The potential commercial uses of Unmanned Aerial Systems are endless, but the application being primarily discussed is in the delivery industry. Many companies such as Amazon and various pizza companies have expressed public interest in using Unmanned Aerial Systems as a form of delivery. These delivery systems would require many different sized drones created to specifically cater to a certain type of item. To avoid damage to the product being delivered, not only would protective covering be given to the item being delivered, but also a mini parachute could potentially be placed on the item to ensure safe landing.
A practical application of Unmanned Aerial systems can also be seen in the news industry. We’re approaching a day and age in which large and expensive news helicopters are becoming less feasible, since a small Unmanned Aerial System equipped with cameras can fly into smaller areas to get better news coverage than a larger manned aircraft. The news application for Unmanned Aerial Systems often proves useful when tragic events take place. For example, a 45 year old man by the name of Brian Wilson took high quality drone footage that depicted the aftermath of a deadly explosion in harlem and subsequently released the footage to various news outlets.
Another peculiar but perhaps revolutionary application of Unmanned Aerial Systems is in the agricultural industry. Unmanned Aerial Systems could eliminate a large portion of manual labor that needs to take place in order to ensure the proper growth of crops. It could provide benefits for planting, harvesting, and capturing aerial views to effectively manage crop placement and growth over a period of time. Solely in the United States 70,000 new drone-related jobs are projected within the next three years and further 100,000 more jobs are expected by the year 2025. Various drone programs and degrees are now being offered in universities because manufacturing and advancement of Unmanned Aerial Systems is becoming increasingly more prevalent.
Unmanned Aerial systems have the capability to flourish in the education industry. Due to the small and flexible nature of Unmanned Aerial Systems, they have the ability to travel into places that neither human nor machine has ever previously been able to reach. This spatial advantage has proven to have many educational advantages, such as mapping. With the use of high-resolution videos and photographs, a versatile drone can travel through and analyze thousands of miles of land in arctic tundras, tropical rainforests, or barren desserts. Not only would this allow us to map out regions that have been otherwise uncharted, it would also allow us to study the various biological communities within those regions. Unmanned Aerial Systems have proven useful in addressing serious environmental issues such as deforestation as well. With thorough analysis of lands that have taken critical damage, it would then be possible to learn about how these lands have taken damage and figure out the steps necessary to return the land to health.
The pure process by which an Unmanned aerial is created can be extremely beneficial in the study of engineering. Although the technology behind flight was discovered a long time ago and has been studied for many years, the creation of flight at such a small level is new to society. If we can implement flight enhancing technology to a relatively simple machine, just imagine the numerous applications flight enhancing technology could have on miniscule items that are essential for everyday life. Who knows, maybe someday in the near future we could see flying cars become the societal norm for transportation.
The various research opportunities that arise with Unmanned Aerial Systems is directly related to some of its educational benefits. As previously discussed, Unmanned Aerial vehicles have the ability to travel into uncharted environments or even environments dangerous to the average human being. Unmanned Aerial Systems provide scientists with the ability to monitor many biological habitats, receive real biological samples, and protect precious endangered animals all over the world. In fact, the United States government already uses a variation of drones to protect its nature reserves and the species that inhabit them. The biological settings that drones can analyze and obtain samples from can be very helpful for various fields of science. Studies such as zoology, taxonomy, and botany can be studied and improved with these findings. Further, Unmanned Aerial Systems can aid scientists in better understanding the concept of evolution. Evolution is defined as the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth. With videos and pictures that capture the physical characteristics of hundreds of thousands of animal and plant species, extensive analysis of natural selection and its work can be done.