5 New Applications for Drones

5 New Applications for Drones 5 New Applications for Drones Look, up in the sky Its neither a bird nor a plane, its a drone and its heading rapidly your way. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their Earth-bound driverless counterparts are fast becoming ubiquitous as the technology gets smarter, safer, and less expensive. Early-adopting technology geeks are not the only driver of the multinational UAV markets rapid growth. According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, annual sales will soar by 32% over the next five years to $5.59 1000 milliarden by 2020. Novel, high-end applications for drones and other driverless vehicles in law enforcement, the military, precision agriculture, and retail are flourishing in addition to an enthusiastic base of mainstream consumers eager for drones to do their bidding.As drone technology advances, engineers are pushing its boundaries to explore unconventional, even slightly weird, applications for drones. Below are five examples from the extreme edge of the drone zone.DRU, an autonomous pizza delivery vehicle. Image Dominos Robotic UnitPies in the SkyWhen youre expected to deliver a million pizzas a day in 30 minutes or less, youre always on the lookout for more efficient ways to do it. Dominos, the nations largest dough-thrower, has been testing high-tech delivery ordnungsprinzips for years, including driverless technologies that so far have delivered more publicity than pizza. But the global chains investment in automation is part of a long-term strategy for growth within the tight profit margins of the fast food industry. The chains United Kingdom operation has explored several creative approaches to delivery automation often taking playful license with the Dominos brand. The remote-controlled DomiCopter, for example, buzzes above congested city streets with a payload of thermally insulated pizzas dangling from a clawlike apparatus underneath. The British division has also rolled out a self-driving two-wheeler it calls the Domi-No-Driver as a delivery option for customers ordering through the companys website or mobile app. The LIDAR-guided cycle is equipped with an on-board warming oven which, according to Phil Zorra, director of the firms Redevelopment and New Knolwedge unit, can carry four times as many pizzas as the chains comparable people-powered vehicles. One of the companys latest delivery automation projects, the Dominos Robotic Unit (DRU), was developed in Australia in collaboration with Marathon Robotics, a maker of autonomous robotic targets for the defense industry. The 450-lb test vehicle reportedly tops out at about 12 miles per hour and has been approved for limited use on certain pathways and roads in the targeted test area.The FAROS can endure the heat of over 1,000 Celsius from butane gas and ethanol aerosol flames for over one minute. Image KAISTSuper ScoutEngineers at South Koreas Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have endowed their newest search and rescue drone with a suite of super powers on par with any found in the mighty Marvel Universe. Designed to aid firefighters responding to emergencies in high-rise buildings, the versatile robot flies, sticks to walls, sees in the dark, and is impervious to fire. Codenamed FAROS (Fireproof Aerial Robot System), its a quadcopter with a 2-D laser scanner, altimeter, and Inertia Measurement Unit that allows it to land on, cling to, and crawl on the vertical surface of walls. A thermal imaging camera and namen processing software on board equips FAROS to find people in need of rescue, locate the origin of the fire, inspect the building for structural damage, and send real-time data to firefighters below. The primary improvement over the teams previous wall-climbing drone is heightened resistance to fire, heat, and smoke. Researchers said the body is clad in a layer of aramid fibers, which fends off the effects of flames and protects sensitive internal mechanical and electronic components in a buffer of thermoelectrically cooled air.Drone WarsIn a breakthrough pitting one of the newest forms of mechanized combat against one of the oldest, a Russian arms maker recently unveiled a new arsenal of UAV-mounted anti-tank weaponry. At this years Russian Armed Forces Robotics conference, state-owned United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC) introduced a multicopter UAV bedecked with cameras and a shoulder-launched rocket system of the caliber used against armored vehicles. UAV-launched rockets have many potential advantages over human-fired weapons they can get closer to a target and attack it from any direction. The announcement captured the attention of defense industry observers, who analyzed a brief Ministry of Defense video for clues to the systems capabilities. According to industry publication IHS Janes the drone is likely fitted with an RPG-26 Aglen anti-tank weapon, which in conventional use fires 72.5 mm rockets that can pierce 400-mm-thick armor from a distance of 2 50 m. The airborne bazooka is part of a new multicopter attack system for synchronized battlefield surveillance, artillery spotting, reconnaissance, cargo delivery, and assault.Skye, the aerial blimp-drone is lifted by heliumgas and powered by electrical motors. Image AEROTAINSoft SellFew icons of advertising have reached the heights of the venerable Goodyear Blimp. As the go-to source for aerial broadcasting, the blimp silently touts the tire brand during Americas most-watched sporting events. Can drone technology be adapted to harness that same crowd-friendly star power and bring it within closer proximity to consumers? Thats what aerospace start-up Aerotain hopes to learn from Skye, a novel UAV that integrates quadcopter-like maneuverability into an energy efficient structure that brings the blimp concept down to human eye level. Conventional UAVs with exposed rotating blades create a safety hazard in the event of an unexpected loss of altitude over a crowd. Skye, however, is a h elium-filled sphere 10 ft in diameter not exactly dainty but soft and benign enough to pose no threat to spectators below should its electronics systems fail, developers said. The blimp can be configured to haul heavy objects like cameras about a sporting event, or be customized to carry advertising messages. The control and navigation system can be programmed to spin, roll, or pull off other aerial stunts requiring a full range of motion.StarChip TroopersBeyond doubt, the farthest-out drone concept yet is inspired by the mind of Stephen Hawking, the celebrity cosmologist, who says its time for Earthlings to reach for the stars in the search for alien life. The star in question is Centauri our nearest neighboring star system and Hawkings interstellar transit plan calls for a light-propelled nanoprobe that flies 1,000 faster than todays rockets. Dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, its part of the privately funded Breakthrough Initiatives program established by Russian Internet investor Yuri Milner to accelerate the exploration of the known universe. He hopes to focus the planets sharpest minds and deepest pockets on the effort, with guidance from Hawking and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Ultimately reaching the star system could take tens of billions of dollars and multiple generations, but Milner said the initial $100 million phase could would probably trigger the development of a feasible craft launched during his lifetime. With todays technology, the 25 trillion-mile trip to Alpha Centauri would take 30,000 years. The initiative seeks to reduce the one-way trip to about 20 years. To get there, the team has proposed to design a full array of space probe equipment that fits on a gram-scale wafer about the size of a postage stamp. This so-called StarChip would soar on a set of sails made of an ultra-lightweight metamaterial merely a few hundred atoms thick. A kilowatt-scale light beaming system based at high altitude on the Earths surface would focus lasers on th e light-sensitive sails to push the craft rapidly to its optimum speed. Ultimately the team would like to deploy a fleet of several thousand nanocraft to capture images and data and quite possibly confirming the existence of Earth-like planets that could harbor intelligent life. Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,Hawking said. Sooner or later, we must look to the stars.Michael MacRae is an independent writer. For Further Discussion As drone technology advances, engineers are pushing its boundaries to explore unconventional, even slightly weird, applications for drones.