PDF version of this report
You must have Adobe Acrobat reader to view, save, or print PDF files. The reader
is available for free
download.
Drone Technology
Copyright 2022, Faulkner Information
Services. All Rights Reserved.
Docid: 00021020
Publication Date: 2202
Report Type: PRODUCT
Preview
Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are quickly integrating themselves into the
daily lives of millions of people around the globe. "Drone" is used to describe
a very broad selection of technology, including everything from sub-$100 toys
that can fly around the house and feed video to a smartphone, to high-end videography equipment used in blockbuster movies, to multi-million dollar
military platforms currently being deployed around the world. This report will
attempt to address the current state of drone technology, what uses it is being
put to, what risks it can pose to personal and national security, and what the
future might look like for this burning-hot section of the global technology
market.
Report Contents:
- Description and
History - Modern Drone Technology
- Security Concerns
- Current and Future
Regulations - Drone Manufacturers
- Summary
- Web Links
Figure 1. Amazon Prime Air Drone
Source: Amazon
Description
and History
[return to top of this report]
The early years
Although many think of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as having
only come into existence within the past few decades, their history can be
tracked back as far as World War I to the likes of the Ruston Proctor Aerial
Target and Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane. Although these units were
incredibly crude by today’s standards, they were capable of completing a
pre-planned flight path with no human pilot on board. These early drones were
more like flying bombs than anything else and soon gave way to a new class of
unmanned aerial vehicles: anti-aircraft practice targets.
The inherently difficult nature of training anti-aircraft gunners without
risking the life of a human pilot led to the development of unmanned,
radio-controlled vehicles like the Fairey Queen radio-controlled target and the
DH.82B Queen Bee.1 In fact, many believe the name "Queen Bee"
actually led to the related term "drone" coming to be used synonymously with
unmanned aerial vehicles. These aerial targets were much closer to what we would
consider a drone today. Having direct, active radio controls that were manned by
a pilot on the ground allowed the aircraft to behave much like an actual plane,
providing gunners with the experience necessary to draw a bead on an actual
enemy target without risking the lives of any of the parties involved in the
training. This use of drone technology as a way to prevent the loss of friendly
lives would come to define it for much of its history throughout the 20th
century.
Although the use of drones continued through World War II primarily for target
practice, the next evolution in the technology came during
the 1950s when the military began considering unmanned aerial vehicles as a
viable reconnaissance platform. Monitoring an enemy without risking lives quickly became an important advantage when the Cold
War was in its ascendancy. To accomplish this goal, unmanned aircraft like the
Ryan Firebee and Lightning Bug were outfitted with surveillance equipment in
successful test runs.2
However, the inception of ultra-high altitude spy planes like the US military’s
top-secret U2 and SR-71 Blackbird led to something of a lull in the development
of drone technology. The logic was that US pilots could perform reconnaissance
duties on enemy territory from such a great height that they would be immune to
enemy fire. However, that belief proved false when U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers
was shot down by the USSR in 1960.3 Not only did this embarrassing
incident reveal the US’ spy technology to its enemy, it also proved that no
human participant in surveillance behind enemy lines was truly safe. With
this seemingly obvious realization now proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, the US
and its allied forces once again undertook the task of integrating unmanned drones into
military protocols.
Drones again come to the forefront of surveillance technology during the
Vietnam war. Vast tracts of extremely hostile land led the US military to
turn to unmanned vehicles with greater frequency than ever before. Although
these proved extremely useful, they were still limited by the fact that
they were capable only of being used as spy platforms, as well as by their need to be
physically recovered in order for the information they gathered to be analyzed. These lingering disadvantages of drone technology would
remain until the next step forward for unmanned aerial vehicles came about near
the end of the 20th century.
The Birth of the Modern Drone
The first drone that closely resembled what the military, and, indeed, the
general public, has available to them today was seen in 1982. This unmanned
aircraft was deployed during the Israeli Air Force’s offensive against the
Syrian Air Force. The drones were used as
electronic decoys, a method to jam enemy communications and, for the first
time, as a way to capture a live video feed from behind enemy lines. This leap
forward in the capabilities of drone technology resulted in the destruction of
86 Syrian aircraft in a sweeping victory for Israeli forces with almost no loss
of life on their side.4
About one decade later during Operation Desert Storm, the US deployed its
first drones during an active conflict in the modern era. These units closely
resembled those still in use today and included the debut of the now-familiar
Global Hawk produced by Northrop Grumman. Since this time, the US has used
drones for surveillance and reconnaissance in every theater of every armed
conflict.5
One weakness of these more modern drones was the fact that nearly all
of the available models were of the fixed wing variety. This type of aircraft
proved itself time and again for the task of surveiling large swaths of land
or delivering munitions via weaponized drone platforms such as the Predator
Drone from General Atomics. However, drones at this time were not very good at
remaining stealthy and were even worse at maintaining surveillance on a single,
fixed target for long periods of time. For such a task, the military
needed a rotor-based drone, but this proved to be a major obstacle.
