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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles –


an Introduction
An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (a UAV) is an
aircraft with no onboard pilot.

A UAV may be as small as a simple model


aircraft or large like the WK450, the air
vehicle for the UK armed forces' Watchkeeper
programme, which has a wingspan of over
10 metres.

Guided weapons, such as Cruise missiles


could also be regarded as UAVs but in a
special category of their own.
The UK Armed Forces' WK450 UAV carries a range of sensors
including day and night cameras and surveillance radar.
Photo courtesy of Thales Group Most UAVs, or Drones as they are sometimes
called, are piloted by a controller on the
ground. However, advances in technology
The US Air Forces'
Global Hawk UAV has are now aiming to allow UAVs to fly
flown more than 50
missions and 1000
autonomously, i.e. to fly by themselves, in
combat hours to date, response to mission objectives.
providing surveillance
and reconnaissance
images.
Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce At one time, UAVs were simply used as
targets and decoys. Today, the full potential
of UAVs is being realised by equipping them
with a variety of sensors such as cameras
and thermal imaging equipment. These
sensors can pass many kinds of information
back to the ground, for example to assist
humanitarian and environmental monitoring.

Global Hawk being towed before The Jindivik UAV made its
take off. first UK flight in 1960 and
Photo courtesy of NASA was used as an aerial
weapon target.
Photo courtesy of Rolls-Royce

A Channon AIS Nitro Hawk General Atomics Altair UAV


vertical take off and landing UAV carries a high tech infra-red
being flown at the Parc Aberporth imaging sensor, and aided
UAV facility. fire fighters to tackle wildfires
Photo courtesy of IESSG in late 2006.
Photo courtesy of NASA
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The History of Unmanned Flight

Unmanned flight is nothing new! As long


ago as 1849, the Austrians used unmanned
balloons to drop explosives on Venice.

By 1916 aeroplanes were the new big thing


and the first unmanned planes were being
built. The Automatic Airplane - designed as
a flying bomb - was built during WW1 by
the Americans Hewitt and Sperry.

By the 1930's radio controlled aeroplanes


were being developed in the UK for use as
On 22 August 1849, the Austrians, who controlled much of Italy at target practice. The Queen Bee remotely
this time, launched some 200 pilotless balloons against the city of
Venice. The balloons were armed with bombs controlled by timed fuses. controlled drone was adapted from the
DH82 Tiger Moth, and first flew on 26
October 1931. The name 'Queen Bee' is
said to have been the origin of the term
Drone.

Drones were used during WWII to collect


The Hewitt and Sperry Automatic Plane Project (above left) was
undertaken to develop an aerial torpedo, a pilotless aircraft capable of
reconnaissance data and act as targets for
carrying explosives to its target. It was the forerunner of todays UAVs. training. The US manufactured more than
Photo courtesy of www.ctie.monash.edu.au

The Kettering Bug (above right) was an aerial torpedo. It was capable 15,000 of them.
of striking ground targets up to 75 miles (120 km) from its launch point.
Photo courtesy of www.ctie.monash.edu.au

The early success of pilotless aircraft led to the development


of radio controlled aircraft in the 1930s, such as the
de Havilland 83 Tiger Moth, known as the Queen Bee.
Photo courtesy of Brian Kern
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The History of Unmanned Flight

During the 60s and 70s, UAVs were mainly


developed for spying on Vietnam, China
and North Korea.

Reconnaissance tasks call for the longest


possible flying times, and by the late 1990's
the first UAV able to cross the North Atlantic
was built. The Aerosonde Laima took just
over 26 hours to complete the crossing.

During the present century UAVs are playing


a greater part in everyday life.

Since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in


August 2005, UAVs have been allowed
within US civil airspace in the search for
The Aerosonde is a small unmanned UAV designed to fly over
oceans to collect weather data. On 21 August 1998, a survivors of disasters.
phase 1 Aerosonde, nick named 'Laima', completed the 2031
mile journey over the Atlantic Ocean.
Photos courtesy of AAI Corporation
The UK's first police remote control helicopter
has recently been on trial and it will be
used to tackle anti-social behaviour and
monitor traffic congestion. The machine is
1 metre wide, weighs less than 1 kg, and
can record images from a height of 500
metres.

PC Derek Charlton of Merseyside Police operates their new


aerial surveillance drone in Liverpool.
Photo PA Photos
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UAVs Today - Earth Watchers

UAVs have long been used in war zones


and are currently being deployed in Iraq
and Afghanistan. However, UAVs are being
used increasingly in a civilian world that
relies on keeping a remote eye on what's
happening.

Many nations are using UAVs for tasks in


environments where it is too costly or too
dangerous to send manned aircraft.
Satellites are suitable for most earth
observation tasks, but they are more
The US Air Force MQ-1 Predator UAV makes its final approach
to Indian Springs Auxiliary Field in Nevada.
expensive to run and less flexible than UAVs
Photo PA Photos
as satellites have to continue travelling
in orbit.

UAVs are ideally suited to applications


which are:
Dull - Long term surveillance, such as border
patrols, drugs trafficking, weather
monitoring.
Dirty - monitoring contaminated regions
after a disaster such as Chernobyl.
Dangerous - Following criminals, monitoring
hostage situations whilst minimising the
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Troy Sella launches SkySear,
an autonomous drone aircraft used for surveillance and risk to human life.
reconnaissance for military and law enforcement activities.
Photo PA Photos

The Los Angeles Sheriff's department has


been experimenting with a UAV called
SkySear for surveillance and use in rescue
operations.

