how drones can be good or bad for our society

Drones: how drones can be good or bad for our society

 

 

Part 4, reflection: what is there to come?

 

            In my own understanding of the world, I see it as time you should never waste. The average life expectancy is only 80 years old and so I would like to live in a world where I know life is only improving for future generations to come. With the extensive research I have conducted, I am certain our world will do better with the use of drones to further connect the world in unimaginable ways.  I do consider the fact that as soon as drone popularity rises, to be used commercially, new rules and regulations will do the same. Maybe even new job markets will arise with the popularity of drones.

            A problem I would have with the growing use of commerce drones is that drones would need to fly high enough so people like me, who enjoy the peace and quiet outdoors, can still be capable of doing so. I'm sure a good majority of people do not want to hear drones buzzing all around their house.  This problem relates to privacy too, because the cameras attached to the drones can see right over your fence and even through your window.  I don't know about you, but new laws passed will need to help with privacy concerns and the ear bleeding noise drones create. I think once the FAA implements a solid legal section for the use of drones to all states, there will be a safer integration of the use of drones. Some states such as Michigan, Ohio, and California have submitted FAA test site applications to control the use of drones within their borders, but it's not official yet (Which States Have Drone Laws).  An example of states who have implemented strict regulations for drone flights are Idaho, Illinois, Oregon and Montana. They all require a warrant for drone usage, which in turn can limit the drone usage in an area (Which States Have Drone Laws).

            After the US economy went into a slump around 2009, our economy has had to change for the better, and due to our understanding of our previous economic downturn, somehow the US managed recover from the mild economic failure in 2009.  2009 seems so long ago, but I think new job markets can arise from the rising popularity of drones. I, myself am very interested in purchasing a quad copter with a go-pro, but unfortunately I do not have the funds to purchase such an extravagant toy. As referred to in my previous part on how drones can be applied to many sectors of the work force, new jobs will need to be created so that certain drones can evolve to perform optimally for their task at hand. I do wonder what our world could be like with the helping hands of autonomous drones, could our world be a better place or would our world fall into the hands of terminator drones...?

            Warfare has drastically changed ever since humans fought with each other.  Especially in the 21st, like the US who uses drones to fight their battles now.  The questions about military drones really deal with the moral right of killing someone behind a video game controller, like is this the future of warfare, and how can someone really see the sick and disturbing acts of war?  Even though I have not experienced the brutality of a war, I know our world was never created to just end each other's lives over silly disputes, such as land.  If anything military drones should be our last drone to invest in, and investment in drones should essentially be reversed, where helping drones in agriculture, commerce, and aid should be invested in instead.

            I am certain our world will do better with the use of drones to further connect the world in unimaginable ways.  In fact as soon as drone popularity rises, to be used commercially, new rules and regulations will do the same. Maybe even new job markets will arise with the popularity of drones.  I really do hope the drone revolution keeps on improving and never halts to a stop.

 

Works Cited

 

  "Which States Have Drone Laws?" The Drone News. N.p., 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 01 May 2014.

           

             

How drones can be good or bad for our society

Drones: how drones can be good or bad for our society

 

Narrative, part 3: the time I created my own kind of drone

 

            Just about every young boy out there enjoys playing with a remote controlled toy, such as a car, boat or plane.  I can remember going to my friend’s house and play with their remote controlled cars; unfortunately my friend would only have one for him and his brother.  As a result of the one less car, some play dates would end up in a fight, and my friends parents' would have to come out and resolve the problem. I really enjoyed controlling just about anything that required a remote, maybe even the TV a little too much, but that's another story. The time I created my own kind of drone, sort of, was a very exciting moment for me and when I watched some very incredible videos, only capable with a drone.

