Drones – Various Applications
4
equipment and take off with a load of up to 10 kg, as in other models. It has the
features of using the vehicles in automatic or manual mode with products called
desk or vehicle terminal, which enable longer range operation outside the flight
control system and hand terminal, such as returning to the starting position
when it goes out of the coverage area, when the signal is cut off or when the bat-
tery is about to run out (
Figure 3
).
• Octocopter: It is a type of drone with eight propellers. It is an advanced type of
drone that can take off with a load of 25 kg with its equipment. It is especially
preferred for heavily loaded works (
Figure 4
).
• Fixed-wing drones: Unlike rotary wings, they use wings like a regular airplane
instead of vertical lift rotors to provide lift (
Figure 5
). In other words, they only
need to use energy to move forward. They are much more efficient as they do
not use additional power to stay in the air, so they can cover longer distances and
scan much larger areas. Gasoline-powered ones can remain in the air for 16 hours
or more.
The main disadvantage of a fixed-wing aircraft is that they cannot fly in one spot.
Depending on their size, they need a runway or launcher to get them into the air.
Fixed-wing also makes launching and landing them much more difficult, as a runway,
parachute, or net may be needed for a safe landing again after the flight. Only the
smallest fixed-wing drones are suitable for manual launch and “belly landing” in an
open area. Other negative aspects are the high cost and difficulty of using fixed-wing
