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• About this book
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The history of drones
• 3. Laws governing drones
• 4. Drone hardware/software
• 5. Flying a drone
• 6. Hacking a drone
• 7. Programing a drone
• 8. Build your own drone
• 9. Do-It-Yourself (DIY) drone projects
• 10. Drone forensics
• 11. More on drones
• Definitions
• Index

"Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are aerial devices that can fly with a human remotely controlling them, or fly autonomously without any human intervention. The increasingly use of drones/UAVs has created a rapid evolution of payload hardware and software, multispectral, thermal and hyperspectral sensors, and environmental sensors. However, before UAVs can be used for such real-world applications, it is necessary to understand the types of drones/UAVs, their components, sensors employed, operational methods and software needed to analyse the data and application requirements. The book is divided into eight chapters to take the reader from the foundations of UAV to active research topics in this fast developing arena. Each chapter is written in a simple language with several illustrations and tabular data to provide better understanding of the topic. Since the technology is gaining popularity world-wide, the students will find the book very useful to update their knowledge for UAV based data collection approaches. The main key feature of this book is that it concisely covers the principles of UAV, UAV types and missions, hardware and software components employed in UAV, data collection methods, UAV regulatory system, applications in various fields and future research areas. The structure and character of images, and spatial & point cloud data datasets are crucial to understand their effective analysis in various applications, and develop innovative approaches. The book covers the course contents requirement of UG (civil engineering) and PG (geoinformatics) as well as computer science, mechanical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, information technology, geography, environmental science, earth science, students and research scholars, and those who have curiosity to learn about drone/UAV. Since UAV is a multidisciplinary tool having applications in civil engineering, resources management, disaster & rescue service, oil & gas monitoring, forestry, agriculture, good delivery, health system, crowd management, traffic regulation, media & journalism, urban planning, infrastructure monitoring, 3D mapping, surveillance, search & rescue, businesses etc., so the book also intends to be very useful for those who are working in UAV-based application areas."-- Provided by publisher

• Introduction Chapter One: Four Technology Stories Chapter Two: The Military Drone Chapter Three: The Commercial Drone (or the hole where it ought to be) Chapter Four: Blinking Lights Chapter Five: Software and Hardware Chapter Six: The Non-Drone Chapter Seven: What the Drone is For Chapter Eight: The Drone in Discourse Chapter Nine: Drone Fiction Chapter Ten: Ourselves and the Drone Chapter Eleven: Aesthetics of the Drone Chapter Twelve: The Drone as Meme List of Images Bibliography Notes.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Drones are in the newspaper, on the TV screen, swarming through the networks, and soon, we're told, they'll be delivering our shopping. But what are drones? The word encompasses everything from toys to weapons. And yet, as broadly defined as they are, the word "drone" fills many of us with a sense of technological dread. Adam Rothstein cuts through the mystery, the unknown, and the political posturing, and talks about what drones really are: what technologies are out there, and what's coming next; how drones are talked about, and how they are represented in popular culture. It turns out that drones are not as scary as they appear-but they are more complicated than you might expect. Drones reveal the strange relationships that humans are forming with their new technologies. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Filling the skies with assassins
• Droning on
• The forty-year drone war
• The perfect American weapon
• Top guns no more
• America's secret empire of drone bases
• Sex and the single drone
• The life and death of American drones
• Offshore everywhere
• The crash and burn future of robot warfare
• Remotely piloted war
• A drone-eat-drone world
• Postcript: America as a shining drone upon a hill.

