On "Drone" Vocabulary

Kyle M.

I might be new to the forms, but I've been working at Parallax for the last two months. You'll be hearing much more from me in next few days, but there's one matter that comes up very often in the model aviation and multirotor industry I feel like addressing.

I've spent quite some time this summer thinking about the word "Drone." From my work on ELEV-8 R&D and documentation to every time I fly, I hear strangers saying to one another "Oh! look at the drone!" It's no secret that the word has a negative connotation (either because they think of lethal spy planes raining down missiles, or the government peering through their bedroom window) which is why just about everyone in the industry is searching for a replacement.

There's no shortage of it either; a "quadcopter, also called a quadrotor helicopter, [or] quadrotor, is a multrotor helicopter [or multicopter]...classified as a rotocraft" according to Wikipedia. There is Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or Unmanned Aerial[Aircraft] System (UAS)*, Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), Remotely Piloted Aircraft(RPA), and Remotely Operated Aircraft (ROA), and Unmanned Aircraft (UA).

*Some note that "Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) emphasizes the importance of other elements beyond an aircraft itself. A typical UAS consists of the following: Unmanned Aircraft (UA) control system, and other related support equipment." -Wikipedia

So what terminology do official organizations use?
Unmanned Aircraft System - RCAPA
Unmanned Aircraft System - AMA
Unmanned Aircraft (UA) - FAA
Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) - International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

I did some googling to see how much of an issue this whole thing has become, and needless to say I was surprised when I found dozens and dozens of articles (these are just a few):
"Drones" vs "UAVs" - What's Behind A Name?" - ACLU
"Drones or UAVs? The search for a more positive name" - BBC
"Can You Come Up With A Better Name For Drones?" - Forbes
"Why drone makers have declared war on the word ‘drone’" - Washington Post
"President Obama just used the one word drone makers hate most" - Washington Post

So, I've concluded that in an ideal world, my quadcopter, a type of multirotor, is an Unmanned Aircraft (UA). Those are the only three terms I would ever use. End of story...I wish

However, the "drone" industry doesn't control the media and the public, so, hard as it might be to accept, "Drone" is never going away. It is by FAR the most commonly used term; as pointed out in the second Washington Post article listed above; "It's much simpler, and more accessible, to use the word everyone else does. If you're among the people worried about that — don't. Definitions change. And now that Obama has very consciously dropped the word in a major televised speech, there's no going back. "Drone" is here to stay."

So I'm going to try stop "correcting" people; if they want to call what I'm flying a drone, go right ahead, and maybe, just maybe, if we stop trying to correct people and instead explain to them what we're doing and why," drone" will be a whole new word in a few years' time.

Publison

Good write-up Kyle!

I have been involved with R/C helicopters for a while, and I only see the Elev-8 as a four bladed R/C Helicopter. Most people in the R/C community feel the same.

It's the media that's perpetuating the word Drone, i suspect out of ignorance. IHO the word Drone is tied to a military vehicle,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_combat_air_vehicle



Jim

Heater.

Drones in my mind are those things Americans fly over places like Afganistan to kill suspected terrorists and their children, family and friends. Honestly guys, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

UAVs - I don't know. Sounds like something that would normally be an aircraft but happens to be unmanned and controlled remotely or even autonomously.

Things like the Parallax copter. Well they are just model helicopters aren't they?

I have to admit this whole idea of labelling everything as "drone" is totally stupid.

W9GFO

I call it a quadcopter almost all the time. If I fly it in some way other than line of sight using an RC controller I will call it a UAV.

Courtney Jacobs

We use a few of the acceptable terms for our Quadcopters interchangeably here at Parallax, but drone is not one of them.

Perhaps it is time that people are (gently) reminded what a drone really is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_%28bee%29

Social engineering is a great method for changing people's incorrect habits.

For example: if a person you are speaking with makes reference to, or asks you about a 'drone' in regards to a UAV, simply ask them what male honeybees have to do with your conversation. Guaranteed it will derail their current thoughts, and likely when they start it up again they'll seek a different term. The benefit to this is that you can educate a person on terminology in a humorous and casual way, instead of possibly inviting an argument on semantics. This method probably wouldn't work on a grander scale, though, unless it can be done at a press conference or similar-style event.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

If the wrong term (i.e. "drone") becomes ubiquitous, the key is just to take ownership of it and, by example, to make it mean what you want it to mean. For example, by calling the product a "friendly drone," you can neutralize the bad connotations. (Of course, this does not always work. I don't think "compassionate conservatism" ever got much traction. )

-Phil

Heater.

Courtney,

I don't think your social engineering is going to work at this point. Not unless you have some media clout behind you. I suspect that if you pick up on "drone" in a conversation and start talking about bees people are going to think you are some quibbling idiot.

Oddly, in my experience at least, the word "drone" was not used so much until recently applied to flying death/spying machines. It was used in contexts like: "The brides father gave a very long and boring speech at the wedding, he kept droning on and on for ages".

Why is that? Well until recently the word "drone" immediately conjured up the tubes on the Scottish musical instrument, the Bag Pipes. People who talk on and on and on are "droning" like the bag pipes.

Meanwhile, just saying "quadcopter" is technically accurate but there are quadcopters the size of my palm, clearly a toy. I'm sure there have been very big quadcopters, a Chinook is half a quadcopter after all.

Heater.

