“An unmanned aircraft system (UAS), sometimes called a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard – instead, the UAS is controlled from an operator on the ground.”

Let’s take a deeper dive into the question of what is a drone. Let’s start by going over the history of drones. After that, we’ll look at what goes into a drone. Then we’ll break down the types of drones available. When we’re done, you’ll know what drones are.

Brief History of Drones

So, what is a drone? When you hear the word “drone”, you probably think of a technologically advanced flying machine, whether it’s a military UAV conducting precision airstrikes in far off locations or a consumer drone buzzing around your neighbor’s backyard. But unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have actually been around since before World War I.

In fact, Austria launched the first drone. It was actually a balloon for remotely triggering bombs, back in 1849. The U.S. started developing remote controlled aircraft in the 1910s. Today, when you ask the question “What is a drone?” the common answer is an unmanned aerial system (UAS) that is capable of autonomous flight, as opposed to a radio controlled (RC) aircraft that is only capable of being controlled by control inputs from the pilot holding the radio transmitter.  This definition holds true whether you are referring to an MQ-1B Predator drone conducting combat operations in Afghanistan or a DJI Phantom series drone flying around your local park.

Drones have become increasingly popular over the last few decades for many reasons. In terms of military operations, using drones cuts out the risk to a pilot’s life that goes along with any manned flight mission and can also reduce the overall number of troops in combat. On the civilian side, drone technology has been advancing rapidly, much like the advancement of cell phone technology, making drones affordable for a wide variety of consumers.

What is a Drone Made Of?

Another way to answer the question “What is a drone?” is to look at the parts of a drone. Actually, since there is more to a drone than just the flying vehicle itself, it may be better to approach this question from a systems point of view and ask, “What is a UAS?” The three basic subsystems of a UAS include the actual vehicle, the payload, and the ground station. These three basic subsystems apply for any type of drone, military or civilian.

The vehicle subsystem could be a fixed wing or a rotary wing platform. Most of the consumer drones that are on the market today are quadcopters, so we’ll focus on answering the “What is a drone?” question for that type of drone.

A basic quadcopter drone platform consists of the airframe and landing gear, a propulsion system consisting of four motors and propellers, a flight control computer, and a navigation system (GPS).

A battery, usually housed in a compartment inside the airframe, typically powers a quadcopter. The most common payload for a consumer level drone is a camera, but the payload could consist of infrared sensors, electro-optical systems, radars, or even cargo. The ground station, or remote control, is the final subsystem of a typical quadcopter. The remote controller allows you to communicate wirelessly with your drone and transmit control inputs.

A basic remote controller consists of an antenna, or antennas, and flight control sticks. The flight control sticks allow you to make pitch, roll, throttle, and yaw inputs. Some remote controllers, like the DJI Phantom and Inspire series, have a flight control display, often in the form of a smartphone app, that connects to your system. It allows you to monitor battery life and component health, monitor navigation, select flight modes, and see what your camera is seeing.

Types of Drones

Now, that we’ve answered the question “What is a drone?” in terms of parts, let’s cover some of the different types of drones that come to mind when you ask the question “What is a drone?”

Military Drones

Military drones have been in the news a lot lately as the U.S. enters the second decade of its drone campaign. Military drones come in all shapes and sizes and perform a variety of missions including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, fire support, precision targeting, search and rescue, and convoy/raid overwatch.

Check out some stats on two of the U.S. military’s current UASs:

• Fire Scout: Northrop Grumman manufactures the Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter based on the Bell 407 helicopter airframe. The Fire Scout can operate from any air-capable ship or land base to support the Navy’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission. There are two Fire Scout variants (the MQ-8B and the MQ-8C). The MQ-8B has completed multiple deployments, and the MQ-8C is ready to deploy. The MQ-8B can fly at 85 knots, has a ceiling of 12,500 feet, can carry a payload of up to 300 lbs, and has a range and endurance of 596 nmi and 7.75 hours, respectively, with a baseline payload.
• Predator: When you think of military drones, the MQ-1B Predator is likely the first drone that comes to mind when you ask “What is a drone?” The Predator has been around since the late 1990s, and the U.S. Air Force currently uses them for armed reconnaissance, airborne surveillance, and target acquisition. The fixed wing Predator is 27 feet long and has a wingspan of 55 feet. It can cruise at a speed of around 70 knots and has a range of 675 nmi. The Predator can carry a payload of 450 lbs and typically armed with two laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

Fixed Wing Drones

Are there any civilian fixed wing drones? Yes! Fixed wing drones have the advantages of higher speeds and longer flight times as compared to the more common multi-rotor drones, but they tend to cost more than your average consumer level drone. Parrot has just released a new, lightweight, 45-inch wing span, fixed wing drone called the Disco. It is in the same price range as some of the higher-end multi-rotor consumer drones. The Disco comes with a first person view (FPV) headset and is designed to fly at speeds of up to 50 mph with a battery life of around 45 minutes. Check out the Drone Girl’s new review of the Parrot Disco for more information.