The first history of drone warfare, written as it happened. From the opening missle salvo in the skies over Afghanistan in 2001 to a secret strike in the Philippines early this year, or a future in which drones dogfight off the coast of Africa, Terminator Planet takes you to the front lines of combat, Washington war rooms, and beyond. Drawing on several years of research -- including official documents, open-source intelligence, and interviews with military officers -- two of the foremost analysts specializing in drone war offer a sobering, factual account of robot warfare combined with critical analyses found nowhere else. Packed with rarely seen Pentagon photos, Terminator Planet provides a rich history of the last decade of drone warfare, a clear-eyed look at its present, and a far-reaching guide to its future. -- Back cover.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been referred to in many ways: RPV (remotely piloted vehicle), drone, robot plane, and pilotless aircraft are a few such names. Most often called UAVs, they are defined by the Department of Defense (DOD) as powered, aerial vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload. The war an terrorism has put a high premium on the primary mission of UAVs, intelligence gathering. Furthermore, the military effectiveness of UAVs in recent conflicts such as Iraq (2003), Afghanistan (2001), and Kosovo (1999) has opened the eyes of many to both the advantages and disadvantages provided by unmanned aircraft. Long relegated to the sidelines in military operations, UAVs are now making national headlines as they are used in ways normally reserved for manned aircraft. Conventional wisdom states that UAVs offer two main advantages over manned aircraft: they are considered most cost-effective, and they minimise the risk to a pilot's life. However, the current UAV accident rate (the rate at which the aircraft are lost or damaged) is 100 times that of manned aircraft.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• 1. HAE UAV ACTD program description and comparative analysis.
• 2. Flight test in the HAE UAV ACTD program.
• 3. Transitions within and out of the HAE UAV ACTD program.
• [4.] Executive summary. Their advanced concept technology demonstration program experience.

This title looks at the effect of new acquisition strategies on an unmanned aerial vehicle's transition from one agency to another as well as from development and test to production.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
An assessment of the innovative management approach used to develop two unmanned aerial vehicles.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
An assessment of the manner in which new acquisition strategies affected the flight test program of two high-altitude endurance unmanned aerial vehicles. The past three decades have seen a number of less-than-successful efforts to develop high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles. In 1994, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, in conjunction with the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office, initiated an effort-designated the High-Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator (HAE UAV ACTD) --whose goal was to facilitate the development of UAVs through the use of a new and innovative acquisition strategy. This report addresses the effect of that acquisition strategy on the flight test program of the two air vehicles: the conventional Global Hawk and the low-observable DarkStar. The authors found that because DarkStar was canceled after having logged only 6.5 flight hours, not enough flight experience was accumulated to allow for an understanding of the vehicle's flight characteristics or military utility. By contrast, Global Hawk accumulated ample experience to permit a demonstration of its military utility, achieving a level of performance that was close to predicted goals. The precise effect of the HAE UAV acquisition strategy remains the subject of debate. The strategy did, however, influence some key aspects of the flight test program, most notably its increased contractor involvement and its early operational testing in the form of user demonstrations. The flight test program also served to illustrate the vital need for early involvement of operational users to bolster the capabilities and perspective of the contractor. [AF].
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
An evaluation of new acquisition strategies for the development of unmanned aerial vehicles. Over the past three decades, efforts to develop unmanned aerial vehicles have been severely hampered by escalating costs, slipped schedules, and disappointing operational results. Recently, however, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, in conjunction with the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office, launched an initiative -- designated the High-Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (HAE UAV ACTD) program -- whose objective was to overcome these deficits through the use of a new and innovative acquisition policy. This report evaluates several key elements of this new strategy toward the goal of determining how they affected the development of two air vehicles: the first a conventional vehicle (Global Hawk) and the second a low-observable configuration (DarkStar). The authors found that the ACTD approach required that the entire development effort be planned at the program's inception, which proved to be a detriment to the effort as a whole. In addition, the program's single requirement -- a 10 million dollar unit flyaway price -- proved unattainable and was eventually abandoned. At the same time, the authors found that the program's designation as an ACTD, its use of Other Transaction Authority, and its delegation of considerable management responsibility to contractors greatly streamlined the oversight process and lent considerable flexibility to the effort. As a direct result of these factors, the Global Hawk program was judged to have successfully and cost-effectively produced a continuous, all-weather, wide-area surveillance capability for future warfighters. The authors thus conclude that although the DarkStar program was canceled before its capabilities could be fully demonstrated, the HAE UAV ACTD program was in aggregate a success. [AF].
