MovieZillaIn recent years, drones have been receiving more and more population. Not only in commercial films, but also in personal filming, drones are widely used as a kind of auxiliary support. However, when we date back to the development of drones, we will find it a painstaking story. In this article, we will view a brief history of drones and see how drones are used in personal life.
1. 1849 Pilotless Balloons
This year is almost the earliest one we can find when some experiences related to the later unmanned air vehicles were carried out. In July 1849, approximate 200 unmanned balloon were launched in Austria.
2. 1896 Pilotless Aircraft
Being interested in flight, Samuel P. Langley had been devoting himself into this issue since his youth. In 1890s, he experimented many steam-powered aerodromes. Aerodrome No. 0 to 2 were not so satisfying, while No. 3 had a great improvement, which was incorporated into the later No. 4. Until Aerodrome No. 5, Samuel P. Langley had been testing these human-carrying flyers, which commenced to be a barrage of failures. In 1896, once he gave up pilots and turned to experiment unmanned aircraft, success was unstoppable.
3. WWⅠ Aerial Surveillance
In this period, extensive use of surveillance was urgently needed to bring any chance. Many kinds of aerial tools were put into battlefield to seek for clues and information about enemy movements.
4. 1858 Transatlantic Telegraph
August 16th 1858 is a day of great significance, on which the first message was sent from Europe and America via the cable, saying “Europe and America are united by telegraphy. Glory to God in the highest; on earth, peace and good will toward men”. This technology is also an indispensable part in the history of drones.
5. 1859 Radio Signal
The invention of radio technology is a result of many people’s effort. Around 1820, the attempt to find out the connection between electricity and magnetism was put forward. In the history of electricity and magnetism, Nikola Tesla is a legend. In 1898, a special shown was displayed: a boat was controlled by radio signals and Nikola Tesla is the first one to demonstrate it. Same as the tech of telegraph, radio signal contributed the development of drones as well.
6. 1917 Radio-controlled Automatic Airplane
In 1910s, scientists in USA tasted more joy of success of drone experiences than their peers in Europe. In 1917, the project named “Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane”, or you mat hear it called “flying bomb” was carried out by two scientists and engineers. This time, a true automatic airplane was born, which was remotely controlled by radio signals.
7. WWⅡRadio-controlled Bomb
Another war period which we are all familiar to. During the war, tech once again served battles. This time, it was the stage of radio-controlled bombs, which showed off greatly.
8. 1946 Q-2
In this year, three types pf drones for training targets were established. Among these three drones, one of them became the origin of the later series of target drones
9. 1980s Predator
justinpickard via Visual Hunt / CC BY-SA
Predator is the most famous drone, while its history starts in 1980s.
10. Now Civil Use