Rotor-based aircraft are notoriously difficult to fly, as any RC helicopter
pilot can attest, and are prone to the slightest pilot error or inclement
weather condition. This weakness of rotor-based UAVs changed only in the past
decade or so when models like the MQ-8 Fire Scout from Northrop Grumman were created.
On-board electronics as well as a highly-sophisticated remote control system
allowed the drone’s systems to compensate, to a great degree, for pilot error or
inexperience, as well as for wind and other weather conditions.6 As is often the case, the military-centric technology
that made this advancement possible soon began to trickle down to the industrial
and, finally, the consumer markets, clearing the way for the ongoing influx of
drone technology.
Figure 2 shows a US Air Force MQ-1B Predator drone.
Figure 2. MQ-1B Predator Drone
Source: US Air Force
Modern Drone Technology
[return to top of this report]
Today’s drones are being used by everyone from the world’s militaries to any
variety of businesses to the kid down the street. The purposes to which unmanned
vehicles are being assigned has exploded in variety since the technology has
become ever more efficient and cost-effective. Although the number of specific
uses for modern drones is too long to include here, there are a few categories
under which these purposes tend to fall. There will be considerable cross-over
between some of the use cases, which will be noted where appropriate, but the
list should serve as a comprehensive primer on where someone should expect to
see drones going to work in today’s modern world.
Current Use Cases
- Military – This is the original and most common use that drones had
been put to until very recently. Although the vast majority of historical
uses and a sizable portion of modern uses are still focused entirely on
non-confrontational recon missions, the US and foreign military powers now
have fully weaponized drones in their arsenal. These often controversial
weapons make it possible for a remote pilot to deliver a payload to
far-flung locales without ever having to leave a hardened bunker location
many miles away. Specific military applications include:- Surveillance and Inspection – Still the most common use
for drones, allowing the military to access areas that would be
unreachable or dangerous for a human agent. This usage has both
military and civil engineering applications with multiple companies
developing drones for both scenarios. Specific tasks drones of this type
have been assigned include inspecting major engineering installations
such as dams, as well as monitoring natural phenomena including active
volcanoes and weather events. - Reconnaissance – Arguably an offshoot of the aforementioned
category of military usage, reconnaissance also now includes the
possibility of monitoring and reporting on an active battlefield. This
technology, combined with recently developed augmented reality
capabilities, makes it possible for an "eye-in-the-sky" type
scenario where targets can be painted for troops on the ground, while
also preventing tragic friendly fire incidents by identifying friendlies
from above. - Offense – Thanks to developments like the "Predator drone," the
military has now fully adopted unmanned aerial vehicles as a viable
delivery system for lethal armaments. Although this fulfills the dreams
of many soldiers and generals to fight a war without risking any of
their citizens’ lives, the practice of using drones has become controversial
in recent years. Some believe the ease with which these drone strikes
can be carried out will make it too convenient to simply assassinate
enemy targets at will. Others argue that the lack of a human being
physically present at the location where the offensive is occurring will
result in undue collateral damage caused by an incomplete assessment of the
situation as it is presented through the drone’s instrumentation. Despite these
concerns, no major military power in the world has shown any signs of
abandoning the prospect of using drones as offensive weapons.
- Surveillance and Inspection – Still the most common use
- Industrial – This category includes many crossovers with
the military use cases seen above (with the obvious exception of offense).
Like the military interests of the world, industrial entities have been
quick to see the benefits provided by drone technology, often using it to
save hundreds of thousands of dollars by removing any danger to human life
from a traditionally hazardous task.- Surveillance and Inspection – An obvious crossover use with
military interests, many industries are using drones to perform
surveillance and inspection tasks that a human could not do or would be
in significant danger performing. A well-known example of this is the
inspection of wind turbines by drones. These unmanned aircraft allow for
daily inspections of a structure that is extremely difficult to access
for human personnel, insuring that repairs can be made where needed,
while also sparing employees from the dangers and rigors of climbing
hundreds of feet into the air when it is not necessary.7 - Industrial Planning – A close cousin of surveillance and
inspection, the industrial planning use case is nearly exclusive to the
construction industry. Possible scenarios include environmental impact
surveys, planning external construction on extremely tall edifices, and
aerial photography for ground-level construction. This type of use also
includes possibilities such as scouting locations for mining expeditions
in hard-to-reach locales and other prospecting tasks. - Line Clearance – Many utility companies and
municipal services entities have begun using drones to clear power and
communications lines of debris, fallen branches, and other obstructions.
This is being accomplished using everything from hooks, to trimming
devices, to flamethrowers capable of burning off fallen branches or
other plant matter.
- Surveillance and Inspection – An obvious crossover use with
- Commercial – Similar to Industrial applications,
commercial uses for drone technology were quick to pop up as soon as the
unmanned devices reached widespread availability. Although not generally
occurring on as grand a scale as industrial scenarios, commercial drone use
has transformed many areas of commercial interest that were previously
unavailable to all but the largest enterprises and corporations.- Aerial Photography – Just a decade or so ago, getting
an aerial image of a given location would involve contracting a
helicopter equipped with high-resolution photographic equipment. Now,
for less than the amount a single session of that type would have cost,
amateur and professional remote control pilots can take aerial images
and video of the location they desire by purchasing their own drone.
