There
are multiple uses of UAVs both in the military and the civilian world. While
the military is the most known users of UAVs, their civilians are now beginning
to use UAVs more frequently as technology advances. One practical use of
civilians using UAVs is in law enforcement. Drones may be used by various law
enforcement agencies for the purposes of surveillance, chasing a fleeing
suspect, etc. (Kremer, 2015). Another practical civilian use of UAVs is in
agriculture. Farmers can use drones to provide them with details regarding
their farm. They are used to determine irrigation problems, locating where the
healthy and unhealthy crops are, and are used to survey a crop every day, every
hour (Anderson, n.d.). Of course, Amazon plans to uses drones for their delivery
service. Amazon plans to use drones to deliver packages up to five pounds in 30
minutes or less to their destination (Amazon, n.d.).
There
is a considerable amount of regulations concerning the use of civilian drones.
There are operational limits. Examples of operational limits are each drone
must weigh less than 55 lbs., must have visual line of sight, daylight
operations only or civil twilight (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30
minutes after official sunset), maximum altitude is 400 ft. AGL or if higher
than 400 ft. AGL, remain within 400 ft. of a structure (FAA, 2016). There are
many more regulations in regards to operational limits. There are PIC responsibilities
and certification regulations. Examples of PIC responsibilities and
certification regulations are, a person operating a small UAS must either hold
a remote pilot airman certificate with a small UAS rating or be under the
direct supervision of a person who does hold a remote pilot certificate (remote
pilot in command), to qualify for a remote pilot certificate, a person must
demonstrate aeronautical knowledge either by a test or hold a Part 61 pilot
certificate. There are other regulations concerning PIC responsibilities and
certification (FAA, 2016).
I do
not believe that civilian UAVs will be integrated in the NAS anytime soon. With
their size they are essentially expensive toys. They have limited range than
their military counterpart and they are very small which makes it hard for
pilots to see them while they are flying. There is also a concern for privacy.
People do not like having their privacy violated and a drone makes it very easy
to do so.
The
military have been using drones for years. They are used for surveillance and
to take out threats to the United States. One of the primary reasons for the
development of stealth technology is to protect the pilot from being shot down
in the air. The other is reach the target undetected (Atherton, 2016). Since
drones do not require an actual pilot in the fuselage, the military can use
cheap drones as disposable weapons or use them in swarm to overwhelm the enemy.
More expensive drones will incorporate stealth technology to wage warfare (Atherton,
2016).
Job Postings
References
Amazon. (n.d.).
Amazon prime air. In Amazon. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from
https://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011
Anderson, C.
(n.d.). Agricultural drones. In MIT Technology Review. Retrieved October
14, 2016, from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/526491/agricultural-drones/
Atherton, K. K.
(2016, January 26). How the next generation of drones can reshape future war.
In Popular Science. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from
http://www.popsci.com/how-next-generation-drones-could-reshape-future-war
FAA. (2016, June
21). Summary of small unmanned aircraft rule (part 107). In Federal Aviation
Administration. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from
https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf
Kremer, R. (2015,
July 28). From law enforcement to farming, drones are becoming an increasingly
popular tool. In Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved October 14, 2016,
from http://www.wpr.org/law-enforcement-farming-drones-are-becoming-increasingly-popular-tool
Thank you for the article. I never thought about UAVs used in agriculture. The current trend seems to me is that UAVs are being used as floating cameras to see things from different angles. I'm interested to see how this develops.
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