adminDRONES
A drone is an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV); it is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew or passengers on board. The key hardware of drones are, its frame, propulsion elements, battery, gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS, processor and camera.
The frame in most case is made of wood, aluminum, fiber glass or any light material with the desired designed strength. The three elements that produce thrust to propel the drone are; the propeller, the motor and the electronic speed controller. The propeller is either made of well-crafted wood or pressed metal or molded materials. While the motors are direct current (dc) motors: the two main direct current (dc) motors types are brush (BDC) and brushless (BLDC) direct current motors. Brushless dc motors are preferred for drones because of the ease of maintenance. However the electronic speed controller is is used to control the motion characteristics of the drone and is chosen based on the type and power rating of the motor.
The gyroscope is used to detect and set the direction where the drone is to go. The accelerometer is used to measure how fast the drone is moving and in what direction. The GPS is a position locator; it tells the drone where it is at all times. The processor is the brain or the computer that coordinates all the various inputs, processes them to obtain the desired output. The camera is optional but it adds a visual dimension to the drone’s movement.
Drones are classified according to their size and weight, flight autonomy, mission type, flight characteristics, level of autonomy and whether they are for civil or military use.
The critical aspects regarding the design of drones are their structural strength, load capacity and their flight characteristics; the drone is design to structurally support the maximum load expected on the drone during flight without failure. Drones weight varies from a low of 2kg to a high of over 600kg, depending on its expected role in service. Therefore drones are designed for different roles it will encounter in flight, ranging from civilian to military. Hence, drones are designed with these flight characteristics in mind. Typically drone flight characteristic are modeled accordingly as; fixed wing, rotary wing, hybrid, single rotor, multi-rotor, co-axial rotor and tilted rotor designs.
The other critical aspects regarding drones design is their level of autonomy. Drones controls are either human controlled or have some degree of autonomy where human control is available when necessary, otherwise full autonomy where no human control is required. The decision of the control architecture depends on the sophistication of the control system.
Generally drones are currently being used for a variety of purpose including military, industrial, commercial, social and recreational, educational and research and host of others. Specifically, they are used in the following walk of life such as; aerial photography and videography, surveillance and monitoring, delivery and transporting, inspection, agriculture, and in others areas of life too numerous to mention.
The future of drones is the subject of various studies regarding the following issues; privacy, regulation, licensing, no fly zones and others, it is pertinent that these issues are resolved to avoid social disorder and overbearing government control.
Moreover with the advent of artificial intelligence technology and the possibility of rogue states or institutions to wage war against constituted authorities is highly possible. The use recently of drones by Ukraine, Russia, Hamas, Hezbollah and others to fight wars attest to this possibility.
SOURCES;
- Unmanned aircraft systems, UAVS design, development and deployment by Reg Austin. (c) 2010. John Wiley and sons.
- Handbook of unmanned aerial vehicles edited by Kilmon P. Valavanus, George J. Vachtsevanous.( c)2015; springer science+ Bussiness media Dordrecht.
- The drone’s manual by Kelvin Jenkins, a guide to responsible operation of small unmanned aircrafts. (c) 2017. Aviation supplies and academics.
- Drones, a complete manual by Aaron Asadi. (c) 2016. Imagine publishing ltd.
- Build your own quadcopter by Donald Norris. (c) 2014. McGraw hill education.
