The Acquisition and Growth of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - Case Study Example

UAVs INTRODUCTION The acquisition and growth of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly rising in the global context. In general, UAVs are drones that can be piloted with the help of a remote. There lay diverse sorts of UAVs that entail simple short-range aircraft, which can be operated through hand and high altitude aircrafts requiring an airstrip for conducting varied useful operations (Brooke-Holland, “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones): An Introduction”). THESIS STATEMENT Based on the above discussion, the essay primarily intends to provide a brief description of UAVs along with providing an idea of its history along with classification. In addition, the practical applications of UAVs will also be analysed in this essay. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF UAV’S UAVs are also acknowledged as ‘Remotely Operated Aircraft’ (ROA) or ‘Remotely Piloted Vehicle’ (RPV) that have been typically designed for conducting various effective functions with the help of an electronic input, which gets controlled by a flight managing system without the requirement of a flight controller. UAVs were actually developed for military purpose that could be controlled by a remote. However, it became quite difficult for these UAVs to undertake certain tasks in crowded areas along with being expensive and dangerous. This in turn paved the medium for developing robotic aircrafts that came to known as ‘micro air vehicles’ (MAVs). These were found to be quite inexpensive along with being smaller and lighter than UAVs (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). In addition, MAVs can perform certain tasks effectively that largely help in military surveillance along with the surveillance of both human and animal actions in locations wherein larger UAVs do not have the capability of performing the same. However, there are certain limitations of these MAVs, as they possess limited capability of storing energy. Moreover, MAVs might also result in aerodynamic penalties due to the existence of certain forces of friction. However, there are certain means through which both UAVs and MAVs can harvest their energy. One of such means is vertical air motion wherein air waves are generated from wind deflection. Apart from this, another means of harvesting energy is ‘spatial gradients in the wind field’, which is often used by seabirds while flying. Temporal gradients is the next alternative for harvesting energy wherein the performances of remote controlled UAVs and MAVs get enhanced by gusts (Langelaan and Roy, “Enabling New Missions for Robotic Aircraft”). UAV’S HISTORY UAVs actually came into existence in the year 1916.. During that particular period, ‘gyroscope’ was established for regulating the height of these aircrafts along with automated steering. This particular device was actually named as ‘aviation torpedo’, which flew to a distance of over 30 miles. However, due to certain technical problems and the immaturity of UAVs, it was revealed that these UAVs were not used in the World Wars. Subsequently, certain technical developments were made in the UAVs during mid-19th century wherein full-fledged advantage was taken due to the commencement of the Vietnam War or the Cold War. Continuous research and development (R&D) of UAVs were undertaken at that particular period due to which both Israel and the US started manufacturing UAVs that were quite inexpensive and smaller in size (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). It is worth mentioning that the actual prototype of UAVs in the present day context was identified during the above mentioned period. These robotic aircrafts i.e. UAVs came into practical usage when Americans used these in Gulf War during the year 1991. Notably, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the other hand started using UAVs for civil purpose wherein it initiated a research named as The Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST). This research was aimed towards developing a technology, which made UAVs fly high up to a distance of 30,000 metres from ground level along with prolonging their endurance in terms of engine and sensors (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Hence, this research helped NASA to perform environmental measurements along with developing new aircrafts such as Pathfinder, Helios and others. Initially, UAVs were possessed by lesser number of nations, which is evident based on the figure below. Fig. 1: Illustration of registered UAV’s possessed by nations in 2002 Source: (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”) CLASSIFICATION OF UAV’S In recent times, numerous efforts have been made to increase the endurance of UAV aircrafts that resulted in developing various sizes of UAV aircrafts along with increasing their capability of performing various significant functions effectively. Thus, UAVs can be classified in terms of its features that have been described in the following. Fixed-wing UAVs. These are also known as unmanned airplanes that require an airstrip to land as well as take off. The endurance level of these aircrafts is usually long and