            About 3 or 4 years ago, I received a white elephant gift rather large, from my aunt, on Christmas.  My aunt isn't really the person to give such a gift to me; she usually takes my sisters and I out to plays, like the lion king and wicked. This year my aunt just took my family and cousins out to play bocce ball and have white elephant gifts to give out back at her place.  I successfully obtained the largest white elephant gift and opened it.  What I found in the wrapping had to have been a dream come true.  In the wrapping was a large remote controlled helicopter. I could not possibly wait for the snow to be gone and fly the helicopter all over the place. After a couple months of torture stuck inside with my helicopter out of the box, ready to fly, and may have collected some dust, I grabbed my helicopter and ran some test flights in my backyard. I did not realize how difficult it was to control a helicopter, but after an hour or so, I began to get the hang of it.  On my last test flight, I thought to myself and said, "I wonder if my helicopter can shoot some nice videos with my cellphone".  I grabbed my phone and attached it to the helicopter, just between the legs of the landing gear. After my first flight with the phone attachment, I replayed the video and watched a very cool video of a bird’s eye view of my backyard.  I was very amazed at how such a toy could become more than just a toy.  The day I flew the helicopter, with my phone, will be a day I never forget.

            During the research of my topic on drones, I stumbled upon some very fascinating videos from the works of a drone. The videos really caught my attention because it was footage that would be incredibly difficult for any ordinary video shoot. The video on YouTube is very neat because the shots created are in ice caves. Pretty dangerous wouldn't you say so? The cost of conventional aerial shots for videos are very expensive because not only are you sending up a camera in the sky, but you have to pay the person taking the video and something, such as a helicopter to take them (up in the air). The cost of gas will only go up due to its limited availability and electricity is much cheaper compared to gas.  The other video I watched would only have been capable with the use of a drone because the drone was able to fly almost entirely next to a firework igniting (Gasper). The possibilities are endless now that drones and cameras are improving technologically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu2bGBcWHvE

             

           Just about every young boy out there enjoys playing with a remote controlled toy, such as a car, boat or plane. My all-time favorite remote controlled toy as for me was my helicopter. Unfortunately the helicopter broke within a year due to my stubbornness to read the instructions.  I am very interested in maybe one day creating my own video with a real drone, so I may capture incredible footage too.    

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

"Up In The Air – Achieving Inexpensive Aerial Shots In Your Film." Cheap Filmmaking. N.p., 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

 

 Gasper. "DJI PHANTOM FIREWORKS." Vimeo. N.p., 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

how drones can be good or bad for our society

Drones: how drones can be good or bad for our society

Persuasion, part 2: They’re here to stay!

            The definition of drone, "is an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control or beyond line of sight: the GPS of a U.S. spy drone, or any unmanned aircraft or ship that is guided remotely: a radio-controlled drone."  Drones are here to stay in this world because militarily speaking, drones have helped to reduce American soldier fatalities and disrupt major terrorist groups, but again some people believe military drones are bad. With the technological improvement of drones, they will become a major player in world efficiency in transporting goods all around the world. Not only will drones help to increase economy, but our very own way of life.

            After the September 11 event, the American government launched a major use in unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise known as UAV's, to at first only be used for live surveillance (Procon). Later military drones were equipped with long range missiles to help with the war effort in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The positive use of drones militarily is because fewer soldiers need to be in danger and they help to cripple terrorist groups. One major event that occurred with the use of a drone strike was when Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, was killed in his house, on August 5, 2009 (Callam, Andrew). I don't know about you, but I bet it cost a lot less than if the US military were to use soldiers to carry out the mission.  Also a survey carried out on July 18, 2013, 61% of Americans supported drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia (procon). Even though it's not 100% of the Americans on board, the use of military drones make about 193.9 million Americans out of the 317.8 million feel as the US military has the right to use drones militarily. Though other people may have different views about military drones, they can't change what has already occurred; it's inevitable due to the low cost of military drones, compared to a regular military jet with a pilot. Let's put this in perspective, the cost of one drone can range anywhere from 5-14.4 million, where as a jet, such as an f-35, will be around 153.1-199.4 million dollars (procon). In the US military's interest, it would be wise to invest some of their Air Force into militarized drones.

