History of Drones

A few decades ago, drones were primarily made to serve in war, but over the last years, we see drones being used for entertainment and educational purposes. From parcel delivery to photography and filming, drones are being used all around the world.

Furthermore, we can see drones being used to measure temperature and climate changes. In the recent article published by Energy Live News, Scientists from the Imperial College London have developed drones that shoot sensor-containing darts to monitor the environmental impact of climate change on forests.

Government bodies are also using drones for rescue operations in areas that have natural disasters in the form of quadcopters and octocopters.

Drone's actual definition is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is remotely operated.

The history of drones begins from 1849 during a war between Austria and the Republic of Venice when Austria used balloons that were loaded with explosives. The Austrian army stuffed nearly 200 balloons with explosive material, each weighing around 13 kilograms. And the gunmen started shooting those balloons when they were above their targeted spots. This concept of war remained in practice for many years, and many nations adopted this as their warcraft. This war was the earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting, according to Wikipedia.

This concept of drones being used during war gained popularity, the army could acquire more territory of the enemy without having any casualties of their own. And over time, drones also evolved with technology, and balloons were replaced with electronic guided devices that automatically dropped the explosive material on their targets.

In 1907, two scientists, named Louis Breguet and Jacques, laid a basis for helicopters with the help of Professor Charles Richet. This team made the prototype of the Gyroplane.

The design of the Gyroplane was visionary, but it could take a flight of a few feet only and that too with the help of four operators or pilots. More research and development processes were needed to make it a useful product.

This Gyroplane evolved as a helicopter. And later on, there was a need created for the unmanned helicopter, and that is now called a drone.

Those military-purpose drones were either pre-programmed drones serving a static and pre-programmed task, or they were remotely being monitored and operated by the operator to perform different tasks dynamically.

Much has changed from these harsh times. Drones can be purchased online by anyone, they are used to take great pictures and videos. Many people use drones for commercial purpose, to become an aerial Photographer o Videographer.