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UAV
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone Warfare; 2024. e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-074203-9.H. Pan; M. Zahmatkesh; F. Rekabi-Bana; F. Arvin; J. HuT-STAR: Time-Optimal Swarm Trajectory Planning for Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2025. UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for humans, and by the twenty-first, they had become essential assets to most militaries. As control technologies improved and costs fell, their use expanded to many non-military applications. These include aerial photography, area coverage,F. Rekabi-Bana; Hu, J.; T. Krajník; Arvin, F.,Unified Robust Path Planning and Optimal Trajectory Generation for Efficient 3D Area Coverage of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MQ-9 Reaper UAV (cropped)
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, one component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS)) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF). The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the USAF to indicate ground control by humans. The MQ-9 is a larger, heavier, more capable aircraft than the earlier General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and can be controlled by the same ground systems. The Reaper has a 950-Shaft horsepower, shaft-horsepower (712 kW) turboprop engine (compared to the Predator's piston engine). The greater power allows the Reaper to carry 15 times more Aircraft ordnance, ordnance payload and cruise at about three times the speed of the MQ-1. The aircraft is monitored and controlled, including weapons employment, by aircrew in the Ground C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle
An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircraft ordnance such as missiles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and/or Aerial bomb, bombs in hardpoints for drone strikes. These drones are usually under real-time human control, with varying levels of autonomy. UCAVs are used for reconnaissance, attacking targets and returning to base; unlike Loitering munition, kamikaze drones which are only made to explode on impact, or unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle, surveillance drones which are only for gathering intelligence. Aircraft of this type have no onboard human pilot. As the Radio control, operator runs the vehicle from a remote terminal, equipment necessary for a human pilot is not needed, resulting in a lower weight and a smaller size than a manned aircraft. Many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loitering Munition
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to Loiter (aeronautics), loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.Watch This Drone Turn Into A Missile ''Popular Science'', August 2015 They enable attacks against hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value weapons platform, platforms near the target area. Unlike many other types of munitions, their attacks can be changed mid-mission or aborted. Loitering munitions are typically aerial platforms, but include some autonomous undersea vehicles with similar characteristics. Loitering weapons emerged in the 1980s for the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses role, and were deployed for SEAD by some military forces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delivery Drone
A delivery drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to transport items such as packages, medicines, foods, postal mails, and other light goods. Large corporations like Amazon, DHL, and FedEx have started to use drone delivery services. Drones were used effectively in the fight against COVID-19, delivering millions of vaccines and medical supplies across the globe. Drone deliveries are highly efficient, significantly speeding up delivery times and avoiding challenges traditional delivery vehicles may encounter. Given their life-saving potential, use cases for medical supplies in particular have become the most widely tested type of drone delivery, with trials and pilot projects in dozens of countries such as Australia, Canada, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, the UK, the US among others (see below). Delivery drones can be autonomous, semi-autonomous, or remote-controlled. The most common types of drones are terrestrial and aerial, however, they can also be aquatic. Application ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aircraft Pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, flight attendants, mechanics and ground crew, are not classified as aviators. In recognition of the pilots' qualifications and responsibilities, most militaries and many airlines worldwide award aviator badges to their pilots. Definition The first recorded use of the term ''aviator'' (''aviateur'' in French) was in 1887, as a variation of ''aviation'', from the Latin ''avis'' (meaning ''bird''), coined in 1863 by in ''Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne'' ("Aviation or Air Navigation"). The term ''aviatrix'' (''aviatrice'' in French), now archaic, was formerly used for a female pilot. The term ''aviator'' (''aviateur'' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio-controlled Aircraft
A radio-controlled aircraft (often called RC aircraft or RC plane) is a small flying machine that is radio controlled by an operator on the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter. The transmitter continuously communicates with a receiver (radio), receiver within the craft that sends signals to servomechanisms (servos) which move the Flight control surfaces, control surfaces based on the position of joysticks on the transmitter. The control surfaces, in turn, directly affect the orientation of the plane. Flying RC aircraft as a hobby grew substantially from the 2000s with improvements in the cost, weight, performance, and capabilities of motors, battery (electricity), batteries and electronics. Scientific, government, and military organizations are also using RC aircraft for experiments, gathering weather readings, aerodynamics, aerodynamic modeling, and testing. A wide variety of models, parts, and styles is available for the DIY market. Nowadays, distinct from recreational c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Drone
