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Drones offer new Jobs and Delivery systems

                                              Basic  Drone with the control unit
Agriculture Drone spraying over crop

A drone is a pilotless aircraft which is also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The drone is a flying Robot that can be radio controlled from the ground or it can fly autonomously through embedded software-controlled flight plans. The ground control system works in conjunction with onboard sensors and GPS. Drones are being used in a wide range of civilian roles ranging from search and rescue, surveillance of water-bodies,  mining areas,  electric power lines, oil pipelines, forests fire, traffic monitoring, weather monitoring, and fire fighting.   In agriculture applications, these are being used for crop growth monitoring, spraying of liquid type insecticide and fertilizer. Likewise, personal drones are being used by hobbyists and business drone based photography, videography, and delivery of small payloads. In certain countries, heavy version of drones is being used as an aerial taxi carrying one person over a short distance and getting a 3D view of the area below. In technologically advanced countries, drones are being used for door to door delivery of small domestic stores. These drones also find great application in low-level flying and photography by journalists for real-time reporting of movements of public during processions, street/road shows, and public rallies.  
Drones / UAVs are being used in the Army for surveillance, delivery of goods, carrying and dropping of weapons on assigned military targets. They are slowly replacing pilots while dealing with hideouts of the terrorist’s organizations like those in Afghanistan and Syria. In various military operations UAV is used for surveillance of fencing along international border/Line of Control (LOC), delivery of military stores and other logistics in difficult mountainous terrain. Although the drone has versatile applications and low cost for the flying mission, it has issues related to privacy and weather dependency. Another worrying factor is its misuse by undesirable people or terrorist groups. There is also a great risk of its interference with air traffic around airports.
History of pilot-less planesThe pilotless radio-controlled aircraft were used in World War I. and World War II.  These were used for dropping leaflets and acting as spying decoys.  In 1982, the Israeli Air Force used UAVs for surveillance, spotting and destroying artillery locations and jamming enemy communication. Israel could destroy the Syrian fleet with minimal loss of Israeli forces. The Israeli UAVs have continued to contribute significantly in the military for providing real-time enemy information.  However, widespread drone use started in 2006 when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency introduced UAVs to monitor the U.S.-Mexico border. In late 2012, some manufactures came up with the low cost,  lightweight personal drones for entertainment and aerial photography. Real momentum came in 2014 when many countries started developing UAV for commercial applications and military operations.  Its popularity continues to rise worldwide.
Types of drones. Drones are VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) air vehicles which neither require a runway for taking off / landing nor pilots to fly. Drone platforms are mainly of two types:
·         Rotor drones. These are small, lightweight low cost having single-rotor or multi-rotors (tri-copters, quad-copters, hexacopters, and octocopters). These are used as a toy for entertainment or for hobby or for surveillance and area mapping.
·         Fixed-wing drones.  These are relatively large in size, heavier and fitted with many sensors, high-resolution camera and capable of delivering small payloads at designated locations. These are used mainly for military operations, agriculture spraying and logistics applications. These are launched by special equipment, which is mobile and can be quickly set up in any location.
Drones can be also categorized as per their applications:
·         Personal. These could be toys for children entrainment or for hobby and aerial photography.
·         Commercial applications. These include spraying of water, insecticide, fertilizer for agriculture fields. It could also be used for scanning, and mapping disaster-affected locations, surveillance and area mapping including 3D imaging of minefields, cement queries, and cement plants. These drones could be carrying small payloads and delivery of goods to difficult terrain. Drones are effectively used for monitoring crowd movement during political campaigns/ rallies.
·         Military operations.  UAVs are well suited for stealth operations of locating and destroying enemy hideouts and carrying out many other secret missions.
Drone Size and weight.
·         Personal drones. These are for common use simply to fly around as entertainment, offering video or still camera capabilities. These drones are easy to carry like a toy and weigh from 1 to 10 pounds.
  Commercial Applications.  These drones are UAV, larger in weight and size, longer flying time, capable of carrying and delivery of small stores/materials, surveillance, and area mapping. Boeing Company offers “Scan-Eagle” drone, having 10-foot wingspan and weighs 35 pounds. Its sensors include electro-optic imagers, mid-wave infrared imagers, infrared markers, and laser rangefinders.   Agriculture sprayer drones are heavier and fitted with special equipment for aerial spraying of liquid pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides on agricultural land. Drones can spray 50-100 acres area per day, which is 30 times more than the traditional knapsack sprayer. These drones can be manually launched and controlled by the farmhouse staff.   Some major advantages of agriculture  drone are:
·         Drones have replaced humans for spraying liquid pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides on agricultural land. Consequently, these protect farmers from poisoning and heat stroke, when they spraying manually.
·        Water and soil pollution are considerably reduced with a fixed position and orientation method.
·       More than 25% of pesticide, wastage can be saved with a high degree of atomization.
·         It is estimated that 60% to 70% wastage of water can be saved in comparison to traditional spraying methods.
·         We can get a 90% reduction in cost as compared to traditional spraying methods.
·        These are not affected by the terrain and crop height and can be controlled remotely.
·         Easy to use and maintain.
·         Monitoring and control  Features To have good remote control on the flight path and aerial video photography, drones can be equipped with a number of sensors, including distance sensors, time-of-flight sensors, chemical sensors, and stabilization and orientation sensors. RGB sensors are used for collecting standard visual Red, Green and Blue wavelengths. In some special applications, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, barometers and GPS are also installed.

