumari, 2015).

Scan Eagle

It was developed in 2004 with the intention of being used as a monitoring tool. This

drone is decked with optical and infrared cameras and can operate for 20hours.It has a weight of

18kg with the ability to fly with 89km/h.

After analyzing the developments made on the drone technology, there are future

technologies that have been developed which involves miniaturization, autonomy, and swarms.

Whereby miniaturization is aimed at making drone of smaller, lighter and cheaper capacity.

These drones have the ability to use the battery cells efficiently. The second development is

intended to increase the autonomy of drones. They are supposed to determine the flight routes,

sense and avoid systems for performing evasive maneuvers. Finally, Drone developer intend to

use drones in swarms. In this technology will enhance the cooperation between drones, in that it

will increase the flight period and the maximum payload for a specific applications.
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References

"Drone Technology, Cutting-Edge Drone Business, And Future Prospects". Journal Of Robotics
And Mechatronics, vol 28, no. 3, 2016, pp. 262-272. Fuji Technology Press Ltd.,
doi:10.20965/jrm.2016.p0262.

Floreano, Dario, and Robert J. Wood. "Science, Technology And The Future Of Small
Autonomous Drones". Nature, vol 521, no. 7553, 2015, pp. 460-466. Springer Nature,
doi:10.1038/nature14542.

Kumari, Priyanka, and Isha Raghunath. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (DRONE)". International
Journal Of Engineering And Computer Science, 2016, Research And Analysis Journals,
doi:10.18535/ijecs/v5i6.05.