a case for drones

The time has come for drones. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles played an integral and indispensable part in the United States' military operations during the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Since then, drones have taken new forms, found their way into hobbyists' hands, and recently have played a role in postmodern transportation. Current developments in drone technology prompted visionary leaders of business and industry to adopt Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as an improved means of transportation in various areas of goods and services. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has followed suit, lessening restrictions, drafting terms of use, and ushering in the new reality. Though many express concern and demand legal restrictions, hundreds of drones are currently in use, and thousands of unmanned aircraft are set to take to the skies over America in just a few years. The time has come for pioneers in STEM integration and technology education to utilize this cutting-edge tool as both a topic and instructional device in K-12 education.

BACKGROUND

A little over a century after the Wright Brothers learned how to fly, technological developments in software and sensors, as well as advancement in design and the development of lightweight carbon and composite materials, have allowed for the development of unmanned flight (Houtman, 2013). And though the popular image of drone technology has a strong connotation with Predator drones used for surveillance in Afghanistan since the year 2000 and subsequently armed with Hellfire missiles used for killing since February, 2002 (Sifton, 2012), the history of drone usage predates the flight at Kitty Hawk and has developed slowly alongside manned aviation ever since.

According to Sifton (2012), the development of drones has been part of the human experience since the development of air warfare. He explains that the desire for the remote delivery of explosives without risk to human life has a long history. During World War I, the U.S. Navy hired Elmer Ambrose to invent a fleet of "air torpedoes"-unmanned biplanes launched by catapult with a package of TNT. Though these planes rarely worked, the Air Force attempted to use pilotless planes once more during World War II. Pilots would take flight and parachute from the drone-tobe vehicle once it was successfully aloft. It would then be guided...