A popular fixed wing drone primarily used for agriculture, insurance and emergency response, energy and mining, and environmental monitoring is the PrecisionHawk Lancaster. The Lancaster 5 weighs a little over 5 lbs and has a wingspan of nearly 5 ft. It can fly at speeds of nearly 50 mph with a battery life of approximately 45 minutes. The Lancaster 5 is equipped with field-swappable, plug-n-play sensors, such as a camera, thermal infrared sensors, multi-spectral and hyper-spectral sensors. It has LIDAR, allowing users to perform a wide variety of mapping and surveying applications.

Quadcopters

The quadcopter is one of the first types of drones that probably comes to mind. A quadcopter has four motors attached to four propellers. Two of the propellers spin clockwise, and two of the propellers spin counterclockwise. Variable thrust control pitch, roll, and yaw in a quadcopter. In other words, certain combinations of motors must be sped up or slowed down in order for a drone pilot to perform various maneuvers.

Quadcopter drones come in a variety of sizes and price ranges. Some, like this Cheerson CX-10, are even small enough to fit in the palm of your hand! DJI is one of the most popular brands of quadcopters. They offer both consumer and professional quadcopter camera drones. You may be familiar with DJI’s Phantom and Inspire series of drones. (DARTdrones offers a full day Phantom and Inspire training course) DJI has also recently released a compact, foldable drone called the Mavic that combines an obstacle detection system, precision hover capability, 27 minute flight time, 4K video, and a 12 megapixel camera in a package that is approximately 1/6th the size of the Phantom series drones! The DJI Mavic can easily fit into most backpacks and even a medium sized purse!

Commercial Drones

What is a drone used for commercial purposes? Any drone used for commercial or business purposes is a commercial drone. Many drones marketed towards the consumer market, like the DJI Phantom drones, are for commercial purposes. However, there is a commercial class of drones that typically has a higher price point than the average consumer drone. These commercial drones usually have a more durable construction, a more sophisticated sensor or camera system, and may offer the user more direct support from the manufacturer for maintenance or customization.

The Yamaha RMAX, a remotely piloted helicopter designed for precision aerial spraying of crops, is an example of a commercial drone . The two-bladed, gasoline-powered RMAX has operated in Japan for nearly 20 years but only recently gained approval to operate in the U.S. Here’s a video of the RMAX in action conducting precision agriculture for a Napa Valley vineyard.

The Altavian Nova F7200 is another example of a commercial grade drone. The fully autonomous, fixed wing drone, is designed for large-scale agricultural data collection. It has a 90-minute flight time, and it can even land on water!

What is a drone able to do for my business?

So, what is a drone good for? It’s also important to understand drones how drones are used. Aerial photography is one of the most common applications for drones in the civilian market. For example, real estate agents can use aerial drone photography to show potential buyers unique details such as aerial views of the entire house and property, as well proximity to amenities.

Agricultural drones survey crops and provide farmers with a cost-effective way to monitor crop health and quickly identify problems. Construction companies use drones to track site progress. They conduct site surveys and 3D models, inspect bridges or structures, and provide customers with aerial views of their project. This is why so many people are interested in starting a drone business.

The possibilities for commercial drone use are seemingly endless, and the worldwide drone market is expected to grow to nearly seven billion dollars by the year 2020. In other words, what is a drone used for? Just about anything.

Becky Hagner is one of DARTdrones’ many expert pilots. She earned certification as a commercial helicopter and fixed wing pilot. She wrote this post about What is a drone?

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What is a Drone?

Technically speaking, the terms Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) are the proper terms for describing a “drone”. The term “drone” has become the common term that most people would call a multirotor.  Specifically, it denotes a remotely piloted vehicle that has some ability to fly autonomously; this includes fixed wing aircraft. For the purpose of this article we will focus on multirotor type aircraft. Multirotors may include tri-copters, quadcopters, hexocopters, and octocopters. There is a wide range of different motor configurations.

