Today drones are being used in more ways than ever. For example, television stations and other media outlets are using drones to gather and report the news. Emergency personnel are using them to track fires and gather information in other hazardous situations. Farmers are using them to monitor condition of crops in their fields. Scientist are using them to monitor environmental condition and people are finding more uses for their personal drones. How drones will be used in the future is anyone’s guess as they become more widely available and sophisticated.
Intelligent Autonomy of UAVs by
Intelligent Autonomy of UAVs: Advanced Missions and Future Useprovides an approach to the formulation of the fundamental task typical to any mission and provides guidelines of how this task can be solved by different generic robotic problems. As such, this book aims to provide a systems engineering approach to UAV projects, discovering the real problems that need to be resolved independently of the application. After an introduction to the rapidly evolving field of aerial robotics, the book presents topics such as autonomy, mission analysis, human-UAV teams, homogeneous and heterogeneous UAV teams, and finally, UAV-UGV teams. It then covers generic robotic problems such as orienteering and coverage. The book next introduces deployment, patrolling, and foraging, while the last part of the book tackles an important application: aerial search, tracking, and surveillance. This book is meant for both scientists and practitioners. For practitioners, it presents existing solutions that are categorized according to various missions: surveillance and reconnaissance, 3D mapping, urban monitoring, precision agriculture, forestry, disaster assessment and monitoring, security, industrial plant inspection, etc. For scientists, it provides an overview of generic robotic problems such as coverage and orienteering; deployment, patrolling and foraging; search, tracking, and surveillance. The design and analysis of algorithms raise a unique combination of questions from many fields, including robotics, operational research, control theory, and computer science.
Civil and Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Systems by 
Drones and Journalism by
Drones and Journalismexplores the increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, by the global media for researching and newsgathering purposes. Phil Chamberlain examines the technological development and capabilities of contemporary drone hardware and the future of drone journalism. He also considers the complex place of the media's drone use in relation to international laws, as well as the ethical challenges and issues raised by the practice. Chapters cover topics including the use of drones in investigative reporting, in reporting of humanitarian crises, and the use of this new technology in more mainstream media, like film and TV. The book also presents exclusive interviews with drone experts and practitioners and draws on a wide range of disciplines to put the practice into a historical, political and social context. Professionals and students of Journalism and Media Studies will find this an important critical contribution to these fields, as Phil Chamberlain astutely charts the rise of the reliance on drones by the media worldwide.
Responsible Drone Journalism by
Camera drones provide unique visual perspectives and add new dimensions to storytelling and accountability in journalism. Simultaneously, the rapidly expanding uses of drones as advanced sensor platforms raise new legislative, ethical and transparency issues. Responsible Drone Journalisminvestigates the opportunities and dilemmas of using drones for journalistic purposes in a global perspective. Drawing on a framework of responsible research and innovation (RRI), the book explores responsible drone journalism from multiple perspectives, including new cultures of learning, flying in lower airspace, drone education and concerns about autonomous agents and big data surveillance. By widening the discussion of drone journalism, the book is ideal for journalism teachers and students, as well as politicians, lawmakers, drone developers and citizens with an interest in the responsible use of camera drones.
The UAV Imaging-Sensor Starter Kit by
Getting Started with UAV Imaging Systems: A Radiometric Guide provides the tools technologists need to begin designing or analyzing the data product of a UAV imager. Covering the basics of target signatures, radiometric propagation, electro-optical systems, UAV platforms, and image quality, it is replete with examples that promote immediate application of the concepts. Reference materials at the end of each chapter, including many links to current systems and platforms, offer further guidance for readers. Engineers and scientists who specify instrument requirements; design, build, or test hardware; or analyze images for commercial, scientific, and military applications will find the book a useful addition to their working library.