This has proven to be a particular boon to the real estate segment,
giving realtors the ability to attract potential buyers with an aerial
image or flyby of the property or land they are attempting to sell. - Delivery – This is a borderline use case for being considered
as currently viable as it remains in its testing stages for nearly all
providers.
The possibility of using drones to deliver products has been around as
an idea for some time. However, it was popularized by a starry-eyed
announcement from one of the world’s largest online retailers, Amazon,
that it would begin testing the possibility of using drones to deliver
orders to its customers within a half hour of the transaction being
completed. Since Amazon’s announcement, others have taken a crack at
drone-based delivery, with one of the most advanced efforts being,
predictably, from UPS. While no company has begun offering any form of
widespread commercial drone delivery, several have advanced their efforts to the
point where commercial viability could be possible within just a few
years. Despite this, the uncertain future of the federal regulations governing drone
usage in the US (see below) have intermittently put this plan into
serious jeopardy.
- Aerial Photography – Just a decade or so ago, getting
- Entertainment – It is not surprising that the entertainment
industry, one of the world’s largest consumers of photographic and
videographic equipment, would be hungry for the totally new, extremely
versatile platform that drones provide. Unlike the previous categories, the
uses to which the entertainment industry has been putting drone technology
essentially fall under a single umbrella: Getting the shot that no human or
land-locked camera would be able to capture. This is true for live
programming, especially sports, as well as pre-recorded video.Some of the best examples of how beneficial drone technology can prove
come from the action sports world. Covering events like Olympic skiing and
snowboarding had traditionally been done by using cameras mounted on
high-speed cable systems. These installations were massive, expensive, and
often only existed to be used a single time. To replace this inefficient
system, videographers now have the option of piloting a drone down the
steep, winding mountain courses sports like these follow. The video can be just as stunning, or more so, than a cable-based system,
and can often be had for a fraction of the price.In a similar vein, movie and TV producers can use drones to film scenes
where it would be dangerous for a human camera operator to enter. Stunts with practical
special effects and pyrotechnics that would have previously risked lives can
now be captured by drone-based cameras from angles that would have been
impossible before. Even news programs and nature documentaries have benefited
greatly from using drones, often managing to capture wonders like Niagara
Falls from angles that would have cost thousands, if not tens of thousands of
dollars to produce.8 - Recreation – This is the newest and possibly fastest growing use
to which drones are put. It is also the only category here that is exclusive to
the private user. The massive reduction in the cost of purchasing and
operating a drone has made owning one a possibility for a large part of the
population. Although many of these consumer-friendly models do not share the
range or capabilities of their commercial counterparts, a fair share of them
can perform highly technical tasks at distances that would have made a
Hollywood bigshot or civil engineer envious just a few years ago. New uses are
popping up every day for consumer-level drones. However, the following
scenarios are currently the most popular:- Racing – Like any motorized vehicle, remote controlled or
otherwise, drones were quickly and heartily adopted that those that
believe anything that moves can be part of a race. Early on, this was
restricted to racing around aerial courses within the line of sight of
the drone’s operator. However, advances in head-mounted displays, live
action video cameras, and commercially available transmitters have made
it possible for first-person view (FPV) racing to become popular. This
involves piloting a high-speed, agile drone by viewing a video feed
streamed live from the unmanned vehicle directly to a head-mounted
display. The result is a video game-like experience of sitting in the
pilot seat of a miniature aircraft as it whizzes through the forest or
around an indoor track. The relatively low-cost entry point for this
hobby has resulted in a rapidly growing fan base, with both commercially
available models and home-built drones flourishing in this
space. - Amateur Photography – The ability to mount an HD or even
4K-capable video
camera to a drone is now readily available
to consumers. This makes it possible to grab stunning shots and videos
of the pilot’s neighborhood, beaches, lakes, wildlife, and more. A simple
YouTube search will turn up hundreds of videos taken by amateur drone
pilots that are producing content for less than $1,000 that would have
required a major production company to create just a few years ago. - Drone Combat – A far less deadly but still destructive use
for drones has only recently turned up but is quickly gaining a rabid
fan base. It typically involves simple but hardy drones being placed
within a space that is surrounded by netting for the protection of the
pilots and spectators, at which point the drones take off and attempt to
ground each other by any means available to them. This typically
involves breaking the propellers or some other external portion of
another competitor’s drone. Cheap, readily available replacement parts
mean this activity can now take place without the loss of several
hundred dollars each time a drone crashes.9 - Toys – Drone technology has actually come far enough along that
its price point makes it possible to create a surprisingly
fully featured toy. These units, which can cost as little as $100, or
even less than $20 in the case of some micro-drones, are typically designed to work in concert with a smartphone or
tablet providing a live video feed. Although more expensive models
offer similar functionality with high-resolution images and built-in
GPS, the toy versions of this type of drone generally rely on
low-resolution imaging and simple radio controls. Despite their relative
lack of high-end capabilities, these toy drones have quickly gained
impressive sales figures, being gobbled up by youngsters that can keep
them in the air and in one piece far longer than a traditional remote
controlled helicopter or airplane.
