Why Study of Drone Technologies is So Important Now? What's and How to Learn to Ensure a Brighter Future!

Abstract: 

Drones are robotic aircraft that are controlled remotely by a pilot or by an onboard computer. They can be used for a variety of purposes, including surveillance, photography, and recreation.

The term “drone” is actually taken straight from the sci-fi world. Drones are used for many reasons for filming, military surveillance and recreational activities. Drones fall under an intersection of aerospace, robotics, and mechatronics. Drones can range from entirely autonomous military-grade drones to your average remote-controlled drones you might see a kid flying in the park. Another name for drones is Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). These machines are primarily used in situations where the conditions are dry, dull or dangerous for human pilots. 

Background Significance 

Origin of a drone can be traced with special techniques to provide relevant information to the military. The very first aircraft with reusable type radio control mechanism was designed in the 30s and it worked like a base model for all new advancements of today’s world.

In recent visit of India's PM to USA there was a discussion with General Electric (GE) Aerospace, which started in 2012 over transferring 58 per cent technology to India for manufacturing jet engines, eventually took shape Thursday, 22 June 2023 with the former agreeing to transfer 80 per cent of the technology instead after hectic negotiations in the last few years, according to a report of the times of India Newspaper.

So the subject of Drones Technologies gained momentum and looking for perspectives with it.

So now let's explore 

Introduction of Drones 

A drone, in a technological context, is an unmanned aircraft. Drones are more formally known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or unmanned aircraft systems (UASes). Essentially, a drone is a flying robot.

The aircraft may be remotely controlled or can fly autonomously through software-controlled flight plans in their embedded systems working in conjunction with onboard sensors and GPS.

In the recent past, UAVs were most often associated with the military, where they were used initially for anti-aircraft target practice, intelligence gathering and then, more controversially, as weapons platforms.AIML’s Involvement in our Day-to-Day Life has increased immensely in the last decade, from our phones to GPS mapping, we are essentially usually so many new AIML advances that we do not notice. Drones are one such fantastic technological advancement that the mankind has come up with. They have helped save time and been of great convenience to the defense sector. But in current day, drones have made their way into the civilian lifestyle for cinematic and practice purposes.  

Drones, are easily one of the smartest inventions, that has immense potential in the long run. Drones are accurate, precise and difficult to detect. Something so small that can access areas that are inaccessible by humans and that is exactly why they were so readily adapted by our defense teams. Now, however, drones are more accessible and used in multiple other sectors like entertainment, agriculture, healthcare and more.  

Applications of Drones

In the recent past, UAVs were most often associated with the military, where they were used initially for anti-aircraft target practice, intelligence gathering and then, more controversially, as weapons platforms.

Drones are now also used in a wide range of civilian roles ranging from search and rescue, surveillance, traffic monitoring, weather monitoring and firefighting to personal drones and business drone-based photography, as well as videography, agriculture and even delivery services.

A report by DFI – Drone Federation of India stated in 2020 that drones have been used in India to – monitor wildlife, prevent illegal activities in forests, urban planning, transportation plans by National Highway Authority of India and State Governments, mining, disaster management, agricultural assessments, surveillance and security. This article will give you a detailed idea of drones in India, along with its various types, uses and control methods.  

Classification of Drones and Sizes

Drones are generally classified based on their weight, Nano, Micro, Small, Medium & Large.

 UAV drones come in a wide variety of sizes, with the largest being mostly used for military purposes such as the Predator drone. The next in size is unmanned aircraft, which have fixed wings and require short runways.  These are generally used to cover large sections of land, working in areas such as geographical surveying or to combat wildlife poaching.

VTOL Drones

Next in size for drones are what is known as VTOL drones.  These are generally quadcopters but not all. VTOL drones can take off, fly, hover and land vertically. The exact meaning of VTOL is “Vertical Take-Off and Landing”.

Quite a few of the latest small UAV drones such as the DJI Mavic Air 2 take VTOL to the next level and can be launched from the palm of your hand.

Radar Positioning & Return Home

The latest drones have dual Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS and GLONASS.

