{"id":825,"date":"2019-11-12T12:32:55","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T12:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/?p=825"},"modified":"2021-12-08T16:08:18","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T16:08:18","slug":"when-did-drones-get-popular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/when-did-drones-get-popular\/","title":{"rendered":"How and When Did Drones Become So Popular?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Just a short while ago, drones were mainly used by the military to do reconnaissance work and strikes in hostile territory. But today the story is very different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millions of drones now fly in the skies above us with controllers in the hands of hobbyists and entrepreneurs \u2014 a situation that would have surprised anybody had it been predicted in the 90s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when did drones become so popular? And how did that\nhappen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When Did Drones\nBecome More Popular?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many experts and stakeholders designate 2006 as the\nwatershed year that launched the rise of commercial drones in modern society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was in 2006 that the Federal Aviation Administration, after having realized the potential non-military applications such as using <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"drones for photography (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/review\/best-photography-drones\/\" target=\"_blank\">drones for photography<\/a> or for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/review\/best-videography-drones\/\">filming movies<\/a>, issued the first commercial drone permits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These permits lifted the restrictions that had been holding\nback commercial drones from being flown for recreational purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And new possibilities were suddenly opened as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People who had recognized the potential of drones to tilt the needle could now apply them in a wide range of business ventures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Applications for requests were slow to begin with, but the floodgates soon opened, and today we have drones everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Breakthroughs in\nTechnology Allowed This?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>De-regulation by the FAA was not the only ingredient that went into making the commercial drone revolution which we enjoy today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is one thing to get the go-ahead to do something, and\nquite another to actually have the tools you need to go ahead and do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, the technological breakthroughs that made drones\nlight enough and powerful enough need also be applauded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The technology breakthroughs served to shift three key\nthings in favor of mass production commercial drones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Reduction of cost of production \u2014 and therefore purchase price<\/li><li>Reduction of weight of the device<\/li><li>Increased access and efficiency of key components<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, these breakthroughs addressed more than one of\nthese key issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Lithium Polymer Batteries<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Batteries \u2014 a component that is constantly evolving even now. The lithium polymer battery (Lithium cobalt oxide) that drones use is able to store power in large capacities while still being small. This is crucial for keeping drones light enough to lift their own weights and hover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also releases stored energy slower than other types of\nbatteries that were prevalent in the years preceding the rise of commercial\ndrones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before the first commercial drones were assembled, the best batteries were Nickel-Cadmium and Nickel-Manganese Hydride models. These batteries were too heavy to allow for hovering drones \u2014 although they could support fixed wing military drones \u2014 and they did not release their stored energy very efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was not until the lightweight and energy-dense Lithium polymer battery made its entrance that manufacturers were able to see a way around the weight problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the battery weight is just one problem out of a slew of\nproblems with electric powered flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>MEMS Accelerometer\nand Gyroscope<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Another has to do with the electrical stabilization systems\nthat hovering drones rely on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Commercial drones capable of hovering rely on an electrical\nstabilization system which requires accelerometers and gyroscopes to function.\nWithout going into much scientific details, these are sensors that aid in\nbalancing out and stabilizing the movement of the drone while it flies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And only in the last decade, thanks in large part to the smartphone\nindustry, have these sensors become affordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The creation of low-cost MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) accelerators and gyroscopes were a major breakthrough, without which the widespread adoption of commercial drones would just not have been possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What used to cost hundreds of dollars suddenly became very\naffordable (typically $5 or less) because of the rise of smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Cheap Microcontrollers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Another technological breakthrough that reduced the cost of\nproduction and lowered the barrier of entry for enthusiasts was the creation of\ncheap microcontrollers. And this was a result of the maker movement started in\n2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the MEMS accelerometer and gyroscope sensors needed\nfor stability, drones also need enough processing power to estimate its\nposition and process the sensor data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s what the microcontrollers are for. And they have been\naround for a long time. However, it is thanks to the maker movement that microcontrollers\nsmall enough, cheap enough, and powerful enough were made accessible to\nhobbyists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To say this reduced the barrier of entry to developing the\nessential hovering drone systems is almost an understatement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Brushless Motors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Commercial drones require very powerful motors. At the same\ntime, powerful motors tend to be heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The very recent introduction of small, high torque,\npermanent magnet brushless motors changed all that for hobbyists. Before these\nbrushless motors became available, you had to make do with relatively weaker\nbrushed motors with weaker iron magnets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>High Power Density\nSwitching Semiconductors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>High power density switching semiconductors aid in\ncontrolling the high amounts of power generated by the brushless motors for\npowering the drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is only in the last couple of decades that field-effect\ntransistor technologies became sophisticated enough to achieve power densities\nand efficiencies to allow the miniaturization of high power rectifiers. This\nwas a key component necessary for the smooth-running of the high-torque\nbrushless motors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>GPS System<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A bunch of technological breakthroughs came together to\nenable the GPS based flying that commercial drones are known for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of there was the smartphone industry that boomed\nshortly after 2006. Then there was the push from the US Air Force to make\nhigher positioning accuracies available civilians. Also, several more GPS\nsatellites were launched during that period to boost the SBAS system, and so on\nand so forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Long story short, the rise of commercial drones coincided\nwith the perfection and augmentation of GPS systems across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This allowed for higher accuracies and cheaper GPS modules \u2014 key components of the typical commercial autonomous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/review\/best-gps-drones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"GPS drones (opens in a new tab)\">GPS drones<\/a> today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All these technological breakthroughs played a part in\nputting commercial drones within the reach of enthusiasts and recreational\npilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As production costs, manufacturing efficiencies, and\ntechnological limits evolved in favor of efficient mass production, what was\nonce the preserve of the military was now available for private use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Will the Market Keep\nGrowing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchandmarkets.com\/reports\/4764173\/the-drone-market-report-2019-commercial-drone?utm_source=CI&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=r3bg5s&amp;utm_campaign=1250059+-+Drone+Market+Report+2019%3a+Commercial+Drone+Market+Size+and+Forecasts+-+Market+will+Grow+from+%2414+Billion+in+2018+to+%2443+Billion+in+2024&amp;utm_exec=cari54prd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Drone\nMarket Report 2019<\/a>, we can expect the drone industry to keep growing. Studies\npredict that by 2024, it should be a $43 billion dollar industry; up from $14\nbillion in 2018, as drones become integral parts of several industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s gonna be upwards and onwards for drone lovers from here\non.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just a short while ago, drones were mainly used by the military to do reconnaissance &#8230; <a title=\"How and When Did Drones Become So Popular?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/when-did-drones-get-popular\/\" aria-label=\"More on How and When Did Drones Become So Popular?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular.jpg",825,457,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular-300x166.jpg",300,166,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular-768x425.jpg",768,425,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular.jpg",825,457,false],"img_rate_products_categories":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular-552x306.jpg",552,306,true],"img_rate_products_slideshow":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular.jpg",825,457,false],"img_rate_products_preview":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular-168x93.jpg",168,93,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular.jpg",825,457,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/why-are-drones-so-popular.jpg",825,457,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Sam","author_link":"https:\/\/www.dronesvilla.com\/author\/sam\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Just a short while ago, drones were mainly used by the military to do reconnaissance ... 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