- Racing – Like any motorized vehicle, remote controlled or
Security Concerns
[return to top of this report]
Like all technologies that begin as a tool of the military, drones bring with
them a certain level of apprehension from the general public now that they are
in the hands of private citizens. A large portion of this unease may come from a
simple misunderstanding about the term "drone." In reality, the word has come to
describe every sort of unmanned aerial vehicle, from a $10 quadrocopter bought
at a toy store to a multi-million dollar Predator drone capable of firing Hellfire
missiles from miles away. Despite the versatility of the word, many average
citizens still conflate a consumer UAV with the more deadly, more frightening Predator
drone
end of the spectrum, largely due to that type of drone having years more news
coverage than the relatively benign types private citizens can now buy. However,
this is not to say that drone are completely free from posing any inherent
danger. Like any naturally banal technology, they could be used for criminal
purposes if placed in the hands of a malefactor. Although coverage of most events of this type has generally been a matter of fear
mongering by less than scrupulous media outlets, it does not preclude the
possibility that, at some point, a commercially available drone could be used to
commit a crime or cause a tragic outcome if its capabilities are abused.
There are essentially two dangers that commercially available drones pose: A
risk to privacy and a potential weapons delivery platform.
- Privacy – This category refers to both the personal
privacy of the average citizen as well as the privacy of certain national
and regional security concerns.- Personal Privacy – Knowing the historical uses to
which drones have been put should make it easy to imagine how the
average person might be concerned that the widespread availability of
the technology, to both the general public and governmental agencies,
could pose a risk to their privacy. Being pressed into duty as a
surveillance platform was one of the earliest goals for drones and it
remains one of their most common and easily accomplished tasks.
Early news reports on the rise of drones often played
up the threat of both law enforcement officials and peeping toms being
able to fly a drone up to a home’s second story window to peek in with
little or no legal recourse for the home’s owner. Several years later,
threats such as these have generally failed to materialize. Aside from
the occasional outlier story about an overzealous homeowner shooting a
drone out of the sky, typically when it was performing
some task that had nothing to do with them, there have been very, very few actual incidences of the public’s privacy being violated by drone-based
video surveillance. Simply put, nearly all commercially available
drones, and nearly all of those available to domestic law enforcement
officials, would make terrible stealth surveillance equipment. The noise
produced by the average drone would immediately alert a surveillance
target to its presence, ruining its ability to provide an
advantage over standing outside of a home or across the street and
looking in a window. There may come a point, however, when the average citizen
should be more concerned about such matters. Drones are becoming
smaller, more efficient, and better at producing high-quality video and
images. - Public Sector Privacy – There is a real possibility of a commercially available drone being used to
spy on a secured government location. Flying a drone over any secured
government location in the US is just as illegal as flying any other
aircraft there. However, the relatively small size of commercially
available drones, when compared to a manned aircraft, makes it much
more likely that such an incursion could be missed. That
said, there are already some safeguards in place to prevent such
occurrences with more being developed. The fact remains that any party determined enough to break
into or spy on a given location will attempt to do so. While drone
technology might provide an additional, and admittedly very useful, tool
in these nefarious endeavors, it is by no means a sea change, nor does
it pose such an undue and unchecked threat that it should concern the
general public.
- Personal Privacy – Knowing the historical uses to
- Drones as a Weapon – This category addresses the fear
that commercially available drones can be weaponized to do harm to people
and structures, particularly in secure locations, with little or no current
measures for countering such attacks.- The Concerns – First, it should be clearly stated
that there is no such thing as a weaponized, commercially available
drone. The worst someone can do with an off-the-shelf drone is to crash
it into someone or something. It might sting a bit (or in the case of
some of the larger models, a lot), but it is unlikely to cause any
lasting harm, and even more unlikely to kill. The real concern here is
that someone will take one of these off-the-shelf drones and modify it
with some type of explosive or incendiary device, creating a
frighteningly capable weapons delivery system. Concerns such as these
began to garner serious attention due to a pair of
incidents, one involving a drone crashing on the lawn of the White
House,10 and one involving a scare
in Paris when a total of five drones were seen hovering over popular
tourist attractions.11 In both
cases, no real criminal intent was uncovered. The White House
incident turned out to be nothing more than a drunken government
employee on a ill-advised jaunt, while the Paris incident, although
never explained, was never proven to be anything more dire than a
thoughtless hobbyist unwittingly scaring the public. However, as with
the aforementioned concerns, just because it hasn’t happened yet, does
not mean it can’t happen. - The Dangers – Is it possible that a criminal or
terrorist group could potentially strap an explosive or some other
harmful device to a drone? Yes, it is entirely possible. However, it is
important to take a few things into consideration before becoming overly
concerned about such an eventuality. First, most commercially available
drones, particularly those of the more common varieties that caused the pair
of aforementioned scares, have very little extra lift available to
them. This means that most off-the-shelf drones are unable to carry more
than an additional few ounces beyond their own weight before being
unable to take off at all. Even the cameras used by these craft are
designed to be extremely lightweight and are usually of the same variety
as the kind used by professional athletes for recording skiing or
cycling runs. Managing to fit any type of explosive device with the
potential to do serious damage to anyone is, therefore, very unlikely.
