Drone Technology: From War Weapons to Everyday Use - Essay Sample

Introduction

In technological terms, a drone is a crewless aircraft. Formally, they were called uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, in basic terms, a drone is a robot that can be controlled from a distance to fly through programmed flight designs in their frameworks, working related to sensors and GPS that are available locally.

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Initially, these aerial vehicles were mostly linked to the forces, where their primary use was to target non-aircraft practices, and as platforms for weaponry. Nowadays, however, these aerial machines are applied in a broad range of roles such as; searching and rescuing, security (surveillance) and traffic monitoring, traffic monitoring. Furthermore, other drones perform other specific tasks

Ancient History of Drones

The Origin of drones can be linked to 1849 in Italy when Austrian soldiers used flying balloons that carried explosives to attack Venice. This was because Venice was fighting to free itself from Austria. ( Dekoulis, 2018)

Despite its unreliability and the fact that it was costly to put in to use, UAV technology went on to be of interest to the military. The military later used them as spying decoys.

In 1982, the use of Military drones rose when the Israeli Air Force wiped out the Syrian army with minimum casualties on the Israeli military using UAVs. These UAVs were used; as decoys to interfere with signals and for video surveillance.

Progressively, this machinery has been crucial to various militaries, undertaking essential tasks like surveillance, intelligence, and artillery spotting.

Modern History of Drones

In modern days, drone usage began to spread widely in 2006 when the U.S. used UAVs for the first time to supervise their border.

Besides, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, in 2013, announced an arrangement to use drones for delivery. Since then, various organizations have coped with this thread. For instance, A university in the U.S. began a test with an assignment that involved drones in delivering goods, and their first task was foodstuffs produced at local restaurants. Also, in that same year, Amazon successfully used drones to make their package delivery in Cambridge, England.

Moreover, drone education is also expanding. There are a variety of universities that now offer Bachelors and masters of science in aerial types of machinery like drones

Laws and Regulation of Flying Drones

Drones are robotic devices that can be used to perform numerous different tasks (Gorkic, 2015). However, despite its importance, drones may sometimes be misused; for instance, using them in the wrong venue or at the wrong time may inconvenience certain activities such as airport flights. Hence without their consent, many drone operators often violate some rules and regulations of the Civil Aviation Authority. Some of these rules are explained below;

Licensing

According to the Air Navigation order 2016 of the Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA), one must acquire a license to operate a drone when using them commercially. This license is available on the CAA organization's website. However, anyone operating a consumer drone for purposes of recreation does not need a permit as long as the drone weighs 20kgs at most, and the operator works as per the aviation rules.

When, Where and How to Fly Drones

There are a few crucial rules about when, where, and how to fly drones that all drone operators are expected to abide by. To begin with, it is a requirement that any drone operator regularly keeps sight of his or her drone and never flies them at most 400 ft. Also, operating a drone over an area with a lot of people, vehicle or building that is not under the operator's control is forbidden. Besides, any images captured using a drone camera is also subject to laws of privacy. Moreover, the operators are also banned from using their machines within 1km of boundaries of any airport. Flying drones aircraft, too, is prohibited, as stated by the CAA.

How to Stop a Drone Flying Illegally

In the event where drone operators fly drones in the wrong places such as the airport, the authorities might have to stop the drone. Therefore, the methods to undertake this task with minimal casualties, many of which require the use of nets that interfere with its ability to propel. Furthermore, some companies that make drones preprogram their drones with technology that is designed to prevent the drones from entering any restricted air space.

Implications

All humans are not 100% perfect; some may erroneously break these set of rules while others may ignorantly choose to break them. Therefore, flying a drone above 400ft or within an airport's boundary is punishable with unlimited at least five years in prison or an unlimited fine. However, in a case where a drone hits an aircraft, the drone operator will face severe penalties depending on the casualties caused.

Places That You Can Fly Drones

Flying drones can be desirable, once in a while, and you may find an urge to travel places to operate them. Hence, it is essential to stay compliant with both federal and local rules when flying a drone in any city (Mushkin, (2018)).

References

Gorkic, P. (2015). The (F)utility of privacy laws: The case of drones? Drones and Unmanned Aerial Systems, 69-81. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23760-2_4

Dekoulis, G. (2018). Introductory chapter: Drones. Drones - Applications. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76943

Mushkin, H. (2018). The disposition of drones. Places Journal, (2018). https://doi.org/10.22269/180220