can fly with an extraordinary pace (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Rotary-wing UAVs. These are often termed as “vertical take-off and landing” (VTOL) aircraft that possess the characteristic of larger manoeuvrability (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Blimps Such As Balloons and Airships. These UAVs possess greater endurance level that fly at a lesser speed and are usually larger in size (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Flapping-wing UAVs. These aircrafts are flexible in nature wherein their wings are quite similar to that of flying creatures or birds (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Apart from these, UAVs can also be classified in terms of its size and endurance that have been demonstrated hereunder. High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs. These aircrafts can fly at a height of 65,000 feet for a period of 35 hours along with carrying a weight up to 1,900 pounds (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs. These aircrafts can fly at a height of 27,000 feet for a period of around 30 to 40 hours, carrying a weight up to 450 pounds (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Small and Mini Man-Portable UAVs. These UAVs are generally smaller in nature along with being portable as per the operators’ requirement (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV). These aircrafts have recently gained huge attention as they require minimal flying space, resulting in lessening the possibility of collision with a dimension, which is lesser than 15 centimetres (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). APPLICATION OF UAV’S The primary application of UAVs is associated with defense, which is mainly driven towards increasing the future capability of military units. It can be apparently observed that most of the UAVs are primarily used for ‘Intelligence’, ‘Surveillance’ and ‘Reconnaissance’ (ISR) military operations along with air strikes. Future developments in UAVs will enable these to perform more complex tasks. It is projected that the market growth of UAVs for civilian and commercial purpose will highly increase in the coming years due to their practical applications (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”). Thus, the practical applications of UAVs are as follows: Inspection of buildings, terrain and pipelines Surveillance of national borders along with monitoring traffic Rescue and search operations Fire fighting Environmental measurements and monitoring Laboratory researches Aerial mapping and other security applications Fig. 2: Demonstration of UAVs Applications Source: (Nonami, Kendoul, Suzuki, Wang and Nakazawa, “Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles”) Specially mentioning, UAVs can also be used in tracking stolen cars along with providing support in crisis situations such as earthquakes and floods. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) permits the usage of UAVs for recreational purpose, which allows UAV hobbyists to use remote controlled airplanes to a limited extent. However, according to the FAA, using UAVs for commercial purpose is illegal, which might be used either for shooting movies or as a surveillance tool. In addition, UAVs are also used for agricultural purpose such as supplying fertilisers from air and surveying the growth of crops. For instance, UAVs are used in Brazil that carries a 12-megapixel camera for monitoring sugarcane and soybean in agricultural fields. This in turn helps in augmenting the overall growth of agricultural fields. Likewise, universities in Australia have been using UAV helicopters and incorporate the Global Positioning System (GPS) to create 3Dimensional (3D) maps along with indicating any change in climate (Marks, “Drones For All Take To The Skies”). CONCLUSION From the above analysis and discussion, it can be affirmed that UAVs help in enhancing the overall effectiveness of military tasks along with providing complete assistance to NASA for performing its operations effectively. UAVs are drones that are usually larger in size and require an airstrip for take-off. Since UAVs are quite expensive and risky in terms of collision, MAVs have been developed in order to ensure that complex tasks can be performed successfully without any risk. There lay distinct sorts of UAVs that can be segregated based on their respective size and endurance level comprising HALE, MALE and MAV among others. This classification eventually determines the varied practical applications of UAVs that might be either utilised for inspection, rescue operation, research and surveillance among others. Works Cited Brooke-Holland, Louisa. “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones): An Introduction.” International Affairs and Defence (2013): 3-21. Print. Langelaan, Jack W. and Nicholas Roy. “Enabling New Missions for Robotic Aircraft.” AAAS 326 (2009): 1642-1644. Print. Marks, Paul. “Drones For All Take To The Skies.” Technology (2012): 20-21. Print. Nonami, Kenzo, Farid Kendoul, Satoshi Suzuki, Wei Wang and Daisuke Nakazawa. Autonomous Flying Robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicles. New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2010. Print. Read More