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Author Biographies ix Preface xi
• 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Applications of UAVs 1 1.2 Problems of Autonomous Navigation and Deployment of UAVs 2 1.3 Overview and Organization of the Book 4 1.4 Some Other Remarks 5 References 6
• 2 Deployment of UAV Base Stations for Wireless Communication Coverage 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Related Work 14 2.3 UAV-BS Deployment for Maximizing Coverage 17 2.3.1 Problem Statement 17 2.3.2 Proposed Solution 19 2.3.3 Evaluation 21 2.4 UAV-BS Deployment for Maximizing Coverage and Minimizing Interference 24 2.4.1 System Model and Problem Statement 24 2.4.2 Proposed Solution 27 2.4.3 Simulation Results 31 2.4.3.1 Dataset and Simulation Set-Up 31 2.4.3.2 Comparing Approaches 32 2.4.3.3 Simulation Results 32 2.5 Voronoi Partitioning-Based UAV-BS Deployment 36 2.5.1 Problem Statement and Main Results 36 2.5.2 Simulation Results 41 2.6 Range-Based UAV-BS Deployment 43 2.6.1 Problem Statement and Main Results 43 2.6.2 Simulation Results 49 2.7 Summary 52 References 52
• 3 Deployment of UAVs for Surveillance of Ground Areas and Targets 57 3.1 Introduction 57 3.2 Related Work 60 3.3 Asymptotically Optimal UAV Deployment for Surveillance of a Flat Ground Area 61 3.3.1 Problem Statement 61 3.3.2 Deployment Algorithm 63 3.3.3 Evaluation 67 3.4 UAV Deployment for Surveillance of Uneven Ground Areas 71 3.4.1 Problem Statement 71 3.4.2 Deployment Algorithm 73 3.4.3 Evaluation 78 3.5 2D UAV Deployment for Ground Target Surveillance 80 3.5.1 Problem Statement 80 3.5.2 Proposed Solution 82 3.5.3 Evaluation 85 3.6 3D UAV Deployment for Ground Target Surveillance 87 3.6.1 Problem Statement 87 3.6.2 Proposed Solution 89 3.6.3 Evaluation 95 3.7 Summary and Future Research 99 References 100
• 4 Autonomous Navigation of UAVs for Surveillance of Ground Areas and Targets 105 4.1 Introduction 105 4.2 RelatedWork 108 4.3 Asymptotically Optimal Path Planning for Surveillance of Ground Areas 110 4.3.1 Problem Statement 110 4.3.2 Path Planning Algorithm 111 4.3.3 Simulation Results 114 4.4 Navigation of UAVs for Surveillance of a Moving Ground Area 117 4.4.1 Problem Statement 117 4.4.2 Navigation Law 119 4.4.2.1 Available Measurements 120 4.4.3 Simulation Results 122 4.5 Navigation of UAVs for Surveillance of Moving Targets on a Road Segment 125 4.5.1 Problem Statement 125 4.5.2 Proposal Solution 126 4.5.2.1 Monitoring Mode 126 4.5.2.2 Initial Mode 127 4.5.2.3 Searching Mode 128 4.5.2.4 Accumulating Mode 129 4.5.3 Simulation Results 130 4.6 Navigation of UAVs for Surveillance of Moving Targets along a Road 134 4.6.1 Problem Statement 134 4.6.2 Navigation Algorithm 137 4.6.3 Simulation Results 139 4.7 Navigation of UAVs for Surveillance of Groups of Moving Ground Targets 142 4.7.1 Problem Statement and Proposed Approach 143 4.7.2 Navigation Method 146 4.7.3 Simulation Results 150 4.8 Summary and Future Research 153 References 154
• 5 Autonomous UAV Navigation for Covert Video Surveillance 159 5.1 Introduction 159 5.2 Related Work 160 5.3 Optimization-Based Navigation 162 5.3.1 System Model 162 5.3.2 Problem Statement 165 5.3.3 Predictive DP Based Trajectory Planning Algorithm 166 5.3.3.1 Aeronautic Trajectory Refinement 169 5.3.4 Evaluation 174 5.4 Biologically Inspired Motion Camouflage-based Navigation 181 5.4.1 Problem Statement 182 5.4.1.1 Available Measurements 182 5.4.2 Motion Camouflage Guidance Law 183 5.4.3 Evaluation 185 5.5 Summary and Future Work 188 References 189
