5 facts about drones

In time, there will be a whole family of Amazon drones, differently designed for specific environments. Drones have become a major topic of debate in our modern society and people tend to either love them or just hate them. they are set to become an increasingly common sight, both in military operations and in the sky even (above your very own backyard).

Consumer good

The number of drones is growing faster as consumer goods, then as a military application. Maybe you had a remote-controlled car while growing up or perhaps even an RC plane. The chances are high that instead, your kids are going to be playing with drones. The estimated value of the drone industry in 2015 was 3.3 billion dollars,

but that figure is projected to balloon to 90 billion by 2025.

Like most technologies, drones are becoming increasingly cost-effective to manufacture and more user-friendly. According to the company 3D robotics, more customers are building and flying their DIY drones than ever before. However, drones aren’t limited to hobbyists and are becoming a versatile tool across a variety of domains. For example, farmers use them to serve water to a large field of crops. In addition, they can be used in search and rescue missions or even for wedding photography.

Used by the police

Police are now using drones as well. Instead of being equipped with weapons, they can now ‘spy’ on you with their drones. How do you feel knowing that your local police force could be watching you from above? It might sound like George Orwell’s 1984, come true, but let’s stay optimistic and hope they don’t go all Big Brother on us.

There are many ways in which drones could prove to be useful and effective tools in the hands of a responsible force. Including better documentation of crime scenes and efficient aerial searches for either missing persons or violent criminals at large. Unfortunately, in the EU, the exact limits of what police can or cannot do with drones have thus far only been established on a regional level.

Used for delivery

They can be called ‘the pizza boy’s postal workers’ or even ‘the waiters of future delivery’. From being tired of waiting on your late pizza delivery, now people can follow their pizza delivery drone live via an app. Of course, pizza delivery boys are starting to look like an endangered species because of this. However, not only the hospitality sector is changing their delivery routines. Perhaps the most promising application of drone-based delivery is the Amazon drone delivery system. This system hopes to deliver 90% of their parcels in 30 minutes or less within US urban areas.

Used by terrorism

Unfortunately, drones have taken a staggering number of lives. Drone strikes have been as much a characteristic of the Obama presidency as Obama care. Drones can be a lot of fun and maybe even used for pizza delivery, but the driving force behind them is military applications. Predator drones were first deployed in Afghanistan to locate and perform recon on Osama bin Laden. Since that moment the total number of deaths by drone strikes has exponentially increased on a daily basis.

The history

Lastly, drones have a surprisingly long history. The history is much longer and richer than their recent popularity might have you to believe. In fact, the earliest examples of rudimentary armed drones can be traced back to 1918. This was when Austrian forces attached explosives to unmanned hot-air balloons, in hopes of flying them over Italy and triggering the bombs via long copper wires. Of course, the plan failed, but the concept was established.

The term ‘drone’ is said to have been coined in 1935, when unmanned target planes were being developed by 1964.

Early versions of modern drones were being used in Vietnam and the rest is history.