Drones are something that up till a few years ago was deemed to exist only in the realm of science fiction. Self-flying, autonomous vehicles, being controlled by people thousands of miles away, could only have been seen in films and literature. In 2019, they are not so much as a practical possibility, as they are a fact of reality, commonplace in multiple areas of life.
Go to any public park in a well to do neighborhood and you’re bound to come across at least one child that will be flying one and running around after it, as if was no more than a kite of the days of old. But this is still not the end; some intriguing predictions for the drone industry in 2019 are as follows:
Consistent growth:
One thing which is very clear is that the drone industry is only just beginning to pick pace. The number and variety of drones available to the public and private sector is exploding and so is the demand as well as the supply for drone operators. Once limited to very high tech and limited military operations, the drones of today require less technical expertise to operate and are built to cater to a very vast variety of operations, far exceeding the limited military uses it was initially designed for.
Regulations:
With the vast increase in drone usage, there is a great demand for regulations to be set in place to keep a check on this industry as the implications of unfettered use can be disastrous. In lieu of public safety and standardizing this emerging technology new regulations need to be set in place. What however seems to currently be the issue is, exactly how to regulate it.
New and improved sensors:
Until now drone usage was mostly limited to cameras and missiles attached to the drones, and the drones being used by the military to surveil and target enemy positions and infrastructure. Today drones are being equipped with a vast array of sensors that perform previously unseen functions. Drones can be used to survey difficult to reach land, and hard to reach deep sea locations.
They can be fitted with heat sensors so monitor wildfires and track wild animals in the jungle. They can be used to listen in on people using high tech audio sensors and can track movements in the Earth’s magnetic fields. There are sensors that can be used to monitor air quality and keep an eye on changes in the atmosphere.
Integration with AI:
Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are going to radically transform the Drone operations landscape. Artificial Intelligence has the potential to remove the human element completely. Once trained Artificial Intelligence systems can be used to operate Drones and take complete control of operations. This has its drawbacks as well as advantages. On one hand we can deploy Drones on a larger scale without the need to have the required number of humans, on the other this would mean less oversight which could prove disastrous in cases where human lives could be significantly affected.