            Some may believe military drones are only creating more enemies for the US and think civilian casualties are disregarded by the US military. I would have to agree with some of the negatives of the use of military drones. A story I read online was about a young Pakistani girl who ran to the scene of her grandmother blown to pieces; just imagine how horrific a scene she saw on that day (Hayworth, Michael).  If I was that little girl, I probably would imagine the Americans as the enemy more than the terrorist groups.  The number of strikes and casualties according to the New America Foundation, Long War Journal, and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, say that "around 3,500 militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia have died in drone attacks. Out of the 3,500 militants killed, 8-17 percent of the people killed in drone attacks were civilians"(procon).  I'm sure almost every war committed, have had their share of civilian deaths too.  At the same time, I do understand where the unsupported population of drone warfare is coming from. After reading an article about how the American military behind the drones are not facing the fault on the civilian deaths; really no one is taking fault for the civilian deaths (procon).

             With the technological improvement of drones, they will become a major player in world efficiency in transporting goods all around the world. Not only will drones help to increase economy, but our very own way of life. An example of such a use of drones is amazon, but unfortunately in the early stages of development. The chief executive of Amazon says, he plans to expand their drone delivery system to more cities over time (Amazon).  Amazons drone delivery system is to be capable of delivering goods within a half hour, greatly reducing time of delivery.  Another plus to the use of drone delivery is that drones don't run on gas, thus making the cost of transportation cheaper.  A company in Australia, known as Zookal, says that "with drone delivery, it could reduce cost of delivery as much as 8.60$" (aussie).

            There are some down sides to a world of drone transportation, such as drone hacking, sort of say.  One incident occurred when an Australian videographer was hovering close to a triathlon event and the drone hit a runner (triathlete).  Supposedly, the videographer said "he lost control of his drone from an attacker"(triathlete).  If drones are to be the future, then they will need to improve upon security threats. A major slowdown in drone deliveries is that the FAA is reluctant to quickly legalize such a delivery system, due to raised issues of privacy (Orsini, Lauren). Already eight states have passed legislation against commercial drones concerning surveillance data collection (Orsini, Lauren). In the end sooner or later drones will become a major industry in delivering packages, it's just a matter of time technology will be sufficient enough to except the use of delivery drones worldwide.

            Drones are here to stay in this world because militarily speaking, drones have helped to reduce American soldier fatalities and disrupt major terrorist groups, but again some people believe military drones are bad. With the technological improvement of drones, they will become a major player in world efficiency in transporting goods all around the world. My next part will be about my own kind of creation of a surveillance drone.

Works Cited

"ProCon.org Launches New Website on America's Use of Drones in the War on Terror - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Callam, Andrew. "Drone Wars: Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." International Affairs Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Pew Research Center, "Global Attitudes Project," pewglobal.org, July 18, 2013

Hayworth, Michael. "Civilian Deaths Demand We Rethink Secret Drone Wars." ABC News. N.p., 23 Oct. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

"Amazon Chief Bezos Offers Update on Groceries, Drone Delivery." - NDTVProfit.com. N.p., 13 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.

"Aussie Company Zookal to Launch Drone Delivery Service." NewsComAu. N.p., 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.

 "Triathlete Injured By Drone In Australia." Triathletecom. N.p., 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.

Orsini, Lauren. "To Deliver With Prime Air Drones, Amazon Has To Solve These 3 Problems." ReadWrite. N.p., 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.     

How Drones Can Be Good or Bad For Our Society

Drones: how drones can be good or bad for our society

 

 

Application, part 1: so many different ways to use drones

 

            The first thing when people hear the word "drones", they will usually connect the word with military use because most news out there, are about whether or not military drones are for the good of the world.  I say, "Drones are not only for military use, but can be used in many different ways, ways that can better our world."  Drones can be applied in agricultural, commerce, and protection of wild life. A continent, who could greatly benefit from such a development in drones, would be Africa. Many regions in Africa do not have accessible roads year round and as a result some villages cannot get access to simple goods such as medicine.