• 6 Integration of UAVs and Public Transportation Vehicles for Parcel Delivery 195 6.1 Introduction 195 6.2 Related Work 199 6.3 System Model 203 6.4 One-way Path Planning 204 6.4.1 Problem Statement 204 6.4.2 Proposed Solution 207 6.4.2.1 Path Traversal Time 207 6.4.2.2 Reliable Path Construction 210 6.4.2.3 Energy-aware Reliable Path 213 6.4.3 Evaluation 215 6.5 Round-trip Path Planning in a Deterministic Network 218 6.5.1 Deterministic Model 218 6.5.1.1 Extended Multimodal Network 220 6.5.2 Problem Statement 222 6.5.2.1 Shortest UAV Path Problem 222 6.5.3 Proposed Solution 223 6.5.3.1 The Dijkstra-based Algorithm 223 6.5.3.2 Reliable UAV Path 225 6.5.3.3 Extended Coverage 228 6.5.4 Evaluation 228 6.6 Round-trip Path Planning in a Stochastic Network 232 6.6.1 Problem Statement 233 6.6.2 Proposed Solution 235 6.6.2.1 Proposed Algorithm 235 6.6.2.2 Robust Round-trip Planning Algorithm 240 6.6.3 Evaluation 243 6.7 Summary and Future Work 246 References 246 Abbreviations 252 Index 253.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Autonomous Navigation and Deployment of UAVs for Communication, Surveillance and Delivery Authoritative resource offering coverage of communication, surveillance, and delivery problems for teams of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Autonomous Navigation and Deployment of UAVs for Communication, Surveillance and Delivery studies various elements of deployment of networks of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) base stations for providing communication to ground users in disaster areas, covering problems like ground traffic monitoring, surveillance of environmental disaster areas (e.g. brush fires), using UAVs in rescue missions, converting UAV video surveillance, and more. The work combines practical problems, implementable and computationally efficient algorithms to solve these problems, and mathematically rigorous proofs of each algorithm's convergence and performance. One such example provided by the authors is a novel biologically inspired motion camouflage algorithm to covert video surveillance of moving targets by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). All autonomous navigation and deployment algorithms developed in the book are computationally efficient, easily implementable in engineering practice, and based only on limited information on other UAVs of each and the environment. Sample topics discussed in the work include: Deployment of UAV base stations for communication, especially with regards to maximizing coverage and minimizing interference Deployment of UAVs for surveillance of ground areas and targets, including surveillance of both flat and uneven areas Navigation of UAVs for surveillance of moving areas and targets, including disaster areas and ground traffic monitoring Autonomous UAV navigation for covert video surveillance, offering extensive coverage of optimization-based navigation Integration of UAVs and public transportation vehicles for parcel delivery, covering both one-way and round trips Professionals in navigation and deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles, along with researchers, engineers, scientists in intersecting fields, can use Autonomous Navigation and Deployment of UAVs for Communication, Surveillance and Delivery to gain general knowledge on the subject along with practical, precise, and proven algorithms that can be deployed in a myriad of practical situations.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction.- Modeling.- Tracking and interaction control.- Wind estimation.- Force discrimination.- Applications and outlook.- Conclusion.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This book addresses the topic of autonomous flying robots physically interacting with the environment under the influence of wind. It aims to make aerial robots aware of the disturbance, interaction, and faults acting on them. This requires reasoning about the external wrench (force and torque) acting on the robot and distinguishing between wind, interactions, and collisions. The book takes a model-based approach and covers a systematic approach to parameter identification for flying robots. The book aims to provide a wind speed estimate independent of the external wrench, including estimating the wind speed using motor power measurements. Aerodynamics modeling is approached in a data-driven fashion, using ground-truth measurements from a 4D wind tunnel. Finally, the book bridges the gap between trajectory tracking and interaction control, to allow physical interaction under wind influence. Theoretical results are accompanied by extensive simulation and experimental results.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Chapter 1: The Drone Age Chapter 2: Automated Warfare
