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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Oh wait … it’s a drone. These days, drones have become so commonplace in our lives that they no longer seem like a gadget of the future. Drones are gifted to kids and parents, downsizing their reputation as technology for warfare to simple playthings. Companies love the idea that drones could be the delivery method of the future, and we all love those high definition aerial videos.
Though their uses may seem limited to those for suburban consumption, don’t underestimate the impact that drones are making in other areas of society. Here are some interesting drone uses that are changing the world.
If you’ve ever volunteered after a natural disaster, you know that no number of people seems sufficient enough to quell the damage. Fortunately, drones are here to help. They’re an effective means for search and rescue missions, evaluating damage in unreachable areas and providing medical aid and supplies over long distances. Though it seems like all the coverage on drones only focuses on their downfalls, they’re also a means to save lives.
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Institutions concerned with the protection and conservation of wildlife all over the world are using drones. Not only are they used for counting wildlife populations, they can also be used to track poachers over large expanses of treacherous land. In the African Bush, rangers use their drones to detect rhino and elephant poachers over thousands of miles of plains.
In 2013, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police used a drone to find an injured civilian who had crashed his car in a remote forested area. The police first sent out a manned helicopter harnessed with night vision technology, which could not locate the whereabouts of the missing person.
After sending out a drone with infrared technology, the man was located and rescued before facing a potential death by hypothermia. The use of drones has changed the speed and effectiveness with which police and military forces are able to locate otherwise untraceable persons.
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We’re in an era of technology, so we should map like we are. Cartographers and farmers alike are using drones for precise mapping of land. Drones equipped with 3D mapping technology are revolutionizing the accuracy with which people create maps. Farmers are also using drones to efficiently map and allocate land usage for crops and livestock.
The beginning of drone technology for border security seems extremely promising. Police forces have recently turned to drones to help regulate their country’s borders. Not only does it reduce risk to human lives, it is also a much more efficient way to patrol thousands of miles of border in a timely manner.
We’ve seen people at the front lines of a hurricane or storm chasers risking their lives to photograph hurricanes at their peaks. But what if there was an easier way to record dangerous storms? As of recent years, drones have been used to track storms and weather patterns.
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In most cases, it seems that the use of drones are offering a safer, cheaper and more efficient way to collect information and save human lives.
