Drone Ambassador
Drones are a new form of unmanned aircraft system that over the past few years have risen in popularity and sophistication. This fairly new technology is just emerging into our day to day lives across the World and into our local communities. Here we briefly look at the FAA's flying rules and a short history of the unmanned aircraft. We then explore the current and future uses of these amazing machines. Through VEDAIRS's community outreach and charity event sponsoring, we strive to inform the community so they can better understand these machines and learn their advantages. We devote much time to explaining good drone practices, spreading information pertaining to the regulations, and highlight bad uses that give the drone industry a negative image.
So Many Positive Uses
The chart to the right shows only some of the great work that drones have been employed to do. As you can see the majority of usage is in the photography industry. The amazing perspective paired with truly remarkable cameras has given everyone from your local photographer to Hollywood productions are using drones. Even kids are having fun with drones! Take a look at this article from dronethusiast.com to see the 12 best drones for kids.
Simple Rules Most are Unaware Of
The FAA does govern the use of UAS in the United States however they are in the early stages of really educating the public of the current regulations. Organizations like AUVSI and manufacturers such as DJI are very involved with public education initiatives. All drone companies including VEDAIR want safe regulated flying so it is in our best interest to abide by these laws and not abuse privacy or endanger the public with our operations. To see all UAS FAA rules go to https://www.faa.gov/uas/ and see all the way you can enjoy drones and still be complaint.
Getting a Bad Wrap
A major obstacle to the commercial drone service industry is combating the negative image of the technology. Unfortunately sometimes our first introduction to these machines is when someone is abusing their capability! The people and organizations that want to incorporate this technology into their work processes are not the abusers. They follow the rules and respect the publics privacy, just as they want theirs respected.
History in the Making
Early Years
While the first unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) were said to be balloons which carried munitions over the horizon back in the 1800's, the image above was for most people the first glimpse at what we refer to today as a DRONE. The military has been at the forefront of the unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) craze since the early 1970's. In the late 90's we saw them quite often on the news flying missions to intercept the enemy without jeopardizing US military personnel. We have learned a lot from military research and continued the trend of eliminating the human risk in a limitless number of tasks that these new machines are undertaking.
Today's Latest
Currently we are experiencing fantastic advances in autonomous capability and highly accurate positioning technology. The latest in the commercial and consumer drone markets are covering every UAS from palm size to large 4 - 8 motor units that can lift multiple sensors and heavier payloads.
The Future
Down the road we can only imagine how these amazing machines will be helping us to become more efficient, safer and faster at tasks we commonly experience today. We have already seen efforts by Amazon to deliver small packages, and from other manufacturers looking at drone transportation for humans.