DRONES — are more than just cool-looking flying objects.
It stand for Dynamic Remotely Operated Navigation Equipment.
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remotely controlled by human operator.
The earliest unmanned aerial vehicle was seen in 1839, when Austrian soldiers attacked the city of Venice with unmanned balloons filled with explosives in world war II.
Some of these Austrian Balloons were successful, but a number of them blew back and bombed the Austrians’ own lines due to wind direction.
Main Components in a UAV System:
The various components in a UAV system can be grouped into various elements such as payloads, control elements, data links, support elements, system users, etc.
It is made of light composite materials to reduce weight and increase maneuverability. This composite material strength allows military drones to cruise at extremely high altitudes.
UAV drones are equipped with different state of the art technology such as infrared cameras,Electronic speed control (ESC)->converts the signal from the flight controller to revolution per mint (RPM) of motor, GPS and laser (consumer, commercial and military UAV). Drones are controlled by remote ground control systems (GSC) and also referred to as a ground cockpit.
Types of drones:
Two main types of drone are ,
- MQ-9 Reaper — deployed for military and Special Operation application .
- DJI PHANTOM UAV — for commercial and recreational areal photography.
Based on number of propellers:
Hexacopter, Octocopter, Multicopter and Quadcopter (4 propellers) is the most famous one.
Movement of drone are classified into four types based on relation motion between four propellers: 1) throttle 2) Pitch 3) Roll and 4) Yawn.
- Throttle/ Hover: up and down movement of drone is called throttle. All four propellers run at normal speed, then the drone will move down and if they run at higher speed, it will move up. This is called hovering of drone.
- Pitch: Movement of drone about lateral axis (either forward or backward) is called pitching motion.
- If two rear propellers run at high speed, drone will move in forward direction. If two front propellers run at high speed, will move in backward direction
- Roll: movement of drone about the longitudinal axis is called rolling motion
If two right propellers run at high speed, drone will move in left direction.
If two left propellers run at high speed, it will move in right direction.
- Yawn: the rotation of the head of the drone about vertical axis (either the left or right) is called Yawning motion
If two propellers of right diagonal run at high speed, drone will rotate in anti-clockwise direction.
If two propellers of left diagonal run at high speed, drone will rotate in clockwise direction.
Forces acting on drone;
- Weight
Due to the mass of drone, the body mass force always acts in the direction of gravity.Higher the weight of drone, more power is required to lift.
Weight of drone = mass of drone × acceleration due to gravity
- Lift
The vertical force acting on the drone is called lift.This force is due to pressure difference across the drone.
To create this force, all four propellers run at high speed to lift the drone.
- Thrust
The force acting on the drone in the direction of motion is called thrust.
During hovering, the thrust is purely vertical. If thrust is inclined then the drone will tilt forward or backward.
This force is essential to move the drone in desired direction at equal speed.
- Drag
The force acting on the drone in the opposite direction of motion due to air resistance is called drag.
Working of drone:
- All the four rotors are placed at equal distance to each other.
- To maintain the balance of system, one pair of rotors rotates in clockwise direction and other pair rotate in anti-clockwise direction.
- To move up (hover), all rotors should run at high speed. By changing the speed of rotors, the drone can be move forward, backward, and side-to-side.
Other drones:
1996 – The Predator Drone is Developed. With the help of UAV giants like Abraham Karem, the U.S. develops the Predator drone. This platform brought weaponized drones to the battlefield like never before. Probably more than any other UAV, the Predator created the public image of drones striking targets around the world.There are various types drones are flying in the sky now a days.
Future scope :
Then, in 2013, Amazon company was considering using drones as a delivery method, igniting the public’s interest in drone history. In 2015, the FAA issued 1000 drone permits, a number which more than tripled to 3100 permits in 2016 and which has continued to grow
Interestingly, during the COVID-19 crisis, using the drone people free nature of the technology to modify current service delivery to improve safety and capacity levels, including the delivery of face masks to remote islands in Korea and prescription medicines from pharmacies to retirement villages in Florida.
Drones are used for aerial photography and cinematography, land surveys, monitoring infrastructure like roads and highways.
CONCLUSION
From exploding balloons to the unmanned flying vehicle, the history of drones is a fascinating topic. I greatly enjoyed getting the chance to write this article, and I hope you all enjoyed getting to read it. If you have more great drone history facts be sure to share that.
Thank you,
Sathya Priya N.