A weather drone, or weather-sensing uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), is a remotely piloted aircraft weighing less than 25 kg and carrying sensors that collect thermodynamic and kinematic data from the mid and lower atmosphere (e.g. up to 6 km). Weather drones are not yet used to support National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) due to ongoing negotiations on UAVs' access to airspace and compliance with airspace regulations and technological development needed to meet the World Meteorological Organization's requirements. Mostly, weather drones are deployed to support scientific research missions and industry-specific operations. History Early proposals The first recorded UAV for measuring atmospheric parameters was in 1970, when a "small radio-controlled aircraft as usedas a measuring platform" for sharing meteorological measurement results. The study was supported by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory and NASA, Wallops Station. The authors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerial Photography
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or "drones"), balloon (aircraft), balloons, blimps and dirigibles, rockets, pigeon photography, pigeons, kite aerial photography, kites, or using action cameras while skydiving or wingsuiting. Handheld cameras may be manually operated by the photographer, while mounted cameras are usually remote operation, remotely operated or triggered automatically. Aerial photography typically refers specifically to bird's-eye view images that focus on landscapes and Earth surface, surface objects, and should not be confused with air-to-air photography, where one or more aircraft are used as chase planes that "chase" and photograph other aircraft in flight. Elevated photography can also produce b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agricultural Drone
An agricultural drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle used in agriculture operations, mostly in yield optimization and in monitoring crop growth and crop production. Agricultural drones provide information on crop growth stages, crop health, and soil variations. Multispectral sensors are used on agricultural drones to image electromagnetic radiation beyond the visible spectrum, including near-infrared and short-wave infrared. Legality As drones entered use in agriculture, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) encouraged farmers to use this new technology to monitor their fields. However, with the unexpected boom of agricultural drones, the FAA quickly retracted such encouragement, pending new rules and regulations. With incidents such as drones crashing into crop dusters, the FAA and the AFBF (American Farm Bureau Federation) began discussions to agree on regulations that would allow the beneficial use of such drones in a safe and efficient manner. In 2016, the FAA published ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental monitoring is the processes and activities that are done to characterize and describe the state of the environment. It is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, and in many circumstances in which human activities may cause harmful effects on the natural environment. Monitoring strategies and programmes are generally designed to establish the current status of an environment or to establish a baseline and trends in environmental parameters. The results of monitoring are usually reviewed, analyzed statistics, statistically, and published. A monitoring programme is designed around the intended use of the data before monitoring starts. Environmental monitoring includes monitoring of Air pollution, air quality, soils and water quality. Many monitoring programmes are designed to not only establish the current state of the environment but also predict future conditions. In some cases this may involve collecting data related to events in the distant p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as hot air balloons and airships. Aviation began in the 18th century with the development of the hot air balloon, an apparatus capable of atmospheric displacement through buoyancy. Clément Ader built the "Ader Éole" in France and made an uncontrolled, powered hop in 1890. This was the first powered aircraft, although it did not achieve controlled flight. Some of the most significant advancements in aviation technology came with the controlled gliding flying of Otto Lilienthal in 1896. A major leap followed with the construction of the '' Wright Flyer'', the first powered airplane by the Wright brothers in the early 1900s. Since that time, aviation has been technologically revolutionized by the introduction of the jet engine which enabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerodynamic Force
In fluid mechanics, an aerodynamic force is a force exerted on a body by the air (or other gas) in which the body is immersed, and is due to the relative motion between the body and the gas. Force There are two causes of aerodynamic force: *the normal force due to the pressure on the surface of the body *the shear force due to the viscosity of the gas, also known as skin friction. Pressure acts normal to the surface, and shear force acts parallel to the surface. Both forces act locally. The net aerodynamic force on the body is equal to the pressure and shear forces integrated over the body's total exposed area. When an airfoil moves relative to the air, it generates an aerodynamic force determined by the velocity of relative motion, and the angle of attack. This aerodynamic force is commonly resolved into two components, both acting through the center of pressure: *'' drag'' is the force component parallel to the direction of relative motion, *'' lift'' is the force com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