            Efficiency in Africa could greatly increase with the use of drones.  The problem Africans face is not necessarily the growing of the product, but the transportation of their goods produced to a market, as referred in the article "The African Farmer: Problems Facing Agriculture." Also the use of drones for surveillance over the crops would make the job of a farmer, a lot easier because the farmer could use a small drone to check on his or her large plantation of crops.  Not only can farmers check on their crops, but farmers can see if their irrigation systems are working, how their plants are growing, even see if any of the plants are sick by using infrared technology (Estes,Gizmodo).  Also a man who creates drones for this particular use, Brandon basso, says “It is not environmentally great or financially great to spray pesticides on all of the crops",(Sharma, Rakesh).  He thinks drones could be used to spray pesticides on specific area of farmers' crops.  I would agree with basso's idea because that means less money spent on protecting crops and less chemicals we put in our body.

            The most extensive use of drones in Africa would be in commerce, because some villages in Africa do not have accessible roads year round. As a result, some cannot get access to simple goods such as food, clothing, or medicine.  Relatively new startups such as the Matternet, specialize in creating drones for medicine transportation to remote areas (Schwartz, Ariel). Such use of drones in Africa would save time on the purchaser’s side, as well as the sellers side.  The most absolute positive outcome of transportation of medicine, with drones, is the fact that it would help to reduce fatalities.  One billion people in rural areas live without access to all-season roads; Africa, who has a weak road infrastructure, would simply skip right to the use of drones for carrying their goods.  A drone highway system, or whatever you want to call it, would ultimately help Africa catch up to other continents, such as Europe whose road infrastructure dates back to roman times. Africa would not only be able to handle their ever growing population, but also attract Africans to stay in Africa because they can live there without the worrying of a sustainable life.

            There are many endangered species in Africa, like the African elephant and rhino.  The main problem Africa faces are poachers.  In the 1980's, demand for ivory rose and as a result, in 1977 the 1.3 million elephants lived in Africa dwindled to only 600,000 by 1997 (The poaching problem).  Drones can greatly help the African park rangers because not only can drones give an aerial view, but they can help to combat poaching in the dark with the use of inferred technology. An article talks about how highly sophisticated poachers are, with their use of tranquilizers and night vision goggles (Sesana, Laura).   Ol Pejeta reserve in Kenya is a good example of a national park who uses drones (sesana,Laura). There are only 190 park rangers covering 90,000 acres in OI Pejeta reserve (sesana, Laura). The only way to protect the endangered species in Africa is to have the upper hand against the poachers and the use of surveillance drones will help to do so. 

             Drones can be applied in agricultural, commerce, and protection of wild life.  Many places around the world can benefit from the use of drones, but Africa is just one place I chose to focus on. Imagine a world where there was a billion less people who were secluded from inefficiency and production. I would think our world would only be a better place to live for everyone…don't you?

                                                               

                                                                                                        (The poaching problem)

Next: why drones are ultimately good for this world

 

Bibliography

 

"The African Farmer: Problems Facing Agriculture." AFRICAW: Africa and the World. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

 

Sharma, Rakesh. "Growing The Use Of Drones In Agriculture." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

 

Estes, Adam C. "Some Good Things Drones Can (Actually) Do." Gizmodo. N.p., 4 Dec. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

 

Schwartz, Ariel. "The Matternet: A Flying Autonomous Delivery System For The Developing World | Co.Exist | Ideas + Impact." Co.Exist. N.p., 30 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

 

"THE POACHING PROBLEM." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

 

Sesana, Laura. "Using Drones to Protect African Wildlife from Poachers." Washington Times Communities. N.p., 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.