Agricultural Drones by
Agricultural drones are expected to revolutionize the way we conduct agronomic procedures and maintain natural vegetation on earth. This book explores the increasing importance of the role of aerial robots in managing agricultural farms and natural resources. Agricultural Drones: A Peaceful Pursuit provides a wealth of information on drone usage in agriculture. The book discusses the advanced sensors and imaging capabilities of drones that give farmers new ways to increase yields and reduce crop damage. An introductory chapter provides historical data, with details about various models of drones as well as the most recent and popular agricultural drones in usage. The book goes onto look at such topics as the use of drones for soil fertility, production agronomy, irrigation, weed control, pest and disease control, grain yield forecasting, and economic advantages from drone use. This timely and useful volume will be a valuable resource for faculty, agricultural extension officers, and farmers and farm consultancy agencies. This book would also serve as an excellent textbook for students in agriculture, engineering, geography, etc. Key features: ¿ outlines the advantages of using drones in agriculture, such as for the management of soil fertility, the study of natural resources and vegetation, the maintenance of adequate irrigation, and the control of weeds and pests ¿ covers the economic advantages of using drones in agriculture ¿ examines the regulatory aspects of agricultural drones ¿ provides actual examples of drone usage in agriculture
Dreams of Other Worlds by
Dreams of Other Worlds describes the unmanned space missions that have opened new windows on distant worlds. Spanning four decades of dramatic advances in astronomy and planetary science, this book tells the story of eleven iconic exploratory missions and how they have fundamentally transformed our scientific and cultural perspectives on the universe and our place in it. The journey begins with the Viking and Mars Exploration Rover missions to Mars, which paint a startling picture of a planet at the cusp of habitability. It then moves into the realm of the gas giants with the Voyager probes and Cassini's ongoing exploration of the moons of Saturn. The Stardust probe's dramatic round-trip encounter with a comet is brought vividly to life, as are the SOHO and Hipparcos missions to study the Sun and Milky Way. This stunningly illustrated book also explores how our view of the universe has been brought into sharp focus by NASA's great observatories--Spitzer, Chandra, and Hubble--and how the WMAP mission has provided rare glimpses of the dawn of creation. Dreams of Other Worlds reveals how these unmanned exploratory missions have redefined what it means to be the temporary tenants of a small planet in a vast cosmos.
Autonomous Technologies by
Over the years, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Challenges in the United States have galvanized interest in autonomous cars, making them a real possibility in the mind of the public, but autonomous and unmanned vehicles have been increasingly employed in many roles on land, in the water, and in the air. Military applications have received a great deal of attention, with weaponized unmanned aircraft (drones) being the most prominent. However, unmanned vehicles with varying degrees of autonomy already have many civilian applications. Some of these are quite familiar (such as the Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner), while others remain largely out of the public eye (such as autonomous farm equipment). Additional applications and more capable vehicles are rapidly coming to the markets in the years ahead. This book examines a number of economically important areas in which unmanned and autonomous vehicles, also understood here as autonomous technologies, are already used or soon will be. Co-published by SAE International and AUVSI, Autonomous Technologies: Applications That Matter will assist the reader in identifying profitable opportunities and avoiding costly misconceptions with respect to civilian applications of autonomous vehicle technologies as it brings together chapters on how air, water, and ground vehicles are becoming ever more used and appreciated.
Push Button Agriculture by
This book covers three main types of agricultural systems: the use of robotics, drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), and satellite-guided precision farming methods. Some of these are well refined and are currently in use, while others are in need of refinement and are yet to become popular. The book provides a valuable source of information on this developing field for those involved with agriculture and farming and agricultural engineering. The book is also applicable as a textbook for students and a reference for faculty.
Small Flying Drones: Applications for Geographic Observation by
This book focuses on small flying drones and their applications in conducting geographic surveys. Scholars and professionals will discover the potential of this tool, and hopefully develop a conceptual and methodological framework for doing the following things: a) Translate their data acquisition needs into specifications. (b) Use the developed specifications to choose the best accessible configuration for their drones, and (c) Design and organize effective and low-cost field deployment and flight operations by integrating technical aspects with regulatory and research requirements. Readers can apply this knowledge to work in cartography, environmental monitoring and analysis, land-use studies and landscape archaeology. Particular attention is also given to the reasons why a drone can dramatically boost a geographer's capability to understand geographic phenomena both from hard-science and humanities-oriented approach.
Disaster Robotics by
A comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible reference for disaster robotics that covers theory, specific deployments, and ground, air, and marine modalities. This book offers the definitive guide to the theory and practice of disaster robotics. It can serve as an introduction for researchers and technologists, a reference for emergency managers, and a textbook in field robotics. Written by a pioneering researcher in the field who has herself participated in fifteen deployments of robots in disaster response and recovery, the book covers theory and practice, the history of the field, and specific missions. After a broad overview of rescue robotics in the context of emergency informatics, the book provides a chronological summary and formal analysis of the thirty-four documented deployments of robots to disasters that include the 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and numerous mining accidents. It then examines disaster robotics in the typical robot modalities of ground, air, and marine, addressing such topics as robot types, missions and tasks, and selection heuristics for each modality. Finally, the book discusses types of fieldwork, providing practical advice on matters that include collecting data and collaborating with emergency professionals. The field of disaster robotics has lacked a comprehensive overview. This book by a leader in the field, offering a unique combination of the theoretical and the practical, fills the gap.