DRONES AND MORE…

Although a sunrise industry or call it technology, if you will, Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are proving to be a real boon for Military, Industrial, or Consumer use, or something that people experience as a pleasurable hobby just to remotely maneuver these aerial vehicles. Drone photo/videography has become a new and exciting way of capturing outdoor events. The interest in drone applications and technology can only increase from here on for amateurs and investors alike.

Quite true, going by some of the world’s top drone manufacturing companies and their revenue earnings (appended list).

Rank	Company
1	Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) — $3.83 Billion
2	Insitu — $603.1 million
3	Skydio — $340 million
4	Yuneec International — $213.7 million
5	Parrot Wireless Manufacturing Company — $54 million
6	Delair — $43 million
7	Aerialtronics Company — $14.9 million
8	Autel Robotics — $8.5 million
9	EHang — $8.4 million
10	Kespry — $1 million

INSITU at number 2, is a subsidiary company of Boeing Defence, Space, and Security with annual revenue of 603.1 million dollars. This second largest drone company in the world with a presence in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom

Development of hundreds of more uses of drones is underway due to the multiple investments pouring into this promising industry every day.

The concept and experiments with Drones have their roots dating back to World War I, when two Allied partners, US and France worked on developing automatic, unmanned airplanes. However, it is only recently that these UAVs have gained much publicity and covered ground significantly in terms of adoption, usage, and expansion across newer areas, as huge benefits of deploying drone operations are being realized.

History also has it that UAVs were deployed way back during the Vietnam War and in varying roles – as decoys during combat, launching missiles, and dropping leaflets. Beyond being a hobby horse, drone applications have been rolled out in various aspects of civil and defence aviation today. These range from aerial filming, photography, and communication – helpful in remote areas, monitoring climate change to carrying out post-disaster search operations, and a very serious role drones play in sensitive Military zones. The industries that are integrating drone operations into their activity are growing and so are manufacturers of these UAVs.

From quick deliveries at rush hour to scanning an unreachable military base, drone features are proving to be extremely beneficial in places where a man cannot reach or is unable to perform in a timely and efficient manner. Increasing work efficiency and productivity, decreasing workload and production costs, improving accuracy, refining service, and customer relations, and resolving security issues on a vast scale are a few of the top uses drones offer industries globally.

Drone operating system

Credit Image: Unsplash/Representational image

Of all the manned/unmanned ariel vehicles, drones as civilians know them, and are familiar with, have the same operating Systems in Drone Technology most unmanned aircraft use Linux, and fewer users opt for Microsoft Windows. Like computer software, drones too go through firmware upgrades to fix bugs, and add new features to the flying machine, to its remote controller and similar parts to help the UAV perform better.

The drones can range from remotely piloted to fully automated, which means that it relies on a system of sensors and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) detectors to calculate their movement. It can fly at a controlled level of height and speed for a long period of time.

Drone Applications

Whether these unmanned aircraft are controlled by a remote or accessed via a smartphone app, they possess the capability of reaching the most remote areas with little to no manpower needed and require the least amount of effort, time, and energy. This is one of the biggest reasons why they are being adopted worldwide, especially by these four sectors: Military, Commercial, Personal, and Future Technology. Some of the popular and important (even critical) drone applications are listed below:

Aerial photography for journalism and film
Express shipping and delivery – ‘Same Day Delivery’ promises by e-commerce firms have further accelerated drone operations
Gathering information or supplying essentials for disaster management
Thermal sensor drones for search and rescue operations
Geographic mapping of inaccessible terrain and locations
Building safety inspections
Precision crop monitoring
Unmanned cargo transport
Law enforcement and border control surveillance

Drones in Aviation MRO

Digital MRO in aviation and aerospace industries has greatly benefitted from using drones when inspecting aircraft exteriors for any damages and to determine repair work that may need to be carried out.

MRO services including drones and UAVs for precision and close visual inspection of an airframe have naturally taken off in tandem with the increase in drone operations. Keeping these UAVs in pristine condition is essential, given the nature of accuracy and safety required in their operations and during data gathering. In the aircraft maintenance process safety and service quality must be ensured. Therefore, drones have become a preferred choice for MROs as they help in reducing the risk of human factor failure in aircraft maintenance.

Digitization of the environment with automation and robotization have seen to increase workforce efficiency and improve the repeatability of work processes and procedures. To add to this work environment the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be added to perform visual inspections of aircraft from start to finish of the maintenance process.

Whether these drones be operated via remote control or through a smartphone app, the ease of achieving tasks safely and with accuracy cannot be underscored enough. Reaching the most remote areas with little to no manpower needed, and with the least amount of risk, time, and energy, drones offer these solutions. Military, Commercial, Personal, and Future Technology.