• Chapter 3: Death from Above
• Chapter 4: Eyes in the Sky
• Chapter 5: Terrorist Drones Chapter 6: The All-Seeing Drone Chapter 7: Dull, Dirty and Dangerous Chapter 8: The New Race
• Chapter 9: The Future.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Over the last decade, the rapid pace of innovation with drone technology has led to dozens of new and innovative commercial and scientific applications, from Amazon drone deliveries to the patrolling of national parks with drones. But what is less understood is how the spread of unmanned technology will change the patterns of war and peace in the future. Will the use of drones produce a more stable world or will it lead to more conflict? Will drones gradually replace humans on the battlefield or will they empower soldiers to act more precisely, and humanely, in crisis situations? How will drones change surveillance around the world and at home? In The Drone Age, Michael J. Boyle examines how unmanned technology alters the decision-making and risk calculus of its users both on and off the battlefield. It shows that the introduction of drones changes the dynamics of wars, humanitarian crises and peacekeeping missions, empowering some actors while making others more vulnerable to surveillance and even attack. The spread of drones is also reordering geopolitical fault lines and providing new ways for states to test the nerves and strategic commitments of their rivals. Drones are also allowing terrorist groups like the Islamic State to take to the skies and to level the playing field against their enemies. Across the world, the low financial cost of drones and the reduced risks faced by pilots is making drone technology an essential tool for militaries, peacekeeping forces and even private companies. From large surveillance drones to insect-like micro-drones, unmanned technology is revolutionizing the way that states and non-state actors compete with each other and is providing game-changing benefits to those who can most rapidly adapt unmanned technology to their own purposes. An essential guide to a potentially disruptive force in modern world politics, The Drone Age shows how the mastery of drone technology will become central to the ways that governments and non-state actors seek power and influence in the coming decades.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• ch. 1. History / Charles Jarnot
• ch. 2. Unmanned aircraft system elements / Joshua Brungardt
• ch. 3. U.S. aviation regulatory system / Douglas M. Marshall
• ch. 4. Certificate of authorization process / Glen Witt and Stephen B. Hottman
• ch. 5. Unmanned aircraft system operations / Theodore Beneigh
• ch. 6. Unmanned aircraft systems for geospatial data / Caitriana M. Steele and Lisa Jo Elliott
• ch. 7. Automation and autonomy in unmanned aircraft systems / Lisa Jo Elliott and Bryan Stewart
• ch. 8. Safety assessments / Eric J. Shappee
• ch. 9. Detect, sense, and avoid / Lisa Jo Elliott, Jeremy D. Schwark, and Matthew J. Rambert
• ch. 10. Sensors and payloads / Douglas M. Marshall
• ch. 11. Human factors in unmanned aircraft systems / Igor Dolgov and Stephen B. Hottman
• ch. 12. The future of unmanned aircraft systems / Richard K. Barnhart

The first comprehensive work on the subject of unmanned aircraft. Much of the material presented is unseen in book form and was classified until 1996. Three quarters of the book looks at the technology of the last ten years and the technology of the future.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)