Military
The military is probably the oldest, most well-known, and most contentious application of drones. In the early 1940s, the British and American forces began utilizing primitive drones to spy on the Axis countries. Drones today are far more advanced than UAVs of the past, with thermal vision, laser range finders, and even the ability to carry out airstrikes. The MQ-9 Reaper is the most well-known military drone in use today. The aircraft is 36 feet long, has the ability to fly unnoticed up to 50,000 feet in the air, and is armed with a variety of missiles and intelligence gathering capabilities.
Delivery
Delivery drones are primarily self-contained unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that deliver meals, packages, or items to your front door. Because they are used to make deliveries from nearby retailers or warehouses, these flying vehicles are known as “last mile” delivery drones. Instead of depending on inefficient trucks and delivery drivers, retailers and grocery chains throughout the country are turning to drones as a more effective delivery option. These drones can deliver up to 55 pounds of items to your front door without requiring you to leave your home. Amazon, Walmart, Google, FedEx, UPS, and a slew of other major corporations are all experimenting with delivery drones in various forms.
Emergency Rescue
Because of the scale or severity of the disaster, it’s not always safe to send humans into a rescue situation. This is where drones come into play. Officials can launch an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) into the ocean to help in the rescue of a capsized boat or a drowning person. Drones are used to search for those trapped in the snow if there is an avalanche. Kaman, an aircraft manufacturer, has even built the K-MAX, a pilotless helicopter capable of carrying more than 6,000 pounds of cargo. The K-MAX has already been used to help combat flames in China and Australia.
Agriculture
Drones have also shown to be advantageous to the agriculture business, providing farmers with a variety of options for increasing efficiency and reducing physical strain on their farms. Field surveys, sowing over fields, tracking livestock, and predicting crop production are all made easier with the use of UAVs, saving time for agriculture workers.
Outer Space
NASA and the United States of America Unmanned aircraft intended toward space travel have been surreptitiously tested by the Air Force. The Air Force’s X-37B UAV, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, is a top-secret drone. It’s been quietly circling the globe for the past two years, breaking the record for the longest flight by an unmanned aircraft (more than 719 days). “The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments that can be returned to, and examined on Earth,” according to the Air Force. It appears that drones have been prioritized when it comes to the future of space exploration and innovation.
Medicine
How do you get medical supplies to persons who live in remote locations? What kind of device could you utilize to deliver organs to transplant recipients? Drones are the solution to both of these problems. Unmanned aerial vehicles are currently being utilized to carry emergency medical supplies and goods to rural Alaskan villages that are off the grid. Alaskans are depending on drones to deliver life-saving medical supplies instead of relying on dog sleds, snowmobiles, or ambulances that can’t manage the snow.
Donated organs are also being delivered to transplant recipients using drones. A kidney was recently moved from one hospital in Maryland to another in just under five minutes using a specially designed drone. This could help to speed up the extremely sluggish rate at which donations are often delivered (if they arrive at all). Organs are typically supplied via chartered or commercial flights. For 4% of all organ deliveries, delays and failures in judgment create dangerous delays of two hours or more. Drones can save a lot of time while also providing a safer and more secure way to transfer organs.
Photography
Drones have been a benefit to photographers who employ unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to take large-scale aerial photographs. Have you ever wanted to have a bird’s eye view of your favorite city, beach, or structure? There are drones designed exclusively for photography that offer a different perspective on some of your favorite locations.