Drone Basics
What is Drone
A drone is known as an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
The Regulations use the term UAS, unmanned aircraft system, to refer to a drone.
A drone is basically any aircraft flying in the sky without a pilot, whether it be flying autonomously or with remote control on the ground.
Types of Drones
The main drone types are fixed-wing drones and multi-rotor drones. The majority of existing drones can be defined within these two types. Other drones like hybrid drones and ornithopters are also there.
Fixed-Wing Drones
Fixed-wing is a term mainly used in the aviation industry to define aircraft that use fixed, static wings in combination with forward airspeed to generate lift. A landing strip is necessary for take-off and landing. However, in some cases a launcher may be used. Fixed-wing drones can usually fly long distances and at high speeds.
Multi-Rotor Drones
Multi-rotor systems are a subset of rotor-craft. The term rotor-craft is used in aviation to define aircraft that use rotary wings to generate lift.
Rotor-craft can have one or multiple rotors. Drones using rotary systems are almost always equipped with multiple small rotors, which are necessary for their stability, hence the name multi-rotor systems. Commonly, these drones use at least four rotors to keep them flying.
These have the advantage that they are able to hover.
Hybrid Drones
Hybrid drones are drones that have characteristics of both multi-rotor and fixed-wing drones. The hybrid quad-copter is an example of such a drone. This drone uses multiple rotors to take off and land vertically but also has wings so it can fly longer distances.
Other Drones
Drones that are neither fixed-wing nor multi-rotor systems are far less frequent. An example of such a drone is the ornithopter.
An ornithopter is a device that flies by flapping wings. The word “ornithopter” means “bird wing”.
These drones fly by mimicking the wing motions of insects or birds. Most of these ornithopters are scaled to the birds or insects they represent. These small drones are mostly still under development and are not widely used in practice.
Differences between fixed-wing drones and multi-rotor drones
Differences between fixed-wing drones and multi-rotor drones are important for the different applications consumers want to use the drone for. For example, multi-rotor drones do not need a landing strip, make less noise than their fixed-wing counterparts and can hover in the air. Fixed-wing drones can fly faster and are more suitable for long distances than their multi-rotor counterparts. These characteristics determine which of these drone types to use for a specific application.
Further classification of drones according to their size and range.
Types of Drones Based on Size
Nano: the size of an insect (up to 50 cm)
Small: bigger than the size of an insect but still quite small (less than 2 meters in length). This is the size of most consumer drones. These drones can be handled by one person.
Medium: Smaller than light aircraft and usually need to be carried by two people.
Large: the size of a small aircraft, usually used in military or surveillance situations.
Types of Drones Based on Range
Close-range: Most close-range drones usually have a range of around 3 miles and can stay in the air an average of 20-30 minutes. Consumer drones fit into this category.
Short-range: Most short-range drones can be controlled up to 30 miles away from users and can stay in the air for an average of 1 hour and up to 6 hours.
Mid-range: Most mid-range drones can be controlled up to 90 miles away and can stay in the air for up to 12 hours.
Endurance: Most endurance drones can be controlled up to 400 miles and be up in the air for up to 3 consecutive days. These are typically used for surveillance and collection of scientific data.
Hobby Drone Vs Commercial Drone
According to the FAA, recreational or hobby drone use means flying for enjoyment and not for work, business purposes, or for compensation or hire. On the other hand, commercial drone use applies to anyone who uses a drone for work, business, or non-recreational reasons. Basically, any kind of profit made with the help of drones is a synonym for commercial use.
Remember, recreational drone pilots fly just for fun while commercial drone pilots fly to earn money.
Categories of Drone
A civil drone is categorized in accordance with maximum all-up-weight (including payload) as indicated below:
- Nano: Less than or equal to 250 grams.
- Micro: Greater than 250 grams and less than or equal to 2 kg.
- Small: Greater than 2 kg and less than or equal to 25 kg.
- Medium: Greater than 25 kg and less than or equal to 150 kg.
- Large: Greater than 150 kg.
Types of Payloads and Their Applications
Now we will discuss the types of payloads that can be attached to drones. Virtually all kinds of payloads can be attached to drones, the only restrictions are usually the weight and size of payloads. Most drones are equipped with cameras by its manufacturer. Other payloads can be ordered at drone manufacturers, but drone users also can attach payloads to their drone themselves. In this post, we will distinguish between sensors and other types of payloads. We will describe some applications for these payloads as well.
Sensors
The weight, model, and energy source of a drone are major factors influencing its maximum altitude, flight duration, flight range, and maximum payload. An important category of payloads are sensors.
Most drones are nowadays equipped with cameras. Cameras and microphones are the most often used payloads for drones and often come standard when buying a drone. Cameras can be regular cameras but also infrared. Such cameras may enable night vision and heat sensing. Other sensors include biological sensors that can trace microorganisms, chemical sensors (sniffers) that can measure chemical compositions and traces of particular chemical substances including radioactive particles, and meteorological sensors that can measure wind, temperature, humidity, etc.
Other Payloads
From a commercial perspective, drones are considered interesting for delivering mail, parcels, and other cargo.
Another commercial application of drones is that of flying advertisements.
Drones in the security domain often use cameras and other sensors.
For search and rescue operations, drones may be used to supply water, food, medicine, and AEDs to stranded mountaineers, people in the desert or people who were shipwrecked.
Infrared cameras may be useful to find lost people and save them from hypothermia, dehydration, etc. After disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis, complete infrastructures may be disabled, but drones may be equipped with WiFi to restore communication networks.
Drones in agriculture do not only focus on monitoring. In Japan, currently, already 30% of the rice fields are sprayed with drones. Pesticides and fertilizers can be used in minimum quantities by means of so-called precision farming. Drones are faster, safer, and less damaging than tractors. They may also scare away birds, plant seeds, and impregnate fruit trees, although these applications require much more precision than is currently possible from a technological perspective.