Intro
All throughout the history of war, reconnaissance and information gathering have been some of the most influential factors. It’s usually safe to say that whoever has the most information on their enemy will come out on top because of their ability to be one step ahead of their opponent. Unfortunately, until recently, gathering information was very dangerous job. Because of this, modern scientists and engineers have recently developed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAV, which are capable of both stealthy reconnaissance and combat, all without human passengers.
The History of the UAV
There have been many attempts at creating unmanned aerial vehicles in the past. The first UAVs were, simply enough, balloons. In the Civil War, the North attempted to put incendiary devices in the bottom of balloons, which were then sent to the Southern side of the battlefield, in an attempt to start fires. The balloons had timed fuses, which would release the flaming weapons after a set amount of time. Unfortunately for the North, the wind was unpredictable and the balloons didn’t work very well. Another example of balloons being used to drop bombs is the Japanese in 1944, where they attempted to start forest fires in America with balloons with incendiary cargo, but didn’t work either. The only semi-successful balloon UAV was the United State’s “Project Gopher” weather balloon, which was used to get images of the Soviet Union for the US Military. All in all, the balloons UAVs were mostly failures, but they laid the foundation for the UAVs that are used today. There had also been attempts at attaching cameras to kites to try and take pictures, which worked out decently, but the pictures were blurry and unhelpful.
The Modern UAV
Since the balloon, UAVs have evolved into modern marvels. They come in all shapes and sizes, with some having wingspans from 86 feet such as “The Eitan”, as well as the miniscule 6-inch wingspan on the “Black Widow”. UAVs are used for capturing images and videos for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as used for combat. The combat drones are equip with guns and missiles that can be fired remotely from anywhere VIA satellite. This is very useful for both finding and eliminating enemies without needing to risk soldiers’ lives. The UAV is also starting to be used for controlling the border and also to help locate people after a natural disaster. They help by looking for survivors amongst the debris where it would be dangerous for a human to be. The applications for UAVs are endless.
Figure 2
The Black Widow UAV
Impact on the World
The UAV has definitely changed war for the better. By being able to remove real humans from dangerous situations, countless soldiers have been kept safe.
Also, with the use of the UAVs in disaster relief, even more lives have been saved because of these machines. With new uses being discovered often, the UAV is a very useful invention.
Journal Article
Vision for a UAV helicopter
This journal goes in depth about the different cameras used on various UAV helicopters. The cameras used in UAVs have three different levels of software. They have a deliberate system at top, which is devoted to mission planning and mission tasks. The second level is the reactive level, and the third level of software is the processing layer, which contains the image-processing module. This level is responsible for interpreting the images that the camera captures. It also contains operational scenarios, which allow the UAV to react to certain events taking place in its line of sight, such as a car stopping and going. The UAV then can react accordingly to the scenario. The UAV also takes it’s height and speed into consideration when capturing video, and can adjust the recording accordingly.
Works Cited
McGuigan, Brandon. (n.d.). What are uavs?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-uavs.htm
A short history of unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.draganfly.com/news/2009/03/04/a-short-history-of-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-uavs/
New uses for uavs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.erau.edu/research/strata_pdf/strata_spring06.pdf
Unmanned aerial vehicles: an overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.insidegnss.com/auto/janfeb08-wp.pdf
Nordberg, Klas, Doherty, Patrick, Farneback, Gunnar, Forssen, Per-Erik, & Granlund, Gosta. Vision for a uav helicopter
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