Although originally built for military purposes, drones have seen rapid growth and advancements and left their mark on consumer electronics.
Their original envisioned use was as a strategic weapon, to be used as remotely-guided aerial missile deployers.
However, today drones have found a wide range of applications for civilian use, especially in the form of small quadcopters and octocopters.
Today, drones are used for a wide range of functions in different fields, such as:
- Agriculture: The Environmental Protection Agency already utilizes drones technology to manage livestock and survey crops. In the future farmers and ranchers could use unmanned aircraft to strategically monitor and spray their crops.
- Conservation: Unmanned aircraft are being used to monitor endangered species and map the changes in various ecosystems around the globe. As drone technology advances, the use and impact of unmanned aircraft in conservation efforts will expand.
- Delivery/fulfilment: Anything the postman can carry can also be delivered by drone. Food, prescriptions, that last-minute birthday gift for your dad—shortly, there will be big changes in the way packages arrive at our doors.
- Disaster mitigation and relief: Drones can go places that humans can’t access, so they are an ideal solution for dangerous search and rescue efforts, as well as for delivering emergency supplies to remote locations and disaster areas.
- Logistics: Heavy-duty drones can replace trucks for inventory management and moving goods between warehouses. This is likely to decrease the number of semi trucks you see on the road.
- Filmmaking and photography: Low-budget filmmakers are already using drones to capture the aerial shots and Hollywood will soon be hiring full crews of drone Unmanned aircraft are also gaining ground with photojournalists who want to capture breaking news from above.
- ISPs: Big tech companies like Facebook and Google are experimenting with solar-powered drone technology to beam the Internet to remote locals. This could transform connectivity as we know it.
Law enforcement: In Seattle and Miami, police forces have already applied for permits to use drones, and we’ll likely begin to see unmanned aircraft supplementing police presence at large public events.
- Real Estate: Real Estate listings are poised to change completely with high-definition videos capture by drones that fly through neighbourhoods, and into every room in a listed house.
So, next time you see a flying object up in the sky, don’t wonder if it’s a bird, plane, or Superman. It’s just a drone out on a mission.