Price and Facilities. A simple toy type drone with a short range of flight and limited control features will cost you $ 30 to $ 40  or say Rs 2500. You may add more features like a high-resolution camera with some spare parts and that can cost you additional $50 to $100. A typical personal drone DJI Spark (Professional), costing   Rs.70,000 ($1000) will offer the following facilities:
·         Flight Time: 16 MINS, Control Range: 4 KM and  Speed: 50 KM/H
·         Video Resolution: FHD 1920×1080 @ 30fps
·         Photographs Resolution: 4K, Camera Resolution: 12 MP
While buying a drone online from Amazon, Flipkart, Alibaba or Google store, you may have a good deal for free Carry Case, spare accessories like a battery, rotor blades, SD memory card or additional sensors.  If accessories are not offered free, you should still, buy for a cost of  $100 to $ 150. Agriculture-type drone may cost you $3000 (Rs 2 Lacs) upwards depending upon various equipment installed on board and size of the power pack.  Price and other features of military type a drone is very specific for their role and are not covered here.
Characteristics of a non-military drone. It is small, compact, battery operated and versatile flying machine with special features to suit non-military applications. Main characteristics of these drones are :
·         It has four to six rotors and can take off vertically from anywhere and can land anywhere.
·         It can fly as per pre-programmed route or it is radio remote controlled.
·         It does not make noise during its flight and it can fly very low to go undetected,
·         It can safely carry small loads and deliver those at a required place.
·         It has a digital camera and data storage device on board for recoding ground images,
Characteristics of Military type drone (UAV).
·         It is noiseless and low flying aerial vehicle which is difficult for the enemy radar to detect.
·         It is pilot-less and no danger of losing scarce trained human resource.
·         It has a profile of small type aircraft with two wings.
·         It has a large number of highly sensitive instruments and sensors for area mapping, locating enemy targets and deliver required weapon systems.
·         It is launched by mobile ground-based launching equipment but can sustain its flight with an on-board battery.
·         It has provision to load software based route plan and contingency plan for maneuver and action.
·           It is a radio controlled and can be maneuvered as per operational requirement.
·          Weather permitting, it can provide a 3D view of the target area in real-time.
Commercial  Applications.  Drones are the most versatile and economical resource for carrying out surveillance and delivery of small payloads. Some common areas of its applications for  non-military applications  are given below:
·   Surveillance.  It can do low level flying for beachside search and rescue missions.
·     Area mapping.  Scanning and photographing any specific location in inaccessible terrain. It could also be monitoring the pollution of water-bodies and shifting of sand dunes in the desert area.
·         Delivery Systems. Delivery of small payload of food, water, medicines, clothing, and shelters in difficult areas affected during any calamity/disaster.
· Patrolling. It can include electrical power lines, oil pipelines, canals/water channels, railways lines, roads and bridges, beach sites and trekking routes.
·         Agriculture activities. It is used for monitoring crop growth and spraying of insecticide and fertilizer.
·         Aerial  photography. This can be indoor/outdoor photography, during marriages or and public functions, election rallies. It can also do 3D imaging of a specific area
·         Hobby and sports. It could be any entertainment or hobby
Military Applications.
·        Patrolling along Line Of Control (LOC) or border for monitoring any intrusion and any damage of fencing, bunkers and other vantage points for observation posts/towers
·         Locating and delivery of weapons on sensitive targets /hideouts of terrorists /gorillas.
·        Delivery of stores and field equipment in difficult/mountainous terrain/ jungles.
·        Many other secrets missions can be carried out to meet tactical objectives
Drone Manufacturers and Suppliers. There are many manufacturers of drones in the USA, China, Russia, Europe, Japan, Australia and a few other developing countries like India. However, these are easily available through online stores of Amazon, Google, Alibaba, Flipkart and at an affordable cost. One can browse popular websites to select the drone/ UAV which suits one’s requirement and budget.  Some popular suppliers are -www.amazon.com, www.google.com, www.allibaba.comand www.flipkart.com.