Of course, many drone hobbyists prefer to modify their craft with more
powerful motors and batteries, increasing the potential lift. That said,
doing so would only increase the possible payload weight to a pound or
two, and would still result in a craft that could never gain any
significant altitude. With all of these obstacles, it must be asked
whether it is truly any more effective for a criminal or terrorist to
use a drone than it would be for them to simply use any one of the bevy
of existing methods to harm a person or edifice. - The Countermeasures – As inefficient and unlikely
as it currently is for a drone to be used in any significant crime or
harmful incident, the government and drone makers are still wise to take
pre-emptive steps to combat such a possibility becoming a reality in the
future. Stricter regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) are now in place and will be covered in additional
detail later in this report. Meanwhile, drone makers like DJI (the very
company that produced the drone in the White House incident) are already
introducing on GPS-based restrictions that would prevent their products from
traversing any no-fly areas. Although both of these countermeasures are
in their early stages, it is promising that government and commercial
entities are both ahead of the game when it comes to guaranteeing that
drone technology remains a force for good and a source of fun rather
than a tool for those who would use it maliciously.
- The Concerns – First, it should be clearly stated
Current and Future
Regulations
[return to top of this report]
Current
Although the operation of a drone within US borders has been regulated by the
FAA for some time, it is only within the past three years that the agency has taken a serious look
at the current state of the drone market and updated its guidelines. These updates
was created as an addition to all existing rules, and do not replace or alter
any of the guidelines that were already in place. Simply put, the FAA has now
created a registry under which all privately owned drones in excess of 0.55
pounds must be registered with their operator’s name, address, and other
personal info. This includes a registration number, which must be visible on the
drone itself at all times, as of February 23, 2019. The thought behind this requirement is that operators
who previously may have used their drones outside the
confines of the law would have simply been able to abandon their craft to
escape law enforcement. Now they will have to face the consequences of
their actions due to police and other agencies being able to located them via
their registration numbers. Due to the relative newness of this registry, fairly
little is known on how effective it will be in tracking and preventing
drone-based crimes from occurring in the long term. However, it is a small, albeit firm, first
step towards the federal government regulating the operation of drones in the
same way it oversees nearly every other type of motorized vehicle.
As previously stated, the requirement to register was put in place as an addition
to existing rules and guidelines, which are covered below. To make it easier for
private and commercial drone pilots, the FAA teamed with some of the most
popular drone makers to launch a campaign called
Know Before You Fly. This joint
venture lays out the guidelines for recreational use, commercial use, and use by
public entities. Although this report will not dive into the details of each of
these use cases, a quick summary is provided for each:
- Recreational Use – This title applies to all private
usage of a drone for non-commercial purposes. It fully covers photographic
and videographic activities as long as the pilot does not profit financially
in any way from the resulting media. The guidelines laid down by the FAA for
recreational use are as follows:- Maximum altitude of no greater than 400 feet.
- Aircraft must be kept within line of sight at all times.
- Keep well clear of manned aircraft.
- Do not fly within five miles of an airport unless given permission by
the airport’s operators. - Do not fly near people or stadiums.
- Do not fly any Aircraft weighing more than 55 pounds.
- Do not be careless or reckless (fines can be levied for endangering
people or other aircraft).
- Commercial Use – This refers to any use of a drone or
other model aircraft for financial gain or business-oriented services.
Prime examples of this are real estate or wedding photography, professional
cinematography, or land surveys. Unlike recreational use, this purpose requires the pilot to have certain authorizations from the FAA. These
include:- An exemption from the FAA for commercial drone use.
- An FAA airworthiness certificate to operate pursuant to FAA rules.
- An FAA Certificate of Authorization (COA).
- Use by Public Entities – This use case is restricted to
government entities such as federal and state government agencies, law
enforcement agencies, and public colleges and universities. These types of
drone pilots can apply for a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA),
giving them permission to operate any small, unmanned aerial system, but
only for "governmental purposes." Public entity users are also held to the
same aforementioned guidelines as their commercial and recreational
counterparts.
Future
As stated above, the FAA has already instituted the requirement for all
drones in excess of 0.55 pounds to be registered. This move, particularly its
extremely low weight limit, drew ire from many in the industry, with accusations
flying that it was a knee jerk reaction, and accusing the FAA of not fully
considering the restrictions it was attempting to enforce. However, this is
actually a much more light-handed approach than the agency was previously
considering, with it having once proposed a plan under which all drone pilots
would have to "be at least 17 years old, pass an
aeronautical knowledge test and obtain an FAA UAS operator certificate."
Furthermore, "[t]o maintain certification, the operator would have to pass
the FAA knowledge tests every 24 months."12
Thankfully for drone makers as well as young drone pilots, this particular
guideline was not passed, and seemingly remains beyond the pale of what the FAA
is willing to require at this point.
