There are different ways
that civilians can make use of UAVs. Some people use UAVs to take pictures or
videos of the things they are doing or the sights they are seeing. Other people
use them for fun and just like to fly the UAV. Other ways that UAVs have been
used are for hurricane hunting, helping protect wildlife, and even search and
rescue. “Drones can charge
into the heart of a storm without risking human life and limb. That's one
reason NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and
Northrop Grumman teamed up on a three-year,
$30 million experiment to use
long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to spy on storms as they evolve” (Handwerk, 2013) . This is to help
study hurricanes more and come up with some data to try to help predict the
powers that hurricanes can and will have. For the wildlife protection, they
help with keeping track of certain wildlife and their population using UAV
which is a lot less in cost and it save times. They figure out where these
animals live and can try to protect those areas from being destroyed so these
wildlife species can have a home. For search and rescue, UAV can be used to
help locate people who may be missing a lot faster and more efficient. “An
injured victim of an automobile accident in Saskatchewan, Canada, in May 2013
may have been the first person to have his life saved by a search-and-rescue drone. A Dragan Flyer X4-ES drone with
heat-sensing equipment, launched by the Mounties, found the victim before a
potentially fatal night outdoors in subfreezing temperatures” (Handwerk, 2013) . This was used
because they could not find this person after using people on the ground and a
helicopter that was using night vision. These UAVs can help cover more ground
in a lot less time, but it would help to make sure whoever is flying the UAV is
someone who knows how to fly one and knows the area pretty well. There are
several other ways that UAVs are being used for civilian purposes. “Potential
drove applications are unlimited, from law enforcement, to agriculture,
construction, and infrastructure inspection. In Europe, the use of drones is
increasing for several civilian purposes, including traffic management, crop
monitoring, and news reporting” (Paganini, 2015) .
The FAA has proposed some
regulations that people who want to use UAVs for civilian use would have to
follow. “Operators can fly drones that weigh
less than 55 pounds, beneath an altitude of 500 feet, outside of flight paths,
not near airports and not faster than 100 mph. Most importantly, the operator
has to keep their drone within line of sight” (Tucker, 2015) . In addition to these, those who want
to operate an UAV would have to be seventeen years or older and receive an
operator certificate. For those that would like to use drones for photography,
the FAA has thought about having separate rules for smaller UAVs. “The FAA has said
that the agency is open to slightly different rules for micro-UAVs, drones
beneath 4.4 pounds, which would allow for even greater use of drones for
photography potentially beyond line of sight” (Tucker, 2015) . This could increase the use of UAVs if it makes it easier for people
to use these for photography reasons.
I do see
UAVs integrating into the NAS because it has become such a popular topic and I feel
as if there are too many people who want to use them that the FAA cannot stop
them, so they might as well try to regulate them. I think that there will be
people who will be using them for business purposes such as agriculture or law
enforcement or even just for personal use to take pictures or videos. I think
that this could be beneficial for some businesses, but there needs to be some
type of way to make sure these businesses are using them for good reasons. A
lot of the issues that come into play with the UAV are the security and privacy
of people or misuse especially after the UAV that crashed onto the White House
property. “The principal issues that need to be urgently addressed are flight
authorization, privacy and data protection control, liability, and insurance” (Paganini, 2015) . I do think these are issues that need to be
addressed as soon as possible because this is for the safety of not only those
who operate the UAVs, but the companies they may work for or the community
itself. A big problem is that there will probably be a lot of people who may
use these drones for reasons they shouldn’t or may be someone who may not know
how to properly use one and causes damage to something or can get in trouble
for not following regulations.
The military has a variety of UAVs that serve a wide range of purposes. “They range from large vehicles that can carry offensive weapons to a miniature system whose components are light and compact enough to be carried in a Marine’s backpack”
I did a
search for UAV civilian jobs and there were a lot of jobs that came up that
ranged from pilots to instructors to a systems specialist on Indeed.com. (http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Uav+Operator&start=10)
One that seemed really interesting was the UAV Systems Specialist. Part of the
responsibilities are “responsible for researching, analyzing, developing and documenting
detailed requirements for operator, maintenance, and troubleshooting
procedures, checklists, technical specifications, alert bulletins, training
materials and other procedures and reports” (UAV Systems Specialist, 2016) . I think that with
the use of UAVs expanding, there will be many more jobs that come with this.
There will be people that work in making sure that people are following
regulations, people who need to take action for those that do not follow the
rules, and people to issue any certification that may be required. There could
also be a need for pilots for certain companies and people to train these
pilots properly.
References
Drones:
What Are They And How Do They Work?
(2012, January 31). Retrieved from BBC News:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-10713898
Handwerk, B. (2013, December 2). 5 Surprising
Drone Uses (Besides Amazon Delivery. Retrieved from National Geographic:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131202-drone-uav-uas-amazon-octocopter-bezos-science-aircraft-unmanned-robot/
Military UAS Applications. (2016). Retrieved from
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association : https://www.uavs.org/military
Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). (n.d.). Retrieved from
Smithsonian National AIr and Space Museum :
https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/uav/
Paganini, P. (2015, March 31). Why Civilian Drone
Use Is A Risky Business. Retrieved from Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/03/31/why-civilian-drone-use-is-risky-business.html
Tucker, P. (2015, February 15). Here Come the
Drones: FAA Announces Civilian Rules. Retrieved from Defense One:
http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/02/here-come-drones-faa-announces-civilian-rules/105375/
UAV Systems Specialist. (2016, February 2).
Retrieved from General Atomic and Affiliated Companies:
https://www.ga-careers.com/job/-/-/499/1405502?apstr=%26codes%3DIIND