Check out this short video “What is a Drone” excerpt from the DARTdrones Drones 101 course on the difference between the words “drone”, “UAV”, and “UAS”.

What is a Drone Transmitter?

The “transmitter” is the controller that the operator uses to operate the aircraft. It will typically have a left and right stick control with various other buttons and switches to control different functions. Some transmitters are programmable and assignments can be made to the sticks, buttons, and switches. One important setting is the transmitter “mode.” In the United States, mode 2 is the most common. This assigns the throttle and yaw control to the left stick, and pitch and roll to the right stick. Due to the nature of muscle memory, even a very experienced pilot may crash when the aircraft does not respond as expected if the mode is unknowingly changed to one they are not familiar with. Review your owners manual for specifics that apply to your transmitter operation and settings.

A set of decals for your transmitter can make remembering the controls easier. Photo by: DARTdrones Flight Instructor, M. Uleski

What is a Drone Flight Controller?

The Flight Controller is the brain of the drone. It can also sometimes be called an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The flight controller houses the sensitive gyroscopes, accelerometers, and barometric pressure sensors that the aircraft uses to maintain stable flight. They also may receive information from a GPS antenna,  compass sensor, and positioning sensors. The flight controller communicates with the receiver that takes commands from the operator using the transmitter. This allows the aircraft to respond to the operator’s input, but also to maintain stability by reacting to the provided sensor data. Some flight controllers have functions that can be programmed by the operator to change the flight behavior.

For additional information on basic flight controls, check out our short video tutorial here:

What do Drone Motors do?

Motors can either be brushed or brushless. Most larger drones will have brushless motors as they provide more power for their size and weight than brushed motors. Brushless motors last longer as they do not have brushes that cause friction and wear out. Brushless motors also respond faster to both operator and flight controller inputs, providing for a more stable drone.

What is a UAS Electronic Speed Controller (ESC)?

ESCs are found on drones with brushless motors. The ESC sends a signal from the flight controller to the motors to control the speed that they turn. This signal may come from either the flight controller sensors, operator input, or a combination of both. ESC’s do get warm during operation so it is very important to make sure the cooling vents on your drone remain clear of debris. A hot ESC is an unhappy ESC that can fail while in flight.

What do sUAS Propellers do?

Multirotors use a combination of propellers that are designed to rotate in opposite directions. Typically the motors will only allow the correct rotation propeller to be installed. But be familiar with the direction that each motor is supposed to turn in the event of a manufacturing defect. If the motor and propeller are correct they are designed to be self tightening. If the propeller is not a quick-connect type, hand tighten only until snug, unless the manufacturer suggests something different. Also use only the propellers that are recommended by the manufacturer. Aftermarket propellers may be available and offer different performance, but a propeller that is not appropriate for your drone can cause a motor or ESC to overheat and fail. Always check your propellers for cracks, nicks, bends, or stress marks prior to installing them on the aircraft. If a propeller is questionable, replace it immediately.

What is a Drone Camera and Gimbal?

Most drones today are designed to carry a camera. For more serious photography and videography, the camera is attached to a stabilizing gimbal mount. Gimbals can be designed as having one, two, or three axes of stabilization. The gimbal is composed of two parts, one is attached directly to the aircraft. This is usually two plates with rubber isolators that reduces vibration from the aircraft itself. The second part is comprised of the brushless motors that are controlled by gyroscopes and accelerometers, similar to those found with the flight controller. The gimbal motors use these sensors to keep the camera in a fixed position, even when the aircraft is maneuvering. The gimbal and camera are precisely balanced and can be fragile, care should be taken to protect them while traveling, or during takeoff and landing.

How Long Can a Drone Fly?

Most batteries for today’s drones will be lithium polymer, or more commonly called a “LIPO.” These batteries have a very high energy density for their weight. You will hear several terms used with batteries including the cell number, capacity, and “C rating.” The cell number designates the voltage. A single LIPO cell is 3.7 volts and will be designated as a 1S battery. A 2S battery will be 7.4 volts, 3S 11.8 volts, and so on. The battery capacity is expressed in milliamp hour (mah), such as 3000 mah. The larger the number, the more capacity, or “fuel”, the battery has available. The “C rating” designates how fast the battery can discharge. This is important as making a battery discharge beyond its ability causes an extreme amount of heat and can damage the battery or your drone. Be familiar with the battery that your drone requires. For ease of use, most companies have developed proprietary batteries that will only fit in a few specific models. Always inspect your battery for damage and puffing prior to use and only recharge using the manufacturers recommended charging equipment.