However, it should be noted that even the agency’s relatively banal registry
has thrown up some red flags for privacy advocates. Aside from a promise by
the FAA that it would make the registry
searchable by anyone, the agency failed to provide adequate instructions, leading to many citizens
who were attempting to do their duty and
register their drone mistakenly uploading their info to an entirely
unrelated registry for commercial aircraft pilots. This exposed the uploaded
info to public search and potentially breached the privacy of private citizens
who had no expectation of their information being made public.13 While the issue has since been corrected, an early
stumble like this can often derail even well-meaning governmental regulation due
to it harming the earliest adopters.
The Controversy
While the new registry has been a bit of a headache, as explained above, it
has generally caused nowhere near the public outcry that the FAA’s stance towards commercial drone use has resulted in. Where the agency seems to
have settled on its position on private drone operation, its handling of
commercial usage has been nowhere near as steady. This has proven a particular
headache for the likes of Amazon and Google, two of the companies at the
forefront of the push to make drones a viable platform for delivering small
goods to consumers’ homes. Despite the obvious commercial benefit, the agency
has already Clashed with Amazon on several occasions, largely due to its
concerns over scenarios like dropped payloads, malfunctioning and runaway
aircraft, and other possible dangers.14
However, all is far from lost for the concept of home delivery drones.
Increasingly accurate onboard guidance systems, improved craft designs, and,
very likely, some intense lobbying by the aforementioned Internet giants has
resulted in something of a softening in the outlook for drone delivery programs.
Amazon in particular remains true to its vision, saying, "The FAA needs to begin and expeditiously complete the formal process
to address the needs of our business, and ultimately our customers. We are
committed to realizing our vision for Prime Air and are prepared to deploy where
we have the regulatory support we need."15
Drone Manufacturers
[return to top of this report]
The number of drone manufacturers has grown by leaps and
bounds in recent years. Once solely the domain of major military contractors
like Northrop Grumman, the drone market has exploded to the point where it would
be impossible to compile a comprehensive list here of all the active drone
manufacturers currently participating in the market. However, the following
will provide a cross section of the most popular, well know, and
potentially influential drone makers across the recreational, commercial, and
military sectors. The drone makers worth watching, in no particular order, are:
Parrot
It seems sensible to begin with Parrot since they are arguably responsible
for the modern influx of consumer-level drones. This French company is one of the
most well known makers of UAVs among the general public, having burst onto the scene
with its Parrot AR Drone. The quad-rotor craft was among the first to feature
on-board live video feeds to a connected smartphone and was one of the lowest
priced options at the time of its launch. More importantly, the AR Drone featured
on-board stabilization and automated landing protocols that kept the craft from
crashing, unlike so many manually piloted single- and multi-rotor aircraft of the
time. Parrot released an updated version of the AR Drone, dubbed simply AR Drone
2.0, which featured an improved camera, a longer range, and reduced cost. The
company’s more recent product lines include the Bebop drone family, its most advanced
mainstream offering yet, and the Anafi, a "prosumer" model capable of
recording 4K video in cinema-worth quality. In recent months, Parrot has shifted
its focus entirely to the enterprise and commercial customer, adding thermal
imaging and other scientific measurement tools to its Anafi line and ending its
Bebop sales.
- Primary Customers – Enterprise and commercial users
seeking low-cost, flexible platforms for imaging and thermal imaging
equipment. - Primary Applications – Commercial and safety
inspection, including search and rescue, industrial inspections, and
surveillance. - Current Flagship Model – The Parrot Anafi drone,
equipped with indoor/outdoor flight, GPS, live video streaming to a
smartphone or tablet, a virtually gimbaled on-board 4K camera with 2.8x
optical zoom that is capable of
stabilized capture, and optional hardware controls which raise its range to
3+ kilometers from the user. Parrot has also launched additional variants of
the Anafi that include extras such as thermal imaging cameras
and FPV goggles.
DJI
Where Parrot arguably originated the idea of consumer-level drones, DJI has
come to dominate the "prosumer" space in the market. The company’s seminal
Phantom line of flyers went through several iterations, with many industry
firsts having been accomplished by its various iterations. Although its place as
a flagship line has been largely replaced by the Mavic series, it remains an
important part of the company’s history. Unlike Parrot, DJI’s drones
are heavier weight, relatively speaking, and are designed almost exclusively for
outdoor use. Although optional bumpers can be installed on some models, it is generally not recommended in residentially-sized space. The versatile Phantom line was one of the first in the
consumer-level market to feature a gimbaled on-board camera option. Although the
camera is not included with all Phantom models, the company offered a gimbal for
several models of "action cams," including the GoPro Hero series, which
can be retrofitted. These lightweight devices, which also include their own Wi-Fi streaming
video capabilities, make it possible to fly a Phantom with the included hardware
controller while viewing a video feed on a connected smartphone or tablet via
the GoPro app. Less DIY-inclined users can now also purchase a ready-to-fly DJI
Phantom with built-in cameras that include video capture up to 4K
resolution with full image stabilization, or one of its Mavic or Mini models,
which all include onboard, gimballed cameras. This level of videography does come at a cost,
however, with most top of the line Phantom and Mavic units coming in at or over the $799 mark. That said, the company’s drones have
been used to produce stunning videos that viewers often find hard to believe
are the work of an amateur. Still, those interested in a more budget-friendly drones are not being left out in the cold by DJI. Recently, the company
has expanded its Mavic line of drones, to include the Mavic Mini, an
ultra-portable drone that can fit in the palm of the user’s hand while still
offering the vast majority of the features found in its larger cousins. The
Mavic mini starts at a relatively more affordable $449 price point.