Phil,

"friendly drone" sounds like that very charming military term "friendly fire" to me. It's as deadly as hell but it's on our side. Except when it is not.

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

I really don't see the term "friendly drone" catching on any more than trying to put a positive definition on the term "hacker".

I ran into this went we started our local "Hackerspace Group" in Orrville. It's become a "DIY" group. The term "Unmanned Aircraft (UA)" sounds like a good approach.

Nothing is harder than fighting public stupidity.

Heater.

How is "unmanned aircraft" any better? That could be a seek and kill "drone" or an ICBM.

By saying "unmanned aircraft" it kind of implies that it's an aircraft that could be manned but it is not. Which hardly applies to toy helicopters.

You absolutely should not have given up on "Hackerspace Group".

trooks

The only real drones in the air are male honeybees. They have a single function and a short life.

jazzed

If it bothers someone just call it this (which may convey what many of us really feel) :

"Unmanned Reconnaissance And Weapons Utility System"

If they are fast enough to figure out what the acronym is, there is only a 20 percent chance of a bar room brawl. ;-)

If they ask what it means, run!

kwinn

Personally I think UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) is the best generic term while quadcopter, hexcopter, etc. would be used for a specific type of UAS. The generic term for unmanned aerial reconnaissance systems could then be referred to as an Unmanned Aerial Spy System, or it's acronym UASS ;-)

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

I think that, like it or not, "drone" is here to stay and that users have to figure out how to own the word and give it a positive spin -- or let it and the nattering nabobs of negativism own them by default. Just this evening there was a news report of a "drone" gettting "very close" to the Space Needle. The report had an otherwise positive spin, though, and they showed the video it took. It was spectacular.

So viva la drone! Own it! Make it work for you -- not against you!

-Phil

Ken Gracey

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

I think that, like it or not, "drone" is here to stay and that users have to figure out how to own the word and give it a positive spin -- or let it and the nattering nabobs of negativism own them by default. Just this evening there was a news report of a "drone" gettting "very close" to the Space Needle. The report had an otherwise positive spin, though, and they showed the video it took. It was spectacular.

So viva la drone! Own it! Make it work for you -- not against you!

-Phil

I didn't like the "D" word in that newscast report. When I heard the newscast the reporter say "a drone flew surprisingly close to the Space Needle but it didn't hit it". What do you think people envision when they hear this word? Likely one of these:

Something like the Predator "hitting" the Space Needle has very different consequences than a quadcopter running into it. But you're right, Phil. Fighting the use of this word is just like banging your head against the wall.

Yet I recognize that quadcopters are now considered drones to many. Just do a Google images search on the word and you'll get 50/50 mix of quadcopters and military drones.

Sometimes people approach when we fly quadcopters to ask questions. Conversations can go two ways:

Person: "That's a really neat drone - where did you get it?"
Ken: "It's not really a drone because it has no weapons - it's a quadcopter"
Person: slightly deflated, a bit confused says "oh" and conversation flattens. They wanted it to be a real drone.

OR:

Person: "That's a really neat drone - where did you get it?"
Ken: "I made it myself, want to see how it works?"
Person: "yeah of course...hey, honey, come over here and check out this guy's drone!"

Might as well spin it in our favor and hand them a Parallax catalog at the same time, just like you suggested.

Ken Gracey

NWCCTV

I understand the term "Drone" does not seem to apply for most UAV;s but Wiki defines pretty much anything that does not have a person physically in the vehicle as one.

Vehicles

• Combat drone (Unmanned combat air vehicle)
• Robot in general
• Unmanned aerial vehicles

rod1963

Don't worry about the hobbyists.

Just wait until peeping tom companies like TMZ and law enforcement start widespread use of them, drones and spying will be synonymous. If not violence if the police have a say in arming their drones.

LoopyByteloose

This is really a socio-lingusitic battle on a global scale.

Drones have gotten into the global vocabulary due to their successes in the Middle East. But they have also generated a new feeling of insecurity about invaded air space.

So along come r/c hobby flight and the quad fliers that are an exciting and fun innovation. And we get a big boom in their activity. But for the more timid and paranoid amongst the population, there grows a desire to push back and eliminate their presence.

We can try to do the politically correct thing and assert a less pejorative, less derogatory term with hobby flight. But those that fear the devices are still going to think what they do.

In sum, it is going to take demonstrating active measures to be responsible users to change the minds of those that don't understand that these device are not hostile and invasive. Just trying to get people to be more specific in what they call that 'thing' flying overhead may or may not succeed, but it won't change the underlying fears and negative attitudes.

+++++++++++
BTW, I think we are all concerned with the advent of Unmanned Combat Vehicles 0r Unmanned Combat Devices of any sort. Soldiers were expected to perform within some personal moral restraints as well as taking orders from their superiors. Now orders can be deployed without any sort of personal moral restraints filtering what gets done. This paints a pretty dismal picture of where robotic warfare might take us.

Unseen assasins lurking in the skies overhead are likely to create some undesired shifts in politics around the world, probably already have. And hobby r/c flight is being dragged into this to some extent.

The world is alread awash with cameras, so I am no so worried about being snooped. (My windows at home are not clear glass, they are translucent... an Asian feature.)

The real question is what else these unmanned devices might do. Trying to redefine terms is not going to resolve the issues. They are just too massive.

Heater.

Things like quadcopters are: dangerous, noisy and potentially snooping. Especially the