 Drones are Boon for industries.
·        Aviation. The pilots that will be replaced by drones can be employed in their new job to operate and control drones.
·        Software/IT.   Data Analysts, Software system designers  and experts in embedded software will be in great demand
·        Manufacturing, Drones can assist in manufacturing and maintenance industries.
·        Dangerous jobs. Jobs in hazardous palaces, being so far done by humans are slowly being replaced by drones.
·        Enhance Productivity. Drones can add business value by enhancing productivity with reduced delivery time.
·        Mining. These can provide real-time status of mining activity in opencast mines and can also be deployed inside deep mines.
·        Cement Industry. Can assist in monitoring  progress at   stone queries as well as the production plant
·        Oil industry.  It can help during exploration, monitoring oil production of oil fields and patrolling oil pipelines.
·     Agriculture industry.  Monitoring growth of crops and spraying of water,  liquid fertilizers, and pesticides.
·        Delivery services.  Carrying small stores from warehouse/stores to the customers.
·        Policing and  law enforcement,
·         Aviation manufacturers  Aerospace, weapon manufacturers,
Limitations of Drones.
·        Battery life. The battery life limits the flying time of the drone and you need to have multiple batteries fitted on the drone to extend its flying time.
·        Weather conditions. Windy weather, snowing and rain affect the use of drones. Flying drones in rain or snow can damage the electronic components and interfere with the communication between the drone and the controller.
·        Low speed. UAVs maximum speed is  30 mph which is slower compared to manned aircraft.
·          Vulnerable to hackers: UAVs vehicles require data link for controlling them from their launching area. Hackers can intercept the data link and affect your monitoring in the area or even trace your remote location and harm you.
·        Flying Time. Flying time of a drone is between 8-15 minutes before the battery needs changing. You need a bigger and heavier battery to sustain long flying time.
  Concerns and Fears.
·         Cause unemployment. The wide use of drones can lead to unemployment for the aircraft pilots.  Similarly, some agencies dealing with delivery services fear unemployment to their existing human resource.
·        Invasion of Privacy. Drone’s capability to quietly and speedily move to any location and with high-power zoom lenses fitted in the drone, people fear that it violates individual privacy.
·        Drone Collisions. In already jammed air space, drones pose a risk of collisions with airplanes. Keeping track of all drones/ UAVs and their flight routes is a major concern.
·        Damage to civilian property. UAV   poses a risk of property damage during any collision and who will be liable to pay for the mishap.
·         Desensitize People: Drones can be used in war zones to automatically locate and kill people through a switch of a button. This can cause post-traumatic stress to the people who are controlling the drones in the killing of people in remote areas.
·        Collateral Damage.  Missiles and explosives fired by military drones can lead to the death of innocent people caught in the targeted area. This can lead to an international  issue of human rights,
Drone Education.   Wide applications of drones are promising lots of jobs in the future. Therefore drone education is picking up momentum in many universities and aviation schools. Some universities /training institutes offer a BSc degree in Unmanned Systems Applications (USA).  Some are offering an integrated course of MSc in unmanned systems and a  minor in unmanned aerial systems is becoming a good option.
Job opportunities predictions.  Initially, there were inhibitions that drones will take away many jobs. On the contrary, it is now well recognized that drones will not only supplement human efforts, but these will also open up many new jobs. These jobs relate to areas of Information Technology (IT), aviation, logistics, delivery systems, aerial photography/ videography, Journalism and reporting. Job predictions by some leading research/consulting institutes are very encouraging.
·         PricewaterhouseCoopers. They have valued the drone-based businesses service market at more than $127 billion, with the top industries being infrastructure at $45.2 billion, agriculture at $32.5 billion and transportation at $13.0 billion.
·         Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).  They have predicted that the drone industry will create more than 100,000 U.S. jobs and add $82 billion to the U.S. economy by 2025.
·         Drone Pilots. They should possess mechanical skills, self-evaluation skills, ability to analyze information, problem-solving skills, communication skills, multitasking.
·         UAV Pilots.  UAV Pilot required for  flying drones and executing data acquisition from Industrial Asset Inspections, Area Mapping, Asset Mapping as per the client requirement. These people should have sufficient knowledge on engineering of UAVs, handle safe drone flying with industry standards.