Interest in drone deployment has naturally prompted the Indian DGCA to formulate new rules and regulations to govern civilian drone usage. These are enshrined in the Union Government’s ‘Drone Shakti’ policy (Budget 2022), to declare Drones-As-A-Service. Furthermore, PM Modi’s call to create India into a drone hub will add a much-needed fillip to young innovators and start-ups and manufacturers to embrace drone technology in a significant manner. Moreover, the production-linked incentive scheme of the Union Government (2021), has declared incentives for the manufacturing of drones and drone components.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) arm of the Government of India and several other private Indian companies started creating drones and developing UAV technologies.

Around the pandemic years, the Ministry of Civil Aviation approved a pilot project with the Telangana government to assess alternative logistics routes in providing safe, accurate, and reliable pickup/delivery of health care items to community health centres in remote areas through drones. A similar project was to check out agricultural research activities by deploying drones.

Some of the sectors that are looking at drones are law enforcement agencies, SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas) Railways security and surveillance system enhancements.

Drones in Military Operations

Image Credit: unmannedsystemstechnology.com

According to data from Globe Newswire, the global military drone market size is projected to reach $23.78 billion by 2027. Military spending also tends to come in larger increments, as a single US Predator drone costs approximately $4 million.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles will continue to be applied in various military operations due to their high convenience in reducing losses and enabling the execution of high-profile and time-sensitive missions.

Military-grade drones and tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) include helicopter drones, RPAS (remotely piloted aerial systems), and are used for ISR (Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) and ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) missions. Military Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are also used for detection, identification, and classification of conventional and non-conventional targets, as well as SAR (search and rescue), emergency response, border control, anti-piracy, and tactical logistics. These drones make use of anti-jamming technology, and can operate in environments without GPS capabilities. Military drone hardware includes Fixed-Wing UAV, VTOL (Vertical take-off and landing) & the Hybrid. Multirotor drones are best suited in this category. Helicopter Drones are used by the military mainly for maritime missions, and monitoring and surveillance by Coast Guard. Tethered Drones are used by the military for transmitting data in a highly secure manner via the fiber optic tether.

Drones for Commercial use

Industries are working with drones as part of their daily regular business functions. Courtesy of Walmart

Commercial usage of drones has seen a huge surge in popularity and adoption in commercial operations. Several industries have understood the convenience and value add of incorporating drone deployment. Popularity of these UAVs has increased manyfold as they bring in competitive advantages as well for User companies. Afterall, a well-maintained drone fleet must ensure a hassle-free last mile delivery for gaining customer confidence and for growing their businesses.

The drone services growth story is equally impressive with the market tipped to grow from $4.4 billion at the start of 2018 to $63.6 billion by 2025, according to the Insider Intelligence.

Adding value to businesses with drones is their ability to track outdoor sports activities such as running, cycling, skiing and similar. These are sophisticated UAVs that can track their subjects with cent percent accuracy.

Personal Drone Technology

Insider Intelligence had predicted sales of drones to exceed $12 billion in 2021. A large chunk of that would be expected from the sale of personal drones used for film-making, recording, still photography and gaming by common enthusiasts. Consumers are expected to spend $17 billion on drones over the next few years.

Future Drone Technology

According to airdronecraze, an Amazon Services LLC affiliate advertising programme website, drone technology has seven potential generations, and bulk of today’s technology is in the fifth and sixth generations. Drone technology is constantly evolving and so are its application and uses finding many takers. However, the current generation of drone technology is said to be cutting-edge and have the following attributes: Generation 7 – Complete commercial suitability, fully compliant safety and regulatory standards-based design, platform and payload interchangeability, automated safety modes, enhanced intelligent piloting models and full autonomy, full airspace awareness, auto action (take-off, land, and mission execution).

3DRobotics announced the world’s first all-in-one Smart Drone called Solo (in the Generation 7 category). This newer drone version is replete with built-in safeguards, compliance tech, smart sensors, and self-monitoring – all that encompass leap towards advanced drone tech revolution. More and novel ideas and opportunities await the transport, military, logistics, and commercial sectors.

Some Safety Features

Operational safety is a priority and some safety features are:

Obstacle Detection and Collision Avoidance Technology is acollision avoidance systems with sensors such as – Vision Sensor/Ultrasonic/Infrared/Lidar/Time of Flight /Monocular Vision

No Fly Zone Technology prevents accidents in restricted areas which are regulated and categorized by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)

Internal Compass & Failsafe functionallows a home point to be set for the drone to return to – a ‘fail-safe’ function.

Cameras & Sensors for Drones

Image courtesy – dronezon.com Handheld 3-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer

The use of high-performance cameras especially designed for aerial filming and photography, and capable of shooting film in 4k video and stills in 12 megapixels match the 4K quality that consumers demand for television viewing. Fitted with zoom cameras, drones are capable of inspecting cell towers or wind turbines for damage repair.

Image Credit dronitech.com – Accurate Contour Survey and Topography Data

Drones with sensors help create 3D maps, building structures and landscapes by using Lidar, Multispectral sensors, and Photogrammetry. Low light night vision and Thermal vision sensors help to assist in agriculture, firefighting, search and rescue.

Leading Drone Brands

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is a forerunner. Drone service providers in the different categories:

Passenger Transport Drone: