This time around we’re going to take a look at how commercial drones, the friendly ones have evolved in time. There’s tons of infographics on the subject of military drones, but nobody seems to care about the quadcopters that everyone can use in their daily life.
It’s amazing how Radio Controlled technology has evolved in paralel with flying quadcopters. From the invention of the basic technology by Nikola Tesla, to the modern quadcopters with tons of sensors and GPS, this infographic and article captures every important moment that you shouldn’t forget.
The History of Drones Infographic
Also, please share the infographic with your friends!
As promised, here are other historical events that I didn’t have enough space to mention in the infographic. If you have any other suggestions please comment down bellow and tell me.
1956 - Convertawings Model A quadcopter
This was the first time propulsion was used to control an aircraft’s yaw, pitch and roll.
It was invented and designed by Dr. Bothezat in 1956.
Unlike classical helicopter design, the 4 rotor system is much more efficient when it comes to fuel consumption and overall controlability.
Why are we not seeing quadcopters on the sky instead of helicopters? Well, the processing power at the time was not enough to be able to control all the four rotors at the same time. These days we have ESC’s (Electronic Speed Controllers) that handle the speed at which the motors rotate.
2006 - First Commercial drone permit by FAA
This was not the start of a revolution, as for the following 8 years they issued an average of 2 permits!
This says a lot about how recent the actual boom of commercial drones is!
2006 - DJI Was founded by Frank Wang!
Frank Wang, a mainland-born student at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has an idea to revolutionize how useful quadcopters are for the mainstream population.
2014 - Parrot sells 180.000 units of AR and AR 2.0
Parrot, one of the most popular drone companies to this day has sold one of the first well-done and working quadcopter models for the wide public.
The Parrot AR and AR 2.0 models have been greately modded by enthusiasts and have become the stepping stone for something bigger.
2015 - FAA issued 1000 drone permits
UAVcoach has an interesting article with data on how many FAA permits have been released overall to the current day. Just keep in mind that in 2015 there were only 1000 recorded drones in the USA.
Keep in mind that the infos above are only for the registered ones! There’s a lot more on the side!
2015 - Yuneec q500 Typhoon
Yuneec, a company known for working in the aeronautical field has developed what seems like one of the best alternatives to the Phantom 3 models from DJI.
I remember having to choose between DJI products and the very awesome Quineec q 500 4k. It comes with a modular removable camera that could be used on the ground too. This system made it pretty revolutionary, even to this day!
2018 - cheap drones get better + Mavic 2?
2018 is the year where cheap chinese drones have adopted optical flow cameras from drones like DJI Tello.
You can now get pretty stable drones for under $50, and use them successfully as selfie drones, although the quality of the image is still questionable sometimes.
Besides that, there have been some rumors and pictures of what looks like the Mavic 2.
If this is the case, expect DJI to make a ton of sales this year, because the Mavic Pro was a total blast with people!
If you’re decided to buy your first camera drone, these are the 2 best under $100 I know of! (link opens in a new tab!)
Xiaomi MITU vs DJI Tello – Which is the better drone? Ultimate Comparison
Flying Time: 8-10 min Motor to motor size:12cm Weight: 88g Battery 3.8v 920mAh Flying Distance: 50m Check Xiaomi MITU price
Good-morning Paul.
I am a researcher in biodiversity and botany. I live in Martinique. I just bought the droneX Pro. Only here, I do not know if I will be able to photograph the top of the trees in forest without risk to endomage my drone. Questions: Is it a good buy? Is it able to detect obstacles at 30 m or 40m above the trees in our forests in the West Indies? Thank you for your reply.
Hey Paul,
what do you think aubout the droneX Pro? They write on thair webside: http://www.shopdronex.com
“This drone is one of the best on the market. There is no product with a comparable price-performance ratio. Just the variety of flight modes and the accuracy of the controls make them match some of the most expensive models and still be affordable. It leaves the competition behind. ” – Paul Archer – DronesGator
Is this correct? Thank your for your reply.