(by Ing. Alessandro Tittozzi AIDR member) The term drone for most people can be traced back to a tool used for home or professional video shooting but their use can go far beyond this.
Let's start with a little curiosity: the term "drone" literally translated means "buzz", due to the noise that comes from the propellers when it is in flight.
The first appearance of a "Remotely Piloted Aircraft" took place in the military field in 1849, when the Austrians attacked the city of Venice using balloons loaded with explosives. The concept then had its evolution from 1939, during the Second World War, within the American army and, only in the course of the XNUMXs, thanks also to the versatility of these tools, did it see an expansion also in the civil field.
A drone is always composed of a frame, a flight contoller, brushless motors, propellers and of course a radio control; the more equipped versions can also include a fixed or gimbal camera system with one or two axes, lights, release systems and more.
Drones have a classification system based on the generation of lift, with fixed wing or propellers, and on their dimensions, which are the main discriminates. Based on their size and length they are categorized as: Micro drones (up to 50 cm), Mini drones (between 50 cm and 2 meters), Medium drones (over 2 meters) and Large drones (about the size of a real plane) . As for the weight, there are 3 categories: less than 250 g, between 250 g and 4 kg and over 4 kg.
To understand the universe of drones, it is important to know another fundamental distinction: Remotely Piloted Aircraft (UAV), a remotely piloted aircraft without people on board, and the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), a system consisting of an aircraft remotely piloted without people on board and related components necessary for control and command (control station) by a remote pilot.
In summary, the APR is the vehicle (i.e. the drone), the SAPR is the set of the vehicle (i.e. the drone) + the radio control used by a remote pilot. Professional operators always use an RPAS. On the contrary, it is not always said that recreational operators use an SAPR, because there are many models on the market that can be piloted simply via an application on the smartphone or even with simple hand gestures. So it could be said that a drone without a remote control is an APR. It is for this reason that we talk about UAV pilots for professional or recreational use, while SAPR pilots only for professionals.
In addition to this categorization, the context (operations) in which you want to fly the drone must be taken into consideration, remembering that all operations must be conducted in VLOS (Visual Line Of Sight) that is the visual flight condition. In this case the operations are distinguished between:
- NON-CRITICAL: which entail limitations including the ban on flights in urban centers, roads, sensitive infrastructures, overflight of people, ban on flights in the areas of ATZ airport competence for a radius of 8 kilometers;
- CRITICAL OPERATIONS: those professional operations for which many of the limitations of critical operations are removed or reduced, while the absolute ban on flying in airport areas always remains.
In both cases, for both critical and non-critical operations, it is not possible to fly at night and in rain.
As for the conduction, without going into too much detail, it is useful to know that a drone weighing more than 250g needs a certificate issued by the ENAC for Drone pilot, both for its hobby and professional use. In common parlance the term "certificate" is often replaced by "license", but whatever the term used, this document must be issued by ENAC (National Civil Aviation Authority), which defines and monitors the rules of flight in Italy, through a drone pilot course. The certificates are then divided by levels, from the Base - which can be carried out online and allows you to fly drones in non-critical contexts - to the Certificate of Competence - for critical specialized operations.
However, the regulatory context is evolving at the moment due to the introduction of the European regulation which will be applied from 1 January 2021 in every EU country. The EU will grant a two-year transition period for Member States to adapt. The most impactful news concerns the fact that there will no longer be a distinction between professional drones and playful drones, but the difference will be based on the type of operations for which the SAPR aircraft will be used.
A last fundamental step to be able to fly a drone is to equip it with insurance. This legal obligation is given to both professional and amateur pilots, obviously with a categorization based on the type of drone and its use.
Failure to possess compulsory insurance entails a fine ranging from € 56.000 to € 113.000, while for the violation of some rules of the navigation code (Article 122) you risk arrest for up to 6 months and a fine of € 516. and if you operate in a context such as critical areas without the necessary authorizations, the penalties can reach up to € 64.000.
This information does not want to scare current or future pilots but they want to generate the necessary awareness when buying a drone.
To date, the professional use of drones focuses mainly on the possibility of flying carrying various types of objects. This use is particularly useful for: video or photographic shooting, thermography, topography, geology, architecture, engineering, urban planning, photogrammetry, 3D surveys, inspections in critical areas, surveillance, search and rescue and transport of objects.
In a prospective vision of business and the evolution of the use of drones, the scenarios that open up are very broad.
The sector that is quickly preparing for an evolution, even if it will take a few more years before it becomes a reality, is that of shipments by drone; however, it must be borne in mind that transport and delivery operations must follow predefined routes and use pre-established landing sites. In this context, Amazon, which has become the third American company to receive authorization from the Federal Administration Aviation for deliveries via drone, together with Alphabet (Google) and UPS, will be able to launch the drone service on an experimental basis in the US skies. -postino, who will fly at low altitude remotely controlled from an Amazon Prime Air plant. This use will certainly require an update of all the legislation but it remains an evolution from which we can expect very important impacts.
The evolution in terms of use, in my opinion, the most interesting, remaining in the context of a civil use, not taking into account the military one, is the use of drones in contexts in which the use of human capital is subject to high risks or in contexts / emergency situations.
If the opportunities for the use of drones are already very numerous, even greater are the possibilities being tested such as, for example, use as an aid for firefighters with hydrant system, for rescue at sea, swarms of drones. for emergency coverage of cellular networks in case of disasters and for the construction of mobile infrastructures, eg. a Tibetan bridge, for the delivery of basic necessities in case of catastrophe or the transport of emergency hospital organs.
In conclusion, the development of artificial intelligence applied to this sector is the real strategic key for expanding the opportunities for using these means. To date, only in the amateur field, a drone can follow a subject, avoid obstacles autonomously during the pursuit, return to the base if the estimate of the charge to cover the return path is compromised or land in an emergency, recognize the gestures of the operator's hand for conducting the flight itself and, last but not least, compensating for wind conditions to maintain position. The future potential of this technology borders on infinity: it will certainly be exciting to be part of it.