Uses and Application of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles - Coursework Example

Uses and Application of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAV) Uses and Application of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles Introduction Unmanned Aircraft vehicles are the aircrafts that do not have a human pilot on board or any other crewmember. The unmanned aircraft vehicle may be remote controlled aircraft by the pilot at a ground control station, or it may fly autonomously because of the pre- programmed flight plans. In addition, the aircraft may involve intricate dynamic automation systems to fly. The navigation system of the UAVs rely on the accurate inertia measurements units (IMU) and the global positioning system that are based on the assumptions that the velocity and the position of the aircrafts are known at all times (Langelaan& Roy, 2009 p. 1642). The unprecedented growth in technology would allow pundits to develop micro air vehicles that do not necessarily require accurate inertia sensors and GPS signals. The move augments the future application of the UAVs whereby the aircrafts would be able to operate indoors or between huge buildings where GPS signals cannot be traced. The unmanned aircraft vehicles are used in various ways ranging from military to domestic to scientific research. However, it is highly anticipated that the UAVs would be applied in other areas in the future for example areas that the larger UAVs cannot access. Current uses As a military tool, unmanned aircraft vehicles are used in various ways during warfare. Unmanned aircraft vehicles are used to gather information from the enemy by enticing the enemy to strike thinking they are being targeted, which helps in providing knowledge and techniques in the effective use of weapons such as missiles and guns (Langelaan& Roy, 2009 p. 1643). Unmanned aircraft vehicles are used in combat to initiate an attack especially a high- risk mission. Unmanned aircraft vehicles are used to provide relevant information regarding a specified battlefield (Marks, 2012 p. 21). During warfare, it is potent to have battlefield intelligence that helps to locate areas of priority during an attack in order to avoid deaths of civilian. Unmanned aircraft vehicles are used commercially as an aerial surveillance tool especially in large tracks of lands. Such a surveillance application enables individuals to monitor their livestock, provide home and pipeline securities and helps in mapping wildfire. The unmanned aircraft vehicle provides the most affordable surveillance efforts since they are cost effecting in terms of power consumptions as compared to the other manned aircraft. With the increased development in automated detection of objects, domestic surveillance has rapidly expanded in order to keep up with the technological trend. Unmanned aircraft vehicles are used to offer relief when disaster strikes. The aircrafts may be used to transport medicines and other required items including vaccines to areas affected by the epidemic (Nonami et al., 2012 p. 116). The unmanned aircraft vehicles are able to access places that cannot be accessed by foot or land vehicles thereby enabling to bridge the gap during disasters. The ability of the unmanned aircraft vehicle to gather information from the affected areas enables the aircraft to relays a clear picture of the situation (Lai & Fox, 2009 p. 118). Such a trend enables the aircraft to offer a recommendation on how people should approach a particular disaster- stricken zone in order to save lives and offer aid. Unmanned aircraft vehicles are used to conduct scientific research particularly areas that are dangerous for the manned aircraft. The unmanned aircraft has been used to hunt down the hurricanes in most of the developed countries. The unmanned aircraft vehicles are able to conduct an exhaustive research far close to the water surface thereby detecting the approach of a hurricane. The advantage surpasses the earlier barometric and pressure measurements that were conducted by the manned aircraft to detect the approach of a hurricane. The unmanned aircraft vehicle aid in mineral, oil and gas exploration where they undertake geophysical surveys for instances, geomagnetic surveys. The aircrafts are able to measure the differential magnetic field strength that is vital in detecting the nature the rock underlying magnetic rock structure (Valavanis, 2007 p. 156). Geophysicists are able to relate the acquired knowledge from the underlying rock structure in order to anticipate the type of mineral deposit beneath the rock surface (Nonami, 2010 p. 147). In order to facilitate an efficient exploration of oil and gas, the related installations are required, which the unmanned aircraft vehicles manage to deliver. The digital camera mounted on the unmanned aircraft vehicles enable an easier monitoring of the exploration activities, which is an above- ground requirement that avoids the unnecessary risks involved in the exploration exercise. The use of unmanned aircraft vehicles is becoming popular tools in sports photography. Sports such as skiing and snowboarding require the use of unmanned aircraft vehicles that help in bringing the event closer to the athletes (Hamilton, 2012 p. 201). The unmanned aircraft vehicles are increasingly being used in cinematography, which helps in facilitating the shooting of films and television shows. The easier control of the unmanned aircraft vehicle enables the filmmakers to take their movie photographs at their convenient angle, which makes the aircrafts the best option as compared to the less flexible cable- suspended camera system. Unmanned aircraft vehicles have been used in many cities as a domestic policing tool to net all crimes including drug dealers and thugs through its efficient aerial surveillance. Future application The future of unmanned aircraft vehicles seems bright as technological pundits work to implement its sensor fusion. The idea leads to the introduction of micro air vehicles (MAV), which are more cost effective, small and lightweight enabling it to fly autonomously for long distances (Langelaan& Roy, 2009 p. 1642). The experts look forward to combining different sensors while on board thereby facilitating the efficiency of the unmanned aircraft vehicles such as its digital cameras and recording. The notion intends to benefit various aspects of the unmanned aircraft