- Primary Customers – Mid- to high-budget consumers,
skewing towards the young-adult and adult demographic; hobbyists interested
in modifying their craft; amateur and budget-minded professional aerial
photographers and videographers. - Primary Applications – Recreational use; mid- to
high-range amateur photography and videography; low- to mid-range
professional photography and videography. - Current Flagship Model – The Mavic Air 2, equipped with
outdoor flight, GPS, and hardware controls. The unit includes an integrated
camera mounted on a robotic gimbal that can produce image stabilized 4K
video, which can also be output as a live feed to a connected smartphone
or tablet device. It also comes equipped with an array of sensors
capable of eliminating pilot errors that would otherwise cause a crash. It
also features advanced noise reduction capabilities designed to allow drone
pilots to record audio without it being drowned out by rotor hum.
Aerovironment
Founded in 1972, Aerovironment focuses its efforts on energy systems,
electric vehicles, and, more recently, drone technology. The company specializes
in small, hand-launched aerial drones capable of providing surveillance feeds to
military and law enforcement personnel. Aerovironment’s line of drones include
the fixed-wing RQ-20 Puma, with a range of 6.2 miles, as well as
possibly most important offering, the Nano Hummingbird. This model is capable of
quick directional changes on all axes and can fly in any direction like its
namesake. It is also designed to resemble its namesake, taking the form of a
large hummingbird. Although the rotor-based drone would fool no one upon close
inspection, its diminutive size and natural-seeming silhouette could be used to
stealthily survey a situation from a safe distance. It is admittedly early days
for this type of morphic drone design, but Aerovironment is leading the charge
in similar developments. Aerovironment also holds the distinction
of being the top supplier for small drones to the US Department of Defense.16
- Primary Customers – The US Department of Defense and
other federal agencies; military contractors; high-end industrial users. - Primary Applications – Surveillance and reconnaissance
of battlefield and non-combat situations; law enforcement inspection and
surveillance. - Current Flagship Model – The Puma LE, a long-endurance
surveillance drone capable of 5.5 hours of flight time after being launched
by hand or with a bungee. It supports a 15MP gimballed EO camera with
features such as 50x zoom, IR sensitivity, low-light capture, and a
high-power illuminator. The craft can also carry multi-mission payloads
including Electronic Warfare, Communications Relays, and more.
Prox Dynamics
Prox Dynamics is in direct competition with Aerovironment for producing the
smallest, stealthiest drones. Like Aerovironment, Prox specializes in
surveillance and reconnaissance drones for military and law enforcement
customers. However, rather than attempting to conceal its drones by mimicking
nature, Prox prefers to accomplish its stealth goals through sheer lack of size.
The company’s most successful entry in this drone genre is the Black Hornet Nano.
Although it bears little resemblance to its namesake, the tiny, rotor-based
drone can easily fit in the palm of the pilot’s hand with room to spare. Despite
its diminutive size, it is capable of offering standard, night vision, and
long-wave infrared video feeds to users up to one mile away. This model, which
already has more than 3,000 units deployed, is extremely useful in hostile urban
environments where it can be used to check potentially dangerous indoor spaces
without the need to risk human lives.
- Primary Customers – Military and law enforcement
agencies interested in small, stealthy recon and surveillance drones,
typically for use in life-threatening situations. - Primary Applications – Recon and scouting missions
where human lives would be at risk if personnel were sent in. - Current Flagship Model – The Black Hornet Nano, a
rotor-based drone that is just four inches by one inch in size, weighing a mere
16 grams, while providing full-motion video and photo capabilities.
Titan Aerospace
Titan Aerospace is an interesting entrant on this list, having only existed in its
standalone form between 2012 and 2014. Although the company then already held
the germ of what it has become today, its primary driving force in the years
since was its acquisition by Google in April 2014.17
The search giant was very interested in Titan’s "Atmospheric Satellites." This
relatively new type of drone is designed to undertake extremely long duration
flights thanks to its onboard solar panels. The company’s more recent models are
capable of reaching altitudes of up to 20 kilometers, while staying in the air for much,
much longer than any other traditional type of drone. Although most practical
applications for this technology are still in their early stages, Google plans to use these Atmospheric Satellites to provide high-altitude imagery,
navigation and mapping services, and
cellular voice and data services. Google is
particularly interested in the last of these capabilities for its Project Loon
concept and Project Skybender prototypes, a pair of plans which would see a constant rotation of aircraft flying over
areas with little or no terrestrial telecom coverage to provide broadband
Internet and voice access.18,19 According to
Google, Titan’s most recent platform, the Solara AtmoSat, is capable of providing signal
coverage over an area of 17,800 square kilometers, potentially offering a
greater range than 100 terrestrial cell towers. Although Titan Aerospace has
been largely absorbed by Google at this point, its assets and development
progress continue to appear in some of Google’s most starry-eyed
telecommunications and networking experiments.
- Primary Customers – Although the company is still in
something of a pre-launch state, it is expected to provide services to
underserved municipalities interested in broadband coverage while also
offering atmospheric imaging services to a variety of industries and
interests. - Primary Applications – Airborne cellular voice and
broadband services; high-altitude surveillance and reconnaissance; terrain
mapping and assisted GPS services. - Current Flagship Model – N/A
General Atomics
General Atomics is a defense contractor involved in nearly every aspect of
military equipment and development. The company’s purview is varied enough to
include everything from nuclear reactors – its original area of interest – to
nuclear medicine, communications systems, and banking computers. However, the
firm’s most important product for this report is its well-known MQ-1 Predator
drone. This tried and tested offensive drone has been in development since the
early 1990s and has been on active duty in one form or another since 1995. The
drone has been used in numerous combat missions across multiple theaters of war,
having been involved in every major conflict the US has participated in in the
Middle East and elsewhere. The somewhat controversial (for reasons explained
above in the Military section of Current Use Cases) weapons platform has quickly
become the United States’ go-to attack vehicle for areas where a ground war
would prove too costly in money and human lives. Although the concept of armed,
unmanned machines capable of delivering deadly payloads to far-flung locations
is a nightmare for many, it comes a dream for soldiers that would otherwise have
to put their lives on the line in combat were it not for the likes of the
Predator drone.
- Primary Customers – The US Air Force and Central
Intelligence Agency. - Primary Applications – Airborne reconnaissance and
surveillance; armed combat and weapons delivery. - Current Flagship Model – The MQ -1 Predator, capable of
providing live photo and video feeds, as well as carrying up to two AGM-114
Hellfire missiles or other weapons systems.
Summary
[return to top of this report]
To come full circle, drones are, more than ever, becoming a fact
of life. They inspect our structures, entertain us, produce our movies, fight
our wars, and may soon deliver our packages and provide our Internet. With these
new tools already so tightly woven into the fabric of our everyday lives, it is
hard to imagine anything ever reversing the rampant growth of drone technology.
Yes, it does come with some dangers, like any new technology. We should, of course, remain vigilant to the
dangers posed by developing drone technology, but not to the point of paranoia.
Drone technology is just another
tool in the growing number of capabilities humanity has created for itself.
Whether it is used for the benefit or detriment of man in the coming years is up
to us.
Web Links
[return to top of this report]
- Aerovironment: http://www.avinc.com/
- DJI: https://www.dji.com/
- General Atomics: http://www.ga.com/
- Parrot: https://www.parrot.com/
References
- 1. Goebel, Greg. "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." Vectorsite.
January 2004. - 2. Wagner, William. "Lightning Bugs and Other Reconnaissance
Drones." Armed Forces Journal.
June 1982. - 3. Ibid.
- 4. Tetrault, Cam. "A Short History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)". Draganfly Innovations. Retrieved February 2015.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Effren, Donald. "Automated Turbine Inspection." Wind
Systems. Retrieved February 2015. - 8. "NBC Exclusive Drone Footage Capture Frozen Niagara Falls."
NBC News. February 2015. - 9. Fameli, Joey. "CES 2015: Quadrocopter Combat with ‘Game of
Drones’." January 2015. - 10. "Drone Crashes on White House Lawn." CNN.
January 2015. - 11. "Drone Mystery in Paris Causes Security Scare." Euronews. February 2015.
- 12. "DOT and FAA Propose New Rules for Small Unmanned Aircraft
Systems." Federal Aviation Administration. February 2015. - 13. Blue, Violet. "Confusion Over FAA Drone Registry
Results in Privacy Problems." Engadget.
February 2016. - 14. "Amazon Isn’t Happy with FAA’s Proposed Drone Rules."
CNN. February 16, 2015. - 15. Ibid.
- 16. Hennigan, W.J. "AeroVironment Profit Nearly Triples in
Third Quarter." Los Angeles Times. March 2014. - 17. Robinson-Avila, Kevin. "Google Buys Titan Aerospace of
Moriarty." Albuquerque Journal. April
2014. - 18. Saunders, Stephen. "Forget the Internet, Brace for Skynet." Lightreading. October 2014.
- 19 Harris, Mark. "Project Skybender: Google’s Secretive
5G Internet Drone Tests Revealed." The Guardian. January 2016.
About the Author
[return to top of this report]
Michael Gariffo is an editor for Faulkner Information Services. He
tracks and writes about enterprise software and the IT services sector, as well
as telecommunications and data networking.
[return to top of this report]