A man is walking home. He sees cameras pointing at him from every direction, and when he reaches his home, he sees drones watching him through his window. This is what some people think of drones, but drones can be very useful. I would say their uses far outweigh their problems. A brief explanation will be given, followed by some of their uses and common problems.

A drone, according to Scientific American, is “an unmanned aircraft that can fly autonomously”. They have, as many people know, been used in warfare. They are also much smaller than manned aircraft, so they can fit into smaller spaces, and fly much longer. Also, because of this, they are harder to detect.

Drones have many uses. A Yakima Herald Republic article gives some examples. Farmers want to use drones to watch over their crops and spray them with fertilizer and insecticides. Companies such as Amazon would like to use them to deliver packages. According to a Sunday Times article, Japan used drones to survey the situation in Fukushima after their nuclear troubles, and scientists used them in Antarctica to monitor moss. BBC Monitoring European tells of drones recording events from overhead, giving a new view to document celebrations from above.

Drones are not without problems, though. Some worry that drones will interfere with general aviation, as expressed in a Ledger Article. This is not much of an issue, though, as the FAA’s website states drones are not permitted to fly in “Class B airspace”, which is located above major urban areas, and contains a large density of manned aircraft. Another issue people have is privacy. This is an big issue, and the FAA has established privacy regulations for the drone test sites. These are likely to expand to other areas, as drones become more widespread. Another worry is safety. People are concerned about drones crashing and injuring people. The FAA states that drones are required to have airworthiness certificates, and more regulation will most likely be put into place soon.

There are many advantages to drones, and the issues that are not already fixed are likely to disappear soon. It is apparent that there are many uses, and not that many problems. Private drones would be a useful technology to use. Drones have a little ways to go before they are ready, but we are getting close. Hopefully, the world will not end up like that of the man who was walking home, but, instead, drones will help rescue people.