What is a Drone Firmware Update?

Last, but not least, is the firmware for your drone. Some drones allow the operator to update the firmware that the drone uses when the manufacturer releases a new version. The new firmware may fix issues with the previous version, make improvements, and add additional features to the drone. If the manufacturer of your drone releases firmware updates make sure that they are uploaded and your drone is current prior to flying.

For more on Key Terms to know to learn how to fly a drone, check out this DARTdrones short video:

Now you have an idea of the basic components of your drone. Be sure to review the owner’s manual for additional information and recommendations for the make and model that you are going to fly. We hoped this article helped the next time someone asks you “What is a Drone?”

About the Author

Mike Uleski is a DARTdrones Flight Instructor based out of Daytona Beach, Florida. Michael has been an aviation enthusiast from a very young age. He earned his private pilot’s license before graduating high school at the age of 18. Michael continued his education at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Sciences, and a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for instrument flight, single engine, and multi-engine aircraft. He enjoyed working in the aviation industry for 7 years as a research and development project manager, designing products for aftermarket aircraft upgrades. He has extensive experience, both flying and maintaining, general and business aviation aircraft. Additionally, he has over 17 years of experience building and flying remote controlled aircraft, including fixed wing, helicopters, and multi-rotors. Currently, Michael is a patrol division Sergeant with a public safety department in the Daytona Beach area, and is cross trained as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, and EMT. He is very enthusiastic about the development of UAS technology and future uses for public safety.

About DARTdrones

DARTdrones is the national leader in drone training with the best flight instructors in the industry. We offer classes both online and in-person throughout the country. All of our flight instructors are manned aircraft pilots and certified drone pilots. Our team of experts include FAA Certified Flight Instructors, military veterans, Blackhawk helicopter pilots, commercial airline pilots, and a curriculum developer of one of the Navy’s drone programs. Our classes include:

• Part 107 Test Prep – Learn to pass the FAA’s Part 107 Airman Knowledge Exam with our in-person or online Part 107 Test Prep Course.
• Drone Pilot Training – Learn to fly your DJI Phantom or Inspire in this hands on flight training class.
• Starting a Drone Business Under Part 107 –  Learn the ins and outs of starting your own drone business including Developing Your Drone Business Strategy, Finding Customers, Business Operations, Legal Considerations and Liabilities, and Drone Insurance.
• Custom Training – Our expert can come to your group for custom training. We train corporate groups, small team, police departments, fire departments, and government entities.

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The word “drone” that we are all familiar with today has a deep history that many people are not aware of. In old English, the word drone referred to the male honeybee, whose only role is to mate with the queen. They are seen as “idlers”, because they do not gather nectar or pollen, and by the 16^th century, the word “drone” also referred to lazy people.

Types of Bees

Then in the 1930s, the first recoverable and reusable radio-controlled aircraft was created. The Royal Navy needed something to practice shooting in the air, so they created “the Queen Bee”.

More than 400 of these remote-controlled aircrafts were created and used for the Royal Navy in the 1930s and 1940s. In the late 1930s, the United States created a drone that was radio-controlled.

After the Second World War, the U.S. created the Firebee, a new drone that would be used for target practice while in the air and on the ground. Used as a target drone in the 60s, the Firebee later started to evolve and eventually became used for exploring and gathering information.

Gizmodo

Drones primarily started as strictly military vehicles and were not used widely by civilians, mainly because of the cost of the technology. Today the technology is much more advanced and readily available to civilians for recreational use.

In the past few years, with the surge of consumer drones hitting the market, drones have been making the news. There are many people using them properly for great applications.

Drones have come a long way and have many great, even lifesaving applications if used properly. Drones can help fight fires and crime, help farmers improve their crops yield, and even deliver much needed medicine to rural locations.

https://dronewars.net/2014/10/06/rise-of-the-reapers-a-brief-history-of-drones/

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Drone is the most popular synonym for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aerial system (UAS), but what is the difference between the two? The media always sticks to “drone” because they know it will catch the eye of the viewer no matter what they know about UAVs and UASs. Drone and UAV are much more popular than UAS because the media rarely explains the difference between the two.

Source: UAS TAAC

UAV and UAS are two very different things. The definition of drone and UAV are very similar; however, some may argue that a UAV is more advanced than a drone that is specifically used for shooting video.

The UAV community does not seem to like the use of the term “drone” to describe the UAVs being sold to the general public. The media took a term that was once very complicated and turned it into a general term that refers to a simple flying vehicle. A more specific term for the boom in recreational drones would be quadcopter. It describes the actual type of UAV and UAS and does not leave the reader wondering if it is a vehicle that only shoots video or is capable of dropping a bomb.

The government wants the use of “drone” and “UAV” to be replaced with UAS. UAS is an all encompassing term for everything that makes a drone/UAV operate: the ground control station with pilot, communications, support equipment etc. Usually the term is only used for more advanced unmanned aircraft that would normally not be called drones or used for civilian use like the one shown below.

UAV and UAS are military terms that have been adopted to fit civilian needs and this can sometimes be confusing. In a single newscast there can be a story about a drone that captured amazing footage of a flood in the Midwest and right after it another story about how a drone bombed a terrorist hot spot in the Middle East. It seems a little odd that the same word is being used for two very different vehicles.

This is why it is important for people to understand the difference between a UAV/drone and a UAS. Unmanned aerial system is much more complex and advanced than a UAV/drone; however, all three terms can be used in relation with each other no matter how advanced the drone. This is why it is so confusing.

What do you think the term for aerial vehicles should be? Should the FAA come out with more specific terms for vehicles like this now that they are so popular? It only seems logical that a term or word would be adopted to fit the new vehicles that are buzzing around the United States. If there is not a new term, there is going to be a lot of confusion with how fast the drone industry is growing.

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1. What Is a Drone? 

A drone can be anything from a paper airplane to a multi-million dollar military drone. Today, the drones that are getting a lot of press are the small consumer quadcopters.

The FAA defines the drone as an aerial vehicle with pre-programmed automation that renders its flight predictable.

2. What is a UAV or UAS?

A UAV is an “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle”. A UAS is an “Unmanned Aerial System”. Both terms are used interchangeably with the word “drone”.

An UAS is the unmanned aircraft (UA) and all of the associated support equipment, control station, data links, telemetry, communications and navigation equipment, etc., necessary to operate the unmanned aircraft.  It also includes the pilot.

A UAV is the drone itself.  Used interchangeably with UA, UAS, and drone.

An Unmanned aircraft (UA).  Flies without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft.  The UA is the flying portion of the system, flown by a pilot via a ground control system, or autonomously through use of an on-board computer, communication links and any additional equipment that is necessary for the UA to operate safely.

3. What is a sUAS?

A sUAS is a small UAS.  It is defined as being less than 55lbs in weight.

4. What are the best know drone quadcopters?

The best known quadcopters today are the DJI (a Chinese manufacturing company) Phantom and DJI Inspire. DJI currently controls over 60% of the market. Companies like 3D Robotics, Horizon and Yuneec are gaining in popularity. Even GoPro has announced that they will soon compete in this space.

DJI Phantom 3

5. Do I need insurance on my drone?

If you are flying as a hobbyist, we recommend that you become a member of the AMA (the Academy of Model Aeronautics). If you are a business using drones, it obviously makes sense to protect yourself. A few leading insurance companies have started offering drone insurance. You can expect to spend $500-$1200 for a year of liability insurance on a Phantom or Inspire.

6. How should I respond to people watching me fly my drone?

The key to responding to onlookers is knowing the rules and regulations. Don’t become combative or unruly. It is prudent to have a note or something that you can show to someone that lets them know you know what you are doing.  This will allow you to focus on flying and allow them to know that you know the rules.

If you are flying commercially you should already have a NOTAM filed and should have deconflicted the airspace. You need to have your decision and COA on hand because they can be requested by law enforcement and the FAA.  

If you are flying as a hobby again you should know the rules. You should be operating under a community based set of rules and it helps if you have them on hand the AMA has their Academy of Model Aeronautics National Model Aircraft Safety Code.  This is a good example to follow.  The FAA has issued AC 91-57A Model Aircraft Operating Standards.  This circular provides guidance to operators of unmanned aerial systems used for hobby or recreational purposes.

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