The Evolution of Drones
The Evolution of Drones
The evolution of drones in recent years has been rapid. Nowadays, anyone can purchase a drone to engage in the art of photography or simply to pass the time pleasantly. As we have mentioned in previous articles, the initial construction of drones was intended for military operations.
Today, their use varies, as beyond the military aspect, drones are used for traffic monitoring, transporting items, agriculture, as well as for professional purposes such as real estate photography with drones, wedding photography with drones, etc. Therefore, we considered it useful to make a historical review and study the evolution of drones over time.
How It All Started – The First Discoveries
The brothers Jacques and Louis Bréguet, who worked for Charles Richet, a controversial Nobel laureate, were the first inventors to create a quadcopter (a drone with four rotors, known in English as a quadcopter) in 1907. Although this discovery was particularly exciting and marked the starting point for much larger technological innovations, it was quite unstable, and its flight was only 2 meters above the ground. Additionally, to stabilize it enough to lift off, it required four men.
Although the first construction resembling a modern drone was this quadcopter, references to unmanned aerial vehicles, specifically a type of balloon carrying explosives, date back much earlier, specifically in 1839 when Austrian soldiers attacked Venice.
Use of Drones in the Military
Ten years after the construction of the first quadcopter, the first unmanned airplane appeared, aimed at being used against military enemies. Based on Nikola Tesla's technology, the Ruston Proctor Aerial Target was never actually used in any real battle scenarios but served as a precursor for the construction of similar unmanned aerial vehicles.
During World War II, the predecessor of modern anti-ship missiles, named Fritz X, was the first weapon with a remote control system.
More intensive military use of drones occurred in 2001, specifically after September 11th, when the CIA began flights with armed unmanned aircraft over Afghanistan as part of the war against the Taliban.
The Evolution of Drones in the Commercial Sector
In 2006, based on the military technologies of unmanned aircraft, the FAA issued the first commercial licenses for drone use, which imposed specific restrictions on consumer drones. However, the way was opened for the professional sector, where drones began to be used in various business activities. The use of drones gradually increased, and four years later, in 2010, the French company Parrot launched the Parrot AR Drone, the first drone that could be controlled exclusively via Wi-Fi using a smartphone. A particularly successful drone that even won the CES Innovations 2010 award.
Finally, another significant event in the history of drone evolution was Amazon's announcement that it would use this technology for product delivery, although it seems like a science fiction scenario for now.
The Modern Era
Gradually, in the following years, drone technology improved dramatically, reaching today's era where they are an affordable option for everyone. As you understand, the evolution of drones in recent years has been tremendous, as the drones developed until 2010 have significant functional and technological differences from today's drones.
In the last 10 years, not only have they experienced enormous evolution, but they have also received huge acceptance from people, who now incorporate them into their daily lives for both personal and professional use, providing services with drones.
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