The use of
drones for commercial purposes is not yet widespread. However, many companies are now considering
how drone aircraft could be used to better their services.
Jeff Bezos,
CEO of Amazon, has stated that Amazon is working on a new delivery system
(known as Prime Air) which would allow for packages to be delivered by unmanned
aerial vehicles. Amazon (2014) states
that the goal of the new delivery system is to get packages into customers’
hands in 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles.
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| Picture 7. A drone helicopter controlled by remote |
Likewise,
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has published a paper titled “Connecting the
World from the Sky”. His paper explains
that Facebook is developing large – but inexpensive – solar powered drones that
would be able to remain airborne for years at a time. These drones would supply free internet
access to anyone with a wireless device, the end goal being internet
availability for everyone in the world, no matter where they are.
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| Picture 8. A common remote control |
Commercial
drones are also being used for recreational purposes. As Merchant (2014) explains, “there’s clearly
a drone craze on, and while it’s still primarily the province of hobbyist tech
enthusiasts, the degree to which companies strive to innovate or simply be
associated with drones is only expanding” (para. 8).
Woods (2014) states that in the US, and internationally, the use of recreational drones is still mostly an unregulated affair although things can’t be expected to stay that way indefinitely. Instead, with their growing popularity, it locals like drone use will be regulated in the near future, although it is likely that hobbyist use will remain fine, subject to a few common sense rules (e.g. areas and time of day in which drones may be used).
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| Picture 9. A drone on a package |
