Unmanned Vehicles 101

"To the United States, a drone strike seems to have very little risk and very little pain. At the receiving end, it feels like war. Americans have got to understand that. If we were to use our technological capabilities carelessly - I don't think we do, but there's always the danger that you will - then we should not be upset when someone responds with their equivalent, which is a suicide bomb in Central Park, because that's what they can respond with." - Retired General Stanley McChrystal, 2/15/13

Unmanned vehicles, commonly referred to as drones, have tremendous implications for the future on both personal and global levels which will be discussed in great detail in future posts. This post is simply meant to inform the reader of the general types of unmanned devices available today so that future discussions of drone technologies can be better informed.

What is a "drone"?
A drone is any unmanned vehicle that operates either on its own or from a remote control. The easiest way to think about drones is by comparing them to RC cars and helicopters. In essence, these are drones. What separates drones from RC cars, etc. is quite thin; if one were to attach a camera to an RC helicopter, you'd have the equivalent of the DARPA-created "Hummingbird Drone."

This is actually a flying video camera called "Hawk Eye" designed for children ages 8+. It is manufactured by "Air Hogs" and sells for under $70.

This is the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's "Hummingbird Drone." It is very similar to the "Hawk Eye" seen above, yet it cost this government agency roughly $4 million to develop. It was created in conjunction with AeroVironment (AVAV).

Unmanned vehicles can be flown with a wide variety of controllers, ranging from smartphones and tablets to large computer setups and full scale cockpit simulators. Depending on altitude, distance, speed, environmental conditions, and a number of other factors, piloting drones can range from being simple enough for a child to fly to as complex as piloting a fighter jet or submarine. This reflects the true nature of modern drones, as being devices that remove human pilots from the cockpit but do not fully remove human pilots from operation or decision making. There are some unmanned vehicles that are truly 'drones' without any human piloting (i.e. a Roomba vacuum cleaner) but the vast majority of those used today, and all of those referenced in media reports about 'drone strikes', are not fully autonomous vehicles. "Drones" can be broken up into a few general categories (with exceptions that will be mentioned later). The three main categories can be most simply broken down into land, sea, and air.

Unmanned Ground Vehicles

UGVs, or unmanned ground vehicles, are like the RC car in our example. These vehicles usually have wheels or treads and can vary tremendously in size, from the size of a shoe to the size of a tank.

The "Talon" UGV is a bomb-defusing drone. The operator uses a remote controller to move the arm of the robot to defuse the bomb. Bomb-defusing drones have saved lives in modern warfare where terrorists leave improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in public areas. 

Three UGVs that have gained a great deal of public attention recently are Cheetah, Big Dog, and Petman. All three are manufactured by Boston Dynamics, recently acquired by Google.

This video demonstrates the acceleration capabilities of Cheetah, a robotic quadraped that can reach up to 28.3 mph. 

Big Dog is an incredibly steady quadrapedal UGV. It is unique in that it walks on four legs and has an amazing sense of balance. It weighs 240 lbs, is 2.5 feet tall, and 3 feet long. It can move at 4mph, and carry 340 lbs.

This video demonstrates Boston Dynamic's progress in manufacturing human-like unmanned devices. Nicknamed "Petman", it demonstrates the potential for humanoid robots in the very near future.

The nature of UGVs is rapidly changing, and future posts will illuminate the ways in which these systems can manage without human assistance as well as enable human controllers in a variety of situations.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned aerial vehicles are what are most commonly referred to as 'drones.' A UAV is any flying device which operates without a human pilot in the cockpit of the device. Thus, even the commercially available flying toys could be technically counted as UAVs. UAVs, like UGVs, vary tremendously in size and can be divided into 'planes', 'helicopters', and 'blimps.' 

The QF - 16, an unmanned F-16 fighter jet developed by Boeing, undergoes test flights without a pilot in the cockpit.

The Northrop-Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV helicopter has been utilized by the US Navy since 2002. It weighs about one ton, is 24 feet long, has infrared optics, and can carry almost a thousand pounds of payload.

This unmanned airship, the 71M Aerostat Test Balloon, took off in 1996 and was able to track aircraft and cruise missile up to 150 nautical miles away. Since then, China, Israel, and many other nations have developed their own 'spy blimps'. The US is currently manufacturing a blimp that can lift over 500 tons of payload in conjunction with Northrop-Grumman.

Quadcopters have most recently been in the news because of Jeff Bezos's claim that Amazon Prime would begin delivering via quadcopter in the near future. Other companies, such as Dominos, have also suggested the use of quadcopter for fast delivery. Quadcopters can be purchased online or built with hobby kits for only a few hundred dollars, and have GPS navigation capabilities. They can be flown via smartphones, tablets, computers, and a variety of handheld controllers. These devices will be explored in much greater detail in the following posts.

Many contracting companies have taken to exploring handheld planes that can be operated in the field by military and police personnel. These devices come in a few separated pieces, are put together and then thrown when the motors are operational. They can then be flown via smartphone, tablet, computer, or alternate controller.

Unmanned Surface Vehicles/ Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Both unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are aquatic 'drones', the main difference being that unmanned surface vehicles are boats and UUVs are submarines.

An example of a USV, called the "Stingray" by its creators at Elbit Systems. It has a top speed of 40 knots and an endurance (ability to be away from charge station) of eight hours.

There are a vast number of types of UUVs, the above image a product of Lockheed Martin. Others can be seen at the Autonomous Undersea Vehicles Application Center (AUVAC) website.

Beyond Land, Sea, and Air

The most commonly known drone outside of the land, sea, and air categories are space exploration devices. These 'rovers' are in the same family as our 'Earth' drones, but operate at vast distances (i.e. other planets!) and in incredibly harsh conditions. Due to the rarity of their production, the cost of their deployment, and the scientific importance of their exploration, they are far more sophisticated than common drones. They can conduct scientific observations of climate and soil samples, relaying that information from Mars back to Earth. Many of their functions are completely autonomous, while others are sent from NASA into space, sometimes with a delay of over 30 minutes.

Another area of unmanned technologies, known as nanorobotics, focuses solely on the miniaturization of robots. Scientists have already designed prototype aerial robots as small as flies, and nanorobots that can flow through the bloodstream. The National Nanotechnology Initiative encourages these developments for medical and scientific purposes.

Mars Rover "Curiosity" is one of several unmanned space exploration vehicles.

Nano quadrotors were developed at University of Pennsylvania and demonstrate the potential for miniaturization of drones in general. 

Nanomedicine is a rapidly evolving field in which microscopic robots are programmed to autonomously deliver medicine and conduct medical procedures within the human body.