The Chinese Academy of Surveying and


Mapping is using a UAV to create 3D maps
of cities - at much lower cost than satellite
surveys would entail.

Despite all these advances, there are still


many restrictions on the use of UAVs in
Digital Images, taken by the Chinese Academy of
domestic situations, to ensure public safety.
Surveying and Mapping UAVs, are being used to create
3D virtual city maps.
Photos courtesy of Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mappings
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UAVs in the UK

The UK Government is investing £16 million


to support a national programme for ensuring
the safe and effective operation of unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) in civil airspace. This
programme is called ASTRAEA,
(Autonomous Systems Technology Related
Airborne Evaluation and Assessment).

An aerial view of the national UAV centre at Parc Aberporth. A recent study suggests
Parc Aberporth in West Wales.
Photo courtesy of QinetiQ that the civil and commercial UAV market,
in Europe alone, will be worth a total of
about 1.2 billion within the next decade.
With this in mind, the national UAV centre
based at Parc Aberporth, in Ceredigion,
West Wales, will advise on all matters
relating to deployment of UAVs.

The Centre serves the needs of both UK


and international civilian and military UAV
operators. Working on their behalf, it ensures
that new UAVs can meet the necessary
technical and safety standards before their
QinetiQ's High Altitude Long Endurance UAV, Zephyr, being release for general operational use.
launched for testing at the Whitesands Missile Range, New
Mexico, USA. Zephyr works at altitudes of 18km (day) and 15km
(night), staying above commercial airlanes and most weather.
Photo courtesy of QinetiQ HALE. A High Altitude Long Endurance
(HALE) UAV called Zephyr is being
developed by the UK’s defence research
organisation, QinetiQ. At present “long
endurance” UAV missions are measured
only in hours, but the aim of Zephyr is to
keep a UAV flying for up to 3 months.
In 2001, the NASA craft Helios reached a record altitude for
a non rocket powered, winged aircraft, climbing to 29.5km. It
used an electric motor powered by solar cells on it's wings. Precise, high-quality images and data can
Photos courtesy of NASA
be sent back in under 30 minutes to a
mobile ground station. Images can then be
viewed online. Applications for civil, defence
and security matters include: mapping,
traffic management, disaster relief, fire
detection and military awareness.
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Going back to Nature

UAVs don't have to be model aircraft.


Researchers at Cranfield University at
Shrivenham are taking inspiration from
nature and developing a UAV that mimics
the flight of insects.

Using flapping wings allows the vehicle to


be small and highly manoeuvrable. These
new UAVs will be ideal for undertaking tasks
in confined spaces such as pipelines, or
they can help with the search for survivors
in disaster areas and monitoring of
contaminated areas.

Micro UAVs, which typically have a


wingspan of less than 15 cm, can be
equipped with various sensors allowing
them to retrieve information and send it
Insect like Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are small
hand held flying vehicles, that are highly manoeuvrable and
back to base. These miniature vehicles are
capable of low speed flight with a stable hover, similar to the so small they can take off and land in the
performance of insects.
Photo courtesy of Cranfield University palm of a hand.

Another idea taken from nature is using a


'swarm' of micro UAVs. Each UAV acts as
an individual unit whilst being part of a
large group, all working together. The UAVs
can communicate relevant information
between one another and can re-group
themselves when necessary.

Taking UAV Inspiration from nature.


For example, in a swarm of 100 UAVs, if
A Lacewing hovers in flight. five of them have engine failure, the rest
Photo Dalton\NHPA\PhotoShot

can share the task of collecting the required


data and completing the mission.

In a military situation, a swarm equipped


with cameras can survey and map a safe
route ahead during troop movements.
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Civilian Applications

Until recently, most work with UAVs has


been carried out with military and defence
applications in mind. The Institute of
Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy
at The University of Nottingham is now
exploiting the technology for civilian
applications.

IESSG staff are developing low-cost solutions


for a range of civilian applications including:

• Precision Farming. By monitoring crops


A Nitro Hawk UAV at Parc Aberporth, using an onboard video from the sky, yields can be optimised
camera, for surveillance and mapping.
Photo courtesy of IESSG
whilst fertiliser and pesticide usage can
be reduced.

• Environmental Monitoring. Local and


regional changes such as sea cliff erosion
and flooding can be monitored, using
the onboard UAV sensors, such as digital
cameras and videos.

The IESSG's UAV,


Navigator, is equipped with
a digital camera, has been
used to take aerial
photographs for mapping
and monitoring purposes.
Photos courtesy of IESSG
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UAVs: in the Future

Taxiing to a runway, taking off and landing


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an aircraft are all elements of air travel that
largely involve a human pilot. In the case
of UAVs, an operator is only required to
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watch the transmitted images and to
remotely control the vehicle. Research is
under way to allow aircraft of the future to
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perform all of these functions without human


interaction of any kind.
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Air vehicle autonomy is a recently emerging


field. Autonomy has been, and continues
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to be, the major sticking point for future
UAV developments, and the overall value
and rate of expansion of the future UAV
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which will be made in this area of technology.
Possible future uses of UAVs are:
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• Moving Freight
• Communications
• Crowd Monitoring
• Off-shore surveying
• Unmanned passenger jets

Can YOU think of any more?


If you can, please write your idea on a post-
it note and stick it in a panel on the left.
Thank you.

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