Humans have constantly evolved, always looking for ways to influence our environment and tweak the odds to favour our cause. From an Excerpt in Singularity is Near “What, then, is the Singularity? It’s future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed. Although neither utopian nor dystopian, this epoch will transform the concepts that we rely on to give meaning to our lives, from our business models to the cycle of human life, including death itself.”[1] that focuses on the epochs of human evolution, the Singularity concept focuses on how the activities of the past influenced the present day and the importance of studying these activities in various aspects of life.
The aviation industry has been through various stages of evolution that started long before the Wright brothers began trying out the concept of flight. constant study of the idea of flying things has led to where we are today. The human approach of tinkering moved us from the originally manned aircrafts to to unmanned aircrafts or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAV).
To appreciate the development in UAV technology, it is important to scheme through the ages past and according to Blom, “The historical development of these aircraft and the Army’s long use of aerial platforms for reconnaissance provide valuable insight into the future possibilities and potential pitfalls of UAVs.”[2].
A UAV in simple terms is a aircraft without a crew on board. They are remotely controlled aircrafts that perform virtually the same task and are typically operated in the same way a normal aircraft would, with the major difference being the absence of a cockpit. uavs have become common place and are products of the evolution of the aviation industry.
Modern UAV technology may have come into use later on but the earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred on July 1849[5], when Austrian forces besieging Venice attempted to float some 200 incendiary balloons each carrying a 24- to 30-pound bomb that was to be dropped from the balloon with a time fuse over the besieged city. [4] Though the attempt was largely unsuccessful, it is within context to say that this paved the way for the first military application of UAVs in World war.
Shortly after the first world war in 1916, the first UAV were made controlled by A.m Low’s radio control technique[6], which paved the way for the modern day UAVs employed by the military.
TYPES OF UAV
There are basically three types of UAV that get their nomenclature form their manned aircraft counterpart
· Fixed wing UAV
source:https://www.rmus.com/products/uasusa-tempest-fixed-wing-drone-package-for-ag-and-inspection
· Rotary wing UAV
https://www.questuav.com/media/case-study/fixed-wing-versus-rotary-wing-for-uav-mapping-applications/
A fixed wing UAV is modeled typically like a normal fixed wing aircraft and has the same aerodynamic qualities with its counterpart. In the fixed wing UAV, the position of the cock is often replaced with communication devices that aid remote operation of the UAV.
A rotary wing UAV gets its name from its Rotary aircraft counterpart. They have similar characteristics with typical rotary aircrafts commonly called helicopters. Just like their fixed wing counterpart, their cockpit is also replaced with communication devices that aid remote flight control.
Uses of UAV
The underlying factor is safety. The emergence of UAV technology reduced the emphasis of humans in the cockpit and putting them in any potential danger that could arise from aerial travel in certain circumstances.
UAV application can broadly be classified into two groups; Military and Domestic.
The typical Military application of UAV are
· They are used for reconnaissance missions
· Target acquisition
· Target destruction
The typical Commercial applications of UAV are primarily found in
· Cinematography
· Agriculture
· Surveillance
in Subsequent posts, I'll be giving a more detailed look into the world of UAVs and other cool flying things