·         Software Developers. Software developer ( system software designers) are needed to implement flight algorithms and security aspects for Drone firmware and ground control software.  They should have proficiency in Ardupilot,  Protobuf,, Python. Ruby, Java/ Scala.
·         Data Analytics. There is a great demand for data analytics to undertake drone operations for data acquisition on agriculture, mining, survey, monitoring, &  site inspection.
·         Business Developers. Require dynamic sales executives with good soft skills and basic knowledge of computers and drone operations.
·         Skilled camera persons.  Developing agencies require photographers skilled in DSLR operations, High-Resolution Imaging, Light Manipulation, Corel Draw, Abode Illustrator, Photo Editing, Abode Photoshop, Colour Correction, Special Effects, and LightRoom Operations.
·         Electronics, Instrumentation and Control (EIC) engineers. These system engineers are to deal with radio communication, instrumentation, and control systems for the safe and efficient operation of Drone/UAV. They need to be proficient in the microcontroller, Assembly Language, embedded technologies, robotics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
·               PCB Designers. These hardware engineers are required to develop compact two-layer PCB design for accommodating various components and their inter-connectivity. They should be proficient in using  software tools like  Altium Designer, Eagle, Lab-VIEW, Multi-sim, power supply design, GSM/GPS designing, and ARM Cortex motor driver, switching supply and power supply design.
·         Software Engineers. They are action-taker, problem/ troubleshooter, multi-task manager. They should have high proficiency in software design, good communication skills, and decision-making skills.
·         UAV Developers.  These technical people must have experience in developing flight path planning, localization, and control algorithms for aerial robots. They should have good knowledge in robotics, computer vision, simulation, MATLAB, Simulink and Machine Learning (ML) to undertake the development of various algorithms and tools for autonomous systems.  
·     AI Experts. They  are to  deal with the Analysis and Design of Algorithms (ADA) and have good expertise in ML to help us extract value from scanned data.
Privacy security and safety Regulations (Non-military drones ). The army of  the country may have its own considerations and regulations in response to military operations and prevailing battle zone conditions As drones/UAV are being used for many commercial applications,  newer laws are being introduced by the user country. Before using a drone, it is very essential to check the laws of the country in which drones are being operatedAll major user counties have enforced   strict regulations on the operation of drones so that these do not interfere with the privacy of any citizen or interfere with the operation of another aircraft, helicopters or air balloon flying in close vicinity.  USA regulations, as shown below, are very comprehensive and may be suitably modified /adapted as per prevailing law of the country where these drones are to operate :
·         Unmanned aircraft must remain within visual line-of-sight and control of the remote pilot who is handling  the flight controls.
·         Drones may not operate over anyone not directly participating in the operation.
·         Drones may operate during good light/weather conditions (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local time).
·        A drone must yield right-of -way to other aircraft flying in the vicinity.
·        Don't fly near airports or airfields
·        The drone must stay below 400 feet and at least 150 feet away from buildings and people.
·        The base station controller must observe his/her drone at all times.
·         The drone should never fly near aircraft.
 Future Drones.  The future of drones industry is very bright as it promises many new jobs in various technical and non-technical fields. We usually associate drones which can fly in the sky.  The design and experimentation of underwater drones have picked up lots of momentum in the last 4 years. These underwater drones are designed to look for cracks in nuclear reactors’ water tanks, search ships for contraband hidden in cavities. As drone technology continues to gain popularity for various applications, young professionals should move in this direction and upgrade their skills to match the needs of the emerging drone market.

Dr. Sarbjit Singh.  
1)      Author of   “A2Z -26 Steps for Assured Success” and   “  Career Challenges during Global Uncertainty”  -  Books are available on www.amazon.com.
2)      Former   Principal / Exec Director  Apeejay College of Engineering, and Advisor, School of Engineering and Technology, Apeejay Stya University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India 




Comments

Anonymous said…
Highly informative post.
Drones are for logistics and military actions. Well delivered
Very helpful
Anonymous said…
Good article in new dimension to logistic using drones both in civil and Army operations
Anonymous said…
Drones are the game changer in transportation ans military application. Good coverage.
Anonymous said…
good article in simple language
Anonymous said…
good article for logistic and spying
Anonymous said…
good article on new technology -- Drones

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