Drones can fly in both GNSS and non-satellite modes.  For example, DJI drones can fly in P-Mode (GPS & GLONASS) or ATTI mode, which doesn’t use GPS. Highly accurate drone navigation is very important when flying, especially in drone applications such as creating 3D maps, surveying landscape and SAR (Search & Rescue) missions.

When the quadcopter is first switched on, it searches and detects GNSS satellites. High-end GNSS systems use Satellite Constellation technology. A satellite constellation is a group of satellites working together giving coordinated coverage and are synchronized so that they overlap well in coverage. Pass or coverage is the period in which a satellite is visible above the local horizon.

UAV Drone GNSS On Ground Station Remote Controller. The radar technology will signal the following on the remote controller display;

• The signal that is enough drone GNSS satellites have been detected and the drone is ready to fly
• Display the current position and location  of the drone in relation to the pilot
• Record the home point for ‘Return To Home’ safety feature

Most of the latest UAVs have 3 types of Return to Home drone technology as follows;

• The pilot initiated a return to home by pressing a button on Remote Controller or in an app
• A low battery level, where the UAV will fly automatically back to the home point
• Loss of contact between the UAV and Remote Controller, with the UAV flying back automatically to its home point

The latest high tech drones are now equipped with collision avoidance systems. These use obstacle detection sensors to scan the surroundings, while software algorithms and SLAM technology produce the images into 3D maps allowing the drone to sense and avoid.  These systems fuse one or more of the following sensors to sense and avoid;

• Vision Sensor
• Ultrasonic
• Infrared
• Lidar
• Time of Flight (ToF)
• Monocular Vision

Gyroscope Stabilization, IMU And Flight Controllers

Gyro stabilization technology gives the UAV drone its smooth flight capabilities. The gyroscope works almost instantly to the forces moving against the drone, keeping it flying or hovering very smoothly. The gyroscope provides essential navigational information to the central flight controller.

The inertial measurement unit (IMU) works by detecting the current rate of acceleration using one or more accelerometers. The IMU detects changes in rotational attributes like pitch, roll and yaw using one or more gyroscopes.  Some IMU includes a magnetometer to assist with calibration against orientation drift.

The Gyroscope is a component of the IMU and the IMU is an essential component of the drones flight controller. The flight controller is the central brain of the drone.

Here is a terrific article, which covers gyro stabilization and IMU technology in drones.

UAV Drone Propulsion Technology

The propulsion system (motors, electronic speed controllers and propellers) are the drone technology, which moves the UAV into the air and to fly in any direction or hover.  On a quadcopter, the motors and propellers work in pairs with 2 motors/propellers rotating clockwise (CW Propellers) and 2 motors rotating Counter Clockwise (CCW Propellers).

They receive data from the flight controller and the electronic speed controllers (ESC) on the drone motor direction to either fly or hover.

Top UAV drone motors and propulsion systems are highly advanced and include the following components;

• Motor Stator
• Motor Bell (rotor)
• Windings
• Bearings
• Cooling System
• Electronic Speed Controllers
• ESC Updater
• Propellers
• Wiring
• Arm

Efforts to Boost Drone Technologies Application from Government of India 

The government of India is encouraging drone manufacturing by a boost through PLIs (Production Linked Incentive Scheme) similar to that given to mobile handset makers by the MeitY – Ministry of electronics and information technology. Currently India has some brilliant startups that produce drones – 1 Way Martian Corporation, Aarav Unmanned Systems, Cron Systems, etc. 

Since there is such a wide variety and difference in types and sizes each of these drones have separate flying/owning rules, policies and permits. Directorate general of civil aviation has launched a platform called as Digital Sky for various activities related to management of drone in India. A new draft of drone rules 2021 is also published for getting feedback from the public. These rules are created to bring in some control; based on recent drone related actions that took place in India, resulting in security threat, we can agree that some amount of control may be required in the handling of drones. That being said we must look at all the fantastic changes and opportunities that drones bring about for our country. Drone rules are being monitored but the center has also freed up a lot of opportunity for Indian companies producing drones by allowing them to survey and create next gen maps; this initiative is bound to help e-commerce deliveries, food deliveries and also to create a smart city in future where drones help in surveying and mapping – a rather unexplored area in India.  

Uses of Drones

The pointers below talk about the sectors in which drones are being used heavily and how they are saving lives and changing the game altogether: 

Healthcare 

Drones are being used to deliver medicine, relief and even organs to people in times of medical emergencies. Drones can easily evade traffic, fly across mountains, difficult terrain, rural or inaccessible locations. They are saving lives and helping people with ailments. In cases of floods, earthquakes, road accidents and other such situations where time is critical and patients/victims are not mobile. Drones can reach in half the time while bringing in help and medicines.  

Agriculture

Drones are used in the agricultural sector to spray pesticides and take care of the fields sometimes to even monitor the fields/weather, monitor the health of crops and collect data on the soil. Early detection of any hazard to the fields could eventually save the time and money of farmers. 

Entertainment 

Cinematography has been among us for decades now, drones have added to that cinematographic satisfaction through visually appealing shots from the sky and under water for movies, tv, marriage videos and the like. 

Automated Drones

Amidst a massive digital transformation that our country is going through it is not surprising that drones too are a part of it. Automated drones, powered by AI, pre-planned structure and mapping of task can easily do the job unmanned in a systematic manner. They are used in places and cases where human interaction would either be inaccessible or even a threat to life. Whether it is a tough terrain, rural location or difficult weather a drone can do the job and also take images or be zoomed in to take a closer look.   

Defense: 

Drones are difficult to detect and are much smaller in stature, in many cases, they can do the job of attack/defense/monitoring/tracking in an efficient manner. This also means the defense can save their soldier’s lives. Drones can work on images and even video which can be zoomed in on. This acts as an excellent method for tracking and monitoring areas of stress.  

Cost of Drones

A drone can cost up to 1 Crore depending upon the size and features. They are completely unmanned and work based on a given task order. In fact, upon AIML’s excellent work and inventions there are swarms of drones that could work together to fix one issue that may not have been possible for one single drone to accomplish. There are drones that work seamlessly in both – aerial and aquatic conditions, transitioning perfectly. They can detect underwater pipe leakages, submarines and also be used to check for any damage caused to ships. All of these tasks were done by an excellent invention – innovation and modernization’s perfect blend – India’s first underwater robotic drone – EyeROV. In fact, in the entertainment sector too cinema is being recognized for breathtaking shots and skilled cinematography achieved through drones. 

To add to the already evolving drone technology, NASA has already sent a drone to Mars. Ingenuity, a NASA ‘helicopter’ was sent to Mars, unmanned. At a point like this where drones which were only considered aerial till now are evolving and taking up more roles in various sectors of society while also shape-shifting into aquatic and sometimes even going to space makes us believe that anything unmanned and monitored through artificial intelligence is a Drone. 

So what's to learn

The syllabus of Drone Technologies must have updated syllabus with contents easy to understand. Side by side arrangement for learning by doing Labs must be in place.

The tentative syllabus of Drone Technologies should be as follows 

Intro to Drones I (Sensor-Processor-Actuator), Intro to Drones II (How to Build a Drone), Intro to Drones III (Communication Links), Intro to Drones IV (How to Fly a Drone) Drone part design using 3D Printer, Flying Projects.

Scope of activities under Drone Technology:

1. Assembly and reliable calibration of drones of different capacity.

2. Manage and support drone systems shared by various industry expert/faculty undertaking research in related areas.

3. Develop certificate program for people in industry/academia for hands-on training in the field.

4. Organize seminars, workshops, summer/winter schools, drone competition, and expert visit.

5. Develop academic programs on Drone Technology

6. Solution / services to different drone industries for commercial and research applications.

Master Successful Drones Missions

You must learn the essential elements of planning and preparation for successful drone missions. The syllabus should cover everything from permissions to equipment checks and fly conditions to drone loss prevention. By mastering these techniques, you'll be well-prepared, stress-free, and ready to excel in your missions and then you can ensure your future in the Drones Technologies.

Conclusions 

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