Week 10: Controversies with UAVs

This week in class we learned about the current uses of drones, the technology behind them, and the social difficulties with drone usage. Now when the common public hears the word "drone" they usually associate it as a bad thing.  For example they think of the few instances where predator drones had a miss-fire and killed civilians in the Middle East.  However that really is the only time people hear the about drones on the media. Drones come in multiple shapes and sizes and they can be applied for various humane uses.

Some of the potential uses for drones is shipping products, traffic surveillance, natural disaster surveillance, and crop monitoring.  They can even be used for emergency situations such as house fires to find if anyone is left in the house what paths to take. There are many other uses waiting to be discovered but I believe the greatest potential lies in the light shipping industry and law enforcement.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see drones flying all over the tops of buildings in a few decades from now bringing people anything from their Cookout meals to their school books they bought of amazon.  It would probably be a lot more efficient too because the drones could take a shorter path to destination rather than following a road. Also, it could probably run on renewable energy such as solar power because in one of NOVA's documentary videos about drones they showed one of the military's drones that can stay in flight all day every day because of solar power. This could reduce the amount of harmful emissions that come from the trucks, planes, and postal cars.

The drones could also help out law enforcement substantially with surveillance but the common public would probably be against that. Yet at the same time I don't see what the problem with it is because law enforcement already uses helicopters for surveillance so I think they should be able to use the more efficient method by using drones.  There just has to be good regulations that does not violate our rights to privacy.

If the common person would like to fly a drone such as a quad-copter for recreational uses he/she would have to comply to the following regulations.

• "Follow community-based safety guidelines, as developed by organizations such as the Academy of Model Aeronautics.

• Fly no higher than 400 feet and remain below any surrounding obstacles when possible. 

• Keep your sUAS in eyesight at all times, and use an observer to assist if needed. 

• Remain well clear of and do not interfere with manned aircraft operations, and you must see and avoid other aircraft and obstacles at all times.

• Do not intentionally fly over unprotected persons or moving vehicles, and remain at least 25 feet away from individuals and vulnerable property. 

• Contact the airport or control tower before flying within five miles of an airport. 

• Do not fly in adverse weather conditions such as in high winds or reduced visibility. 

• Do not fly under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

• Ensure the operating environment is safe and that the operator is competent and proficient in the operation of the sUAS. 

• Do not fly near or over sensitive infrastructure or property such as power stations, water treatment facilities, correctional facilities, heavily traveled roadways, government facilities, etc. 

• Check and follow all local laws and ordinances before flying over private property. 

• Do not conduct surveillance or photograph persons in areas where there is an expectation of privacy without the individual’s permission"

 (http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/KBYF_Brochure.pdf)

As you can see there are many regulations and rules about flying personal drones.  I think this long list is a smart way to make sure private drone usage is safe for the rest of the public. However, in order to allow the drone 

Quad-copter

www.x-sportsworld.com

Week 9: Balloon Aircraft Project and Unmanned Aerial Systems

After the spring break, this week in class we began to explore the history and development of the UAV. When people hear of unmanned aerial vehicles today they tend to think of drones and predator drones that are capable of taking down enemy targets.  UAVs were created primarily because since the Civil War and WWI  people saw the importance of having the intel of the geography/terrain and the enemy's movements.  As I have mentioned before, the United States saw the value of using balloon aircraft to gather intelligence in both the civil war and WWI. However, in WWII other countries especially France advanced from balloon aircraft to war planes.  This time period served more as an experimental phase for which air crafts worked well. For example they began to figure out what were the best uses for lighter planes and bigger heavier aircraft.  Even though light aircraft flew a quarter million missions in Europe during WWII  there were many accidents and malfunctions with the planes and missions.  One of the problems were that they were so massed produced in a short period of time which led to many problems.  For example, as a ship carried the planes over seas, some pilots and their crew would spend the whole time fixing all the planes manufacturing problems.

Even worse, in operation TORCH it was the Army's first use of light aviation in combat and it ended horrifically. It ended being shot down by friendlies due to the lack of communication.  However, in the coming wars (Cold War,Vietnam, Korean) the United States Air Force improved dramatically.  Along with helicopters and improved combat planes came the start of practical UAVs. At first they were used for observation purposes and target practice for the military.  Now, today there are a variety of uses for UAVs ranging from taking out enemies to gathering agricultural data. 

This week's reading has been somewhat of a review on everything we learned prior to spring break. It touched on the uses of balloon aircraft and the different techniques to acquiring observational data.  

Even though this reading was mostly about the use of air craft in the military, a lot of the same techniques and devices are used for commercial purposes. For example, some UAVs today have similar purposes as satellites and may be even more efficient in certain cases.  

I am looking forward to researching and providing more information about the current uses and controversies regarding drones.

Before I close this blog, I must give a shout out to the facilities people here at Furman University for retrieving the Go-Pro out of the tree for my group.  

https://furman.app.box.com/files/0/f/3275246380/1/f_27493411538

Week 7: Light Spectrum

This week in class we discussed multiple topics relating to light waves and resolution in remote sensing.  We addressed some of the things that are a part of our everyday lives that we never really question the science behind. For example, why the sky is blue, why clouds are white/gray, and why the sunsets are a mix of the red, pink, and orange.  The reasoning behind it has to do with the wave length of light and light scattering. Since blue light in the visible spectrum has a short wavelength and high frequency it has a greater chance of colliding with other particles in the atmosphere and sent in another direction, which is called scattering. Most of blue light is scattered in the atmosphere which is why the sky appears blue during the day time. Now the reason why we have beautiful sunsets with the shades of red is because red light has a longer wavelength.  The longer wavelength means less chances of scattering and it travels a longer distance. So at dawn and dusk when our place on Earth's surface is far from the sun, you can think of it as a tangent point, the red, orange, and yellow light is visible.  Look at the picture below to see a visual explanation.


www.esrl.noaa.gov

This is a picture of a sunset I took this past Summer in Florence Italy.  

Taken by Stephen Barr in Florence

Another thing I have to mention is "the dress" because it became a phenomenon in just one day.  On Thursday, April 26th, my friend texted me a picture of this dress and she asked me, "Stephen, what color is this dress?" I thought it was a strange question to ask but I texted her back "blue and gold" and my friend, looking over my shoulder at my phone, saw the dress as gold and white and he was shocked at my text and asked me, "dude why did you say blue and black!?" From there it didn't take long to find out that this dress is playing tricks on us.  There are a lot of websites and blogs on the internet that try to explain it. Some of the theories are fictional for the most part, for example, one explanation tried to say that if you see black and blue and means you are feeling depressed. Another article went on to explain how humans never really saw "blue" until recently. Blue was just a shade of another color. They looked at old texts and artifacts and none mentioned blue. One of the examples they used in history is the book The Odyssey, the author, Homer, describes the color of the sea as "wine-dark."  I'm still not quite sure how that relates to people see different colors of the dress now.

Another source, Professor Billy Hammond from UGA believes the changes in color has to do with the opponent process theory. He says that the dress's color falls right at the intersection where we perceive one color as opposed to another.  That explanation makes a little more sense to me because it is strange how sometimes when I look at the dress, the color changes right before my eyes.  

I have to admit I find it really cool learning about the properties of light and why we see what we "see." For example on my trip to Chicago today, I understood why we saw haze in the sky and why the sunset was the color it was. It is neat seeing the world from the science perspective. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-blue-and-how-do-we-see-color-2015-2

http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/she-color-blinded-me-with-science-what-s-the-deal/article_8b90d15c-c1ea-11e4-b688-e703f9f523c4.html