vehicle uses including aerial surveillance and cinematography. Once the sensor fusion of the unmanned aircraft vehicles are combined, experts would be able to control multiple aircrafts using a single control panel thereby facilitating efficiency in its operations while saving on the cost (Griffith et al. 2007 p. 141). The notion would enable experts to conduct multiple tasks using a single control panel thus enabling quick and easier delivery of the intended tasks. The technological advance of the unmanned aircraft vehicles aims at improving and generating trajectory paths that the unmanned aircraft vehicles would follow. The notion would enable the unmanned aircraft vehicle to identify the required path to follow in its quest to accomplish a particular activity. With the increased innovations, the aircraft would be able access and collect data in dense localities such as in forest or urban settings. Such a trend would improve the effectiveness of the unmanned aircraft vehicles. The unmanned aircraft vehicles would be able to locate and identify the specified target point, which enable the handlers to eliminate unnecessary take-offs and irrelevant circumnavigation that may pose a threat in the event of military duties and domestic policing. In the event when the unmanned aircraft vehicle follows the designated path to accomplish its core activity, numerous advantages arise ranging from power consumption to time saving. The future of the unmanned aircraft vehicle anticipates the improvement of its communication stances, which would enable the experts to handle varied information as they get to their desk. Effective communication would enable handlers to discern the nature of the required information by verifying whether the information is adequate and complete. Such a stance would allow the unmanned aircraft vehicle to offer the intended information, which helps the handlers to implement the recommended activity from the information gathered by the aircraft (Zaloga& Palmer, 2008 p. 135). The notion would augment the effectiveness of the various uses of the unmanned aircraft vehicles for instance, aerial surveillance and military accomplishment. Military experts would be able to acquire the required information regarding a particular target area thereby mounting their attacks at the optimal time. The technological advance in the unmanned aircraft vehicles envisions the incorporation of motion planning, which would enable the aircrafts to outwit various obstacles and barrier as it accomplishes its objections. The notion enables the unmanned aircraft vehicles to determine the optimal path that it would follow in order to fulfill the required goal it has been mandated. The ability of the unmanned aircraft vehicles to plan their motion would allow the handlers to eliminate unnecessary damages that may arise after hitting a solid obstacle. Such a stance enables the handlers of the aircrafts to evade maintenance cost that might augment the operational cost of fulfilling a particular activity and derailing the required mission. It is envisioned that the future of unmanned aircraft vehicles would enable the experts to allocate and schedule tasks amongst various agents. The notion would allow technological pundits handling the unmanned aircraft vehicles to accomplish multiple tasks while saving on time and the number of equipment used to finish a particular obligation. Allocating and scheduling the tasks to be performed would augment efficiency since individuals would be able to identify the mandated duties hence avoiding crisis in the delivery of the desired goal (Tsourdos, White &Shanmugavel, 2011 p. 128). Experts in various fields such as oil and gas exploration would be able to accomplish the arduous task by dividing labor amongst their agents, which otherwise would require much time to finish. The future of unmanned aircraft vehicles aims at merging various tactics in order to improve its efficiency while delivering its duties. In blending various tactics, handlers of unmanned aircraft vehicles would be able to distribute activities amongst various agents, which would result in success in a particular mission. The notion would enable the unmanned aircraft vehicles to improve its autonomous stances whereby the aircrafts would be able to conduct various activities without human intervention. In order to incorporate various tactics into the unmanned aircraft vehicles, experts look forward to developing a coherent language processing system, and vision thus augmenting it capability to accomplish multiple tasks. Bibliography Hamilton, J. (2012). UAVs unmanned aerial vehicles. Minneapolis, MN, ABDO Pub. Co http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=432622. Langelaan, J.W. & Roy, N (2009).Enabling new mission for robotic aircraft.Science.326(1642- 1644). Retrieved http://www.sciencemag.org.eresources.shef.ac.uk/content/326/5960/1642.full.pdf?sid=6746a718-7376-4464-b139-db6620374344 Marks, P (2012). Drones take to the skies. New Scientist. 2850 (20- 21) Nonami, K. (2010). Autonomous flying robots: unmanned aerial vehicles and micro aerial vehicles. Tokyo, Springer. Nonami, k. Kendoul, F., Suzuki, S., Wang, W. &Nakazawa, D (2012).Autonomous Flying Robots; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Micro Aerial Vehicle. London: Springer Retrieved http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0262407912602875/1-s2.0-S0262407912602875-main.pdf?_tid=408fe386-5feb-11e2-bfef-00000aacb360&acdnat=1358347658_3e4edbe6df14aafde248e60628bc5a27 Tsourdos, A., White, B., &Shanmugavel, M. (2011).Cooperative path planning of unmanned aerial vehicles.Chichester, West Sussex, U.K., Wiley. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=624683. Valavanis, K. (2007). Advances in unmanned aerial vehicles state of the art and the road to autonomy. Dordrecht, Springer. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=338162. Zaloga, S., & Palmer, I. (2008).Unmanned aerial vehicles robotic air warfare, 1917-2007. Oxford, Osprey. http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={E9F17EA6-D5ED-464D-8A94-884FEBCE5A93}&Format=410. Lai, Fox (2009). Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems.MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Griffiths et al (2007).in advances in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: State of the Art and the Road to Autonomy. Springer- Verlag, Dordrecht, Netherlands Read More