1/Introduction
Some Definitions
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware
that the word
drone
is frequently in the news. The many head-
lines about drones have used the term to describe a wide range
of aircraft—from small remotely piloted toys, to autonomous fly-
ing robots, to full-scale weaponized military surveillance mod-
els. This is mainly because different sources have had different
definitions of the word
drone
. Where exactly is the line drawn, or
what makes a drone a drone? Let’s start with a basic definition.
Merriam-Webster’s definition of
drone
is:
an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote
control or onboard computers
This definition presents a very broad sense of the word, which
contributes to the overgeneralizations and misinformation we
see when the media reports on a particular type of unmanned
aircraft. Let’s be more specific. Terry says he draws the line
between radio-controlled (RC) aircraft and drones at the intro-
duction of GPS and autopilots. When an aircraft has the ability
to pilot itself, even if it’s just to hold a steady position, that in his
eyes is a drone. Throughout this book, we’ll use the following
conventions:
Drone
Unmanned aerial vehicle controlled autonomously using
GPS
Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA)
Model aircraft flown by a pilot on the ground using a radio
transmitter or other computer equipment
UAV
Aircraft that can be flown remotely by a pilot or controlled
autonomously using computer software and GPS
1
Содержание Belinda Kilby
Страница 1: ......
Страница 3: ...Make Getting Started with Drones Terry Kilby and Belinda Kilby...
Страница 25: ...Figure 1 5 Basic quadcopter showing how the stick commands would move the craft Introduction 13...
Страница 26: ......
Страница 90: ......
Страница 126: ......
Страница 142: ...Figure 8 7 Mobius camera next to the quick release camera mount 130 Make Getting Started with Drones...
Страница 146: ...Figure 9 4 Firmware upload has begun Figure 9 5 Firmware verification in progress 134 Make Getting Started with Drones...
Страница 153: ...Figure 9 10 Compass setup Figure 9 11 Compass calibration ArduPilot Mega APM Setup 141...
Страница 198: ......