From firefighting to food delivery: Drones are about to make our skies a lot busier - but will they be safe?
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The drones are coming.
Armies of flying robots are set to fill our skies, doing everything from delivering medical supplies to spraying crops and inspecting high-voltage cables.
But for drones to make it to the big time, they will need to learn to get around in towns and cities - without falling on car hoods or crashing into pedestrians.
Armies of flying robots are set to fill our skies, doing everything from delivering medical supplies to spraying crops and inspecting high-voltage cables. Pictured is a Deutsche Post DHL drone carrying a small parcel
In less than a decade, as many as 32,000 commercial drones could be flying worldwide, according to aerospace consultancy Teal Group
Today, technology has advanced to the point where hobbyists can fly the unmanned aircraft with their iPhones.
However, nobody has yet developed a successful system for the devices to sense and avoid other objects like trees, streetlights, buildings and even other drones.
'Most of these drones have very limited safety features,' says Maryanna Saenko, an analyst with science and technology consultancy Lux Research.
If one crashes, 'it's a four- or five-pound brick coming out of the sky.'
The ability to be fully autonomous will be critical before legions of drones can buzz over our neighbourhoods.
Drones could help firefighters battling forest blazes by watching where flames are appearing without risking lives. In this photo, the Yamaha RMax unmanned helicopter sprays water over grapevines during a demonstration of its aerial application capabilities at the University of California
Some of the greatest dangers are close to airports, where hundreds of airline passengers could be at risk from errant drones. In December, a drone flying near Heathrow almost crashed into a passenger jet
Similar technology does exist. Commercial jets, for instance, are able to detect other planes in the sky and warn pilots of mountains in their path.
The problem is how to make the detection system small, light and cheap enough to work on drones.
Recent announcements at CES in Las Vegas suggest drones will be used for everything from food delivery to firefighting.
For now, this all largely remains theoretical. Except for a few locations, U.S. airspace is closed to commercial drones with the dangers too great, according to regulators.
If safety concerns can be overcome, one of the biggest industries ripe for drone use is farming.
With the help of GPS mapping, drones can survey an entire farm, find bugs or soil that is too dry or too low in nutrients.
They could then send the exact coordinates back to a tractor that will apply pesticide, water or fertiliser only to areas in need.
There are 2,500 unmanned miniature helicopters currently used by farmers in Japan to spray pesticides in hilly areas where tractors might roll over.
Similar drones are operating in South Korean and Australia. In the U.S., the $150,000 (£99,000) helicopters are being considered for the steep slopes of California vineyards.
Meanwhile Amazon says its drone delivery service could someday get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less.
Through its Prime Air service, Amazon aims to have drones flying 50 mph (80 kph) and capable of carrying up to 5lb (2.25kg).
A security guard watches a demonstration of a DJI Technology Co. Inspire 1 drone in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province. n less than a decade, 32,000 commercial drones could be flying worldwide
'They will become as normal as seeing delivery trucks driving down the street,' says Paul Misner, Amazon's global vice president of public policy.
German delivery company Deutsche Post DHL is already testing a drone, but only to a remote tourist island in the North Sea and just for urgent deliveries of medicine.
While companies wait, more and more hobbyists are putting drones in the skies. Many can be operated with an iPhone or Android smartphone, and some cost just $300 (£200).
Some of the greatest danger of these small drones is close to airports, where hundreds of airline passengers could be at risk from errant drones.
The FAA has reports of nearly 200 cases in the past 10 months where drones got too close for comfort to manned airplanes.
Concerns over the lack of intelligence of these drones is attempted to be addressed by researchers worldwide. Pictured is a drone from DJI Technology
Even the military, with its expert pilots, crashes drones.
The Air Force has lost 116 unmanned aircraft in the last decade and now has a rate of about five destroyed for every 100,000 hours of flying time
Concerns over the lack of intelligence of these drones is attempted to be addressed by researchers worldwide.
Military drone-maker Aurora Flight Sciences, of Manassas, Virginia, for instance, is trying to tackle the challenge using echolocation.
This sends out sound waves and detects the echo reflected by obstacles. It's similar to sonar on a submarine or the way bats fly around in the dark.
Other companies are using optical sensors to search for obstacles. But those systems have challenges, including not working well in darkness or fog.
An image showing the path of Phantom 2 Vision+ drone using long exposure photography. The FAA estimates that 7,500 drones – a third of all drones worldwide - will be flying in the U.S. within five years
In the United States, much of the work is being done at six government-approved drone test sites, all of which are connected with universities.
They are among the few spots in the country where unmanned aircraft can be legally flown to test what works and what doesn't.
'This is a large sandbox right now,' says Ahmed Mahdy, a mechanical engineering professor at Texas A&M University's Corpus Christi campus, one of the test site operators.
The FAA estimates that 7,500 drones – a third of all drones worldwide - will be flying in the U.S. within five years. The industry puts the number in the hundreds of thousands.
Compare that to the four largest U.S. airlines, with their combined fleet of 4,728 planes.
One of the most promising areas of application for drones is in farming. There are 2,500 unmanned miniature helicopters currently used by farmers in Japan to spray pesticides in hilly areas where tractors might roll over
'The FAA is just scared to death,' says David Bridges, a mechanical engineering professor testing drones at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. 'U.S. airspace is one of the safest in the world. It's their job to keep it that way.'
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta says drone technology is promising but needs to be phased in responsibly.
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to release guidelines soon about who can fly drones weighing less than 55lbs (25kg) and under what conditions.
They might include the extremely stringent - and costly - requirement that operators have a pilot's license.
That means some of the most ambitious drone ideas, like Amazon's package-delivery system, may have to wait.
Today, technology has advanced to the point where hobbyists can fly the unmanned aircraft with their iPhones. However, nobody has yet developed a successful system for the devices to sense and avoid other objects like trees, streetlights, buildings and even other drones
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