History of Drones
Although Drones may seem relatively new, they have been around for many years, 113 to be exact. Let's take a look at the development of drones and how they have become a revolution in the modern world and what lies in store for the future.
1907: The world’s first quadcopter was created by inventor brothers Jacques and Louis Bréguet, working with controversial Nobel Prize winner Professor Charles Richet. While undoubtedly exciting, it had some big limitations: being unsteerable, requiring four men to steady it, and — in its first flight — lifting just two feet off the ground |
| Image of the first drone |
Ten years later saw the first military drone created by the Royal Air Force (RAF)
1917: The Ruston Proctor Aerial Target became the first pilotless winged aircraft in history. It was a radio-controlled pilotless airplane, based on RC technology from the inventor Nikola Tesla. The goal of the Aerial Target was for it to act as a flying bomb, which could be piloted into enemies.
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| Three British RAF officers operating RPAT |
The next big development didn't arrive until the 1960's with the RC Plane Boom
1960s: Breakthroughs in transistor technology meant that, for the first time, miniaturised radio-controlled components were available to customers at a reasonable cost. What followed was a popularity boom in RC planes in the U.S. Mostly coming in kit form, these RC planes offered everything from indoor-flyable models to much larger outdoor models.
First armed droned strike - Kills innocent man
In the aftermath of 9/11, the CIA began flying armed drones over Afghanistan as part of the war against the Taliban. The first CIA drone-based kill operation took place in February 2002, when an unmanned Predator drone was used to target a suspect thought to be Osama bin Laden. However, it turned out to be an innocent man named Daraz Khan who was out collecting scrap metal. Instances such as this began concerns about the use of drones in warfare, which continues to rage today.
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| Members of a community attend Khan's Funeral |
2010 - Modern Drone
French company Parrot released their Parrot AR Drone, the first ready-to-fly drone which can be controlled entirely via Wi-Fi, using a smartphone. The drone was almost immediately successful, both critically and commercially, receiving the 2010 CES Innovations award for Electronic Gaming Hardware, and selling upwards of half a million units. The company’s AR Drone 2.0 further improved on the formula with an easier piloting system, making it easier for newcomers to pick-up-and-play.
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| Parrot AR Drone |
2016 - Drones get smarter
Already one of the best drone makers on the marketplace, DJI’s Phantom 4 introduced smart computer vision and machine learning technology. This allowed it to avoid obstacles and intelligently track (and photograph) people, animals, or objects — rather than being limited to following a GPS signal. The resulting UAV was a major milestone for drone photography and consumer drones in general. (Dormhel, 2018)
Image of Phantom 4
2019 - Food Delivery
In late 2019, the Drone industry reached unprecedented ground when Manna a Drone delivery service announced it teamed up with Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Camile Thai for its new drone food delivery service.
The world's first aviation-grade drone delivery "as-a-service" platform began its operations in University College Dublin, via food ordering and delivery platform Just Eat.
Manna said it will deliver to a large customer base with a sub three-minute delivery promise from vendor to customer. (RTE, 2019)
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Image of Phantom 4
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