Introduction to drones as a platform

drones

What is a Drone?

An unmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system, which include additionally a ground-based controller and a system of communications with the UAV. Wikipedia

Examples of drone applications and functions

- Drones can assist farmers by measuring and recording the height of crops. They use a remote sensing technology called Lidar that illuminates the crop with a laser and calculates distance by measuring what is reflected back.

- Drones with biological sensors can fly to unsafe areas to take air quality readings and check for the presence of specific micro-organisms or atmospheric elements.

- During wildfires, drones can survey the extent of the affected areas and determine how quickly the fires are spreading. Images taken can provide details of the damage in specific areas.

- Drones are used by television sport networks to capture sporting event footage, such as taped and live flyover footage, that would otherwise be difficult to acquire. The use of drones must comply with regulations from the FAA, the sports leagues, the venue and local law enforcement.

How drones work

While drones serve a variety of purposes, such as recreational, photography, commercial and military, their two basic functions are flight and navigation.

To achieve flight, drones consist of a power source, such as battery or fuel, rotors, propellers and a frame. The frame of a drone is typically made of lightweight, composite materials, to reduce weight and increase maneuverability during flight.

Drones require a controller, which is used remotely by an operator to launch, navigate and land it. Controllers communicate with the drone using radio waves

Technology, features and components

Drone electronics example

Drones contain a large number of technological components, including:

• Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC), an electronic circuit that controls a motor’s speed and direction.
• Flight controller
• GPS module
• Battery
• Antenna
• Receiver
• Cameras
• Sensors, including ultrasonic sensors and collision avoidance sensors
• Accelerometer, which measures speed
• Altimeter, which measures altitude

Any discussion about drone features is closely tied to the type and use case of the drone, including recreational, photography, commercial and military uses. Examples of features include:

• Camera type, video resolution, megapixels and media storage format
• Maximum flight time, such as how long the drone can remain in the air
• Maximum speeds, including ascent and descent
• Hover accuracy
• Obstacle sensory range
• Altitude hold, which keeps the drone at a fixed altitude
• Live video feed
• Flight logs

How Drones Are Used in Agriculture

Drones offer the unique opportunity to streamline agricultural work in a variety of ways, taking the burden off the farmers themselves and placing it in the capable hands of drone pilots.

The Benefits of Using Drones:

1) Photo Capturing Technology

As an aerial technology, a drone can easily access the agricultural area in question, whether it’s a tight space or a wide open field. The drone surveys the area and captures high-quality images which can then be utilized on their own or turned into detailed, three dimensional maps — all without disturbing the farmers, their crops, or the surrounding environment. This allows farmers to better plan their seed planting patterns, conduct soil analysis, and stay up-to-date with how their plants are growing. Additionally, they can address any issues that arise in real-time, such as issues with pests or other unwanted visitors, crop yield, weather, and other agricultural contingencies.

2) Data and Monitoring

The photos and real-time coverage drones provide enable farmers to inspect irrigation equipment, monitor pesticides and fertilizers, and gather plant and environmental data. This allows them to make informed, immediate decisions about issues concerning output, management, and even overall crop health. Drone technology allows farmers to precisely survey their crops, providing high level data about yield that allows them to predict yield for future seasons. This kind of data continuously revolutionizes the efficiency of the process, allowing farmers to maximize their yield and limit their expendable resources in greater scale each year.

3) Pesticide and Fertilizer Distribution

In order to maintain high yields, crops require constant fertilization and spraying. Whereas crop dusters are expensive and potentially risky for both pilots and those on the ground below, drones come at a fraction of the cost and involve no risk to the pilot. Crashes, while unlikely, are likely to occur over open fields where no one below can be injured. This completely eliminates the risk associated with planes flying at high speeds at low altitudes traditionally used for crop dusting.

Drones can easily replace traditional crop dusters because they can be equipped with large reservoirs for fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. Using drones for this purpose is safer, faster, and much more cost-effective.

Not only can drones disseminate pesticides and fertilizers, they also allow for a precise measurement of plant health, allowing for a more controlled application of these sprays. This results in a reduction of the amount of chemicals used, lowering the overall environmental impact.

Drones provide a healthier, sustainable alternative to traditional crop dusting and accomplish the job much faster than traditional machinery.

4) Irrigation

With the correct sensors, drones can identify which parts of a field are receiving too little or too much water. Additionally, once the crop is growing, drones allow for a precise measurement of the health, heat, and density of the crop, allowing for irrigation adjustments to be made as the plants grow. From the start, crops can be better laid out to maximize drainage, avoid pooling water, and mitigate unnecessary damage to sensitive crops.

5) Planting

Some companies are starting to experiment with drone planting, a system that allows the drones to shoot pods with seeds and nutrients directly into the soil, allowing farmers to start the growth process without the need for manual labor or traditional machinery. This is not only highly efficient, but reduces the overall cost of planting.

How Drones Are Used in Transport

A delivery drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used to transport packages, medical supplies, food, or other goods. Delivery drones are typically autonomous. In November 2020 the FAA proposed airworthiness criteria for type certification of delivery drones with an intent to initialize commercial operations.

This is a rapid developing technology and currently the main applications are:

Healthcare delivery

In December 2013, the DHL parcel service subsidiary of Deutsche Post AG tested a "microdrones md4-1000" for delivery of medicine.

Drones can be used to transport medicinal products such as blood products, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and medical samples.^{[medical citation needed]} Medical deliveries are able to fly into and out of remote or otherwise inaccessible regions, compared to trucks or motorcycles. Medical drone delivery is credited with saving lives during emergency deliveries of blood in Rwanda and post-hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, drones made medical deliveries of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests in the United States, Israel, and Ghana. In partnership with the Ghana Ministry of Health, Zipline drones delivered thousands of COVID-19 vaccine vials in Ghana during 2020 and 2021..University of British Columbia (UBC) has. selected Drone Delivery Canada Corp for UBC's “Remote Communities Drone Transport Initiative” program. This solution will be used to transport a variety of cargo for the benefit of the Stellat’en First Nation, located in the Fraser Lake area of Central Northern British Columbia. Also, to add further in 2021 the first BVLOS drone medical delivery trials in India was conducted at Gauribidanur taluk of Chikkaballapur district on the outskirts of Bangalore in Karnataka, India.

Food delivery

Drones have been proposed as a solution for rapidly delivering prepared foods, such as pizzas, tacos, and frozen beverages. Early prototypes of food delivery drones include the Tacocopter demonstration by Star Simpson, which was a taco delivery concept utilizing a smartphone app to order drone-delivered tacos in San Francisco area. The revelation that it didn't exist as a delivery system or app led to it being labelled a hoax.A similar concept named the "burrito bomber" was tested in 2012.

Postal delivery

Different postal companies from Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Ukraine have undertaken various drone trials as they test the feasibility and profitability of unmanned delivery drone services. The USPS has been testing delivery systems with HorseFly Drones.

Ship resupply

The shipping line Maersk and the Port of Rotterdam have experimented with using drones to resupply offshore ships instead of sending smaller boats.

Sources used in this page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delivery_drone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle

https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/drone

https://www.uavtrainingaustralia.com.au/how-drones-are-used-in-agriculture/