Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are aerial vehicles or drones that operate without a
human operator on-board. They are either controlled through radio frequency
from a remote control or through a computer program installed on a computer
on-board the drone. Initially used primarily by the military sector (e.g. for
missile deployment during war), applications of UAV have extended to the
civilian sector. Some of the current applications for UAV include: agriculture
surveying, wildlife monitoring and conservation, real estate assessments,
surveillance, meteorological studies, such as taking geographical samples at
extreme heights, and courier services, such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezo’s
announcement in 2013 that the company would use drones for package delivery.
Advances in technology and decreasing costs have led to an increased use of
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by the military and civilian sectors. The use
of UAVs in commerce is restricted by US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
regulations. The FAA continues to demand that drones be controlled by a humanpilot and stay within that pilot’s sight line. These regulations forestall implementation
of a large-scale drone delivery fleet. The FAA also has established a no-fly
zone, which lies between 400 and 500 vertical feet, to ensure that drones
remain distinct on radar from human-piloted aircraft. However, such
restrictions do not necessarily apply to other countries. In fact, 57 countries
and 270 companies were producing UAVs in 2013
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