By Kim Nan Kyeong, University of Ulsan
At the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Korea displayed a spectacular drone show. The drone show impressed not only Koreans but also people all over the world. In simple terms, a drone is basically an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicle controlled by using a remote control. In other words, it is an airplane or a helicopter-shaped figure which flies without human beings on board, guided by radio waves. Then, how could and would we be able to use drones in future?
Drones can be used to deliver food, medical supplies, and make home deliveries. Google X, a secret research organization at Google, has conducted various studies and has already started developing a new method of transportation called Wing. The Wing essentially consists of drones which are designed to make deliveries. They can fly up to 400 feet above the ground and make use of preplanned routes on demand using sensors and software to detect and avoid others in real time and safely deliver fragile packages to a spot the size of a doorstep. In military terms, one of the articles from BBC Future says that in theory, small drones in swarms can defeat any existing weapon, and can deliver enough precision firepower to cause destruction on a massive scale. Their impact could rival the development of the machine-gun: anyone without their own drone swarm could face rapid defeat on the battlefield in the future.
Technology in many fields is being developed today, but among them, drones have captured the world’s attention. If a well-developed drone is commercialized in the future, it could of great help to humans. I hope the day of commercializing drones will come soon
