Leicester Mercury Article - Drones Really are a Force for Good
Posted on 26.04.2016 |
Updated on 20.04.2021 |
Added in Blogs
Very nice to be asked by The Leicester Mercury to submit an article in defence of drones.
Published 25/4/2016
Yes- drones really are a force for good.
After a British Airways flight was struck by one last week, drones are in the news again for all the wrong reasons.
I will not deny that a drone striking any aircraft could have very serious consequences and action must be taken to prevent this sort of thing happening but have you ever considered all the positive uses of drones? Unmanned Ariel Vehicles are the ideal tool for all sorts of tasks; they are already used by farmers in Leicestershire for crop management. Fitted with cameras and other data collection devices they can check if there are any infestations or weeds in the crops and are even used to calculate the perfect time for harvest. There is already a drone specifically built for crop spraying which can use the data collected to spray only where needed.
At least 2 police forces in the UK have trialled drones to fight crime and search for missing people. The drone has a real time video downlink so the officer on the ground gets a superb bird’s eye view of the area and can also record what is happening.
Airlines are also investigating the use of drone technology, using them to perform safety checks in awkward places that humans have difficulty accessing and show maintenance workers spots that require attention. Checks that would normally take a day could take just a couple of hours. The security industry is also making use of drones to protect buildings and it may not be long before a drone can identify and follow a suspect completely autonomously.
Then there are more everyday uses such as aerial photos for use in promotional material for all sorts of places such as Theme Parks, County Houses, Public Schools, and property sales.
Civil engineering is another area which is already saving time and money by using UAVs to survey and collect data used for use in construction work.
And of course there is the exciting possibility of home deliveries by drone with companies such as Amazon, which already has a Prime Air Development Site in the UK, set to make this a very real prospect in the not too distant future. Added to this there is a place for the use of drones in disaster relief, traffic management, crowd control, fire fighting, coastal surveillance and lots of other areas.
Drones will soon become part of our everyday lives but like most new technology they need to find their place and be used responsibly. Drones are a force for good and apart from anything else it’s great fun to get out there and fly.
