- Sahaana V
Dose of STEM: Reimagining the Future with UAVs
What are UAVs? Will UAVs dominate most industries in the future? Read on to learn more about how our future may look like…
What are UAVs?
We are currently facing a lot of problems on our planet such as food insecurity, sustainable transportation and climate change, and we humans have always come up with as many solutions as we can to solve these problems. UAVs are one of them. UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, are, as the name suggests, aerial vehicles that do not require a pilot to fly. Some people may call them drones but drones are just one part of UAVs. Think of autonomous aircrafts used by the military for reconnaissance and surveillance - those are also UAVs. These vehicles come in various forms and their primary advantage is that these vehicles can be used to reach dangerous places, saving human lives.
Apart from the military, UAVs can also be used for monitoring infrastructure such as railway tracks, pipelines and power lines, as well as assisting in certain types of work such as cartographic surveys, atmospheric research, small package and bulk cargo transportation, and disaster management. For instance, in Rwanda, drones are being used to transport blood to save lives. The blood-carrying drone is operated by Zipline, a California-based company focused on delivering medical supplies in areas with poor infrastructure.
There are basically four types of UAVs - multi-rotor UAVs, fixed-wing UAVs, single-rotor UAVs and fixed-wing hybrid UAVs. The UAVs are classified based on usage - some are used for photography, others are used for surveillance and mapping. For example, fixed-wing hybrid UAVs are used for delivery of goods because of their capability for long-endurance flight and multi-rotor UAVs are used for aerial photography and videography because of their small payload capacity and good camera control.
UAVs in Agriculture
With the increase in world population and the pressure of rapid food consumption, the agriculture industry requires new technologies to feed the world. According to MIT, UAV technology would give the agricultural sector a high-technology makeover, with planning and strategy based on real-time data gathering and processing. UAVs can be used for analysing the soil and figuring out whether it is suitable for growing certain types of crops. The data collected during this process can help farmers determine the type of irrigation and the amount of fertiliser required. Using UAVs, farmers can also capture images of their land, and quickly identify and remove weeds. For example, researchers of a study developed an object-based image analysis technique on a series of UAV images using a six-band multispectral camera with the objective of generating a weed map in a maize field in Spain. Farmers could also use UAVs in sowing seeds with precision over a large area in a short time span. According to another study, today’s high-end UAV farming technology can reduce the costs of planting by 85%!
Pros & Cons of UAVs
Some of the advantages of UAVs are that they are easily deployable and controllable, cost-saving, can (as we mentioned before) reach places dangerous for humans, and have a high precision and quality of aerial imaging. While UAVs have a wide range of applications and sound like go-to devices for everything in the future, there are a few caveats. Some drawbacks of this technology are:
UAVs can easily be manipulated and made to intrude a group/individual’s personal space and privacy. Some people also deploy drones to track other people and spy on them.
UAVs can also be hacked easily. Hackers can get into the drone’s central control system and control it. They can acquire confidential information, corrupt files and leak data to illegal agencies.
During operation, UAVs can also malfunction. There have been incidents where military drones have fired at civilians due to a loophole in the system. UAVs are, after all, machines, and therefore are prone to blunders in the software and malfunction.
Operation of UAVs is dependent on weather, so they can function only during certain periods of time.
How Can UAVs be Improved?
With the growing development and awareness of UAVs, there are ways to improve the technology so that the downsides do not outweigh the benefits. One way in which UAVs can be improved is having strict rules and regulations regarding their use. According to IEEE, coming up with laws to restrict infringement of privacy and misuse of airspace by UAVs is currently difficult.
Imagine a world where everything is automated. You can have UAVs deliver your food and packages to your doorstep. But surely not many people would want to use drones for delivery unless they are 100% reliable. So, another area in which UAVs can be improved is reliability.
Finally, UAVs need public acceptance and that can only happen when UAVs are reliable and have regulations placed on their use. Currently, not many common people have confidence in this new technology but hopefully, after a few years, the technology can improve in other areas and convince the public. Many companies, such as Amazon, are already working towards developing and improving drones for delivery.
UAVs can completely change the way we perceive the future to be and help us achieve SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) such as SDG 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and wellbeing), 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 14 (life below water) and 15 (life on land). They might be our go-to devices for many things in the future and would be a great benefit to humanity when used carefully.
Do you know of any other uses of UAVs? In what other ways do you think UAVs can be improved? Comment below to express your views on UAVs!
Sources:
Yinka-Banjo, Chika & Ajayi, Olasupo. (2019). Sky Farmers: Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in Agriculture. 10.5772/intechopen.89488.
Peña JM, Torres-Sánchez J, de Castro AI, Kelly M, López-Granados F (2013) Weed Mapping in Early-Season Maize Fields Using Object-Based Analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images. PLoS ONE 8(10): e77151. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0077151
Drone Types: Multi-Rotor vs Fixed-Wing vs Single Rotor vs Hybrid VTOL (AUAV): https://www.auav.com.au/articles/drone-types/
10 Major Pros & Cons of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) Drones (Equinox Drones): https://www.equinoxsdrones.com/blog/10-major-pros-cons-of-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-uav-drones
The 5 Ways Drones Still Need to Improve (Computer Society, IEEE): https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/the-5-ways-drones-still-need-to-improve
Six Ways Drones Are Revolutionizing Agriculture (MIT Technology Review): https://www.technologyreview.com/2016/07/20/158748/six-ways-drones-are-revolutionizing-agriculture/
Image Source:
Photo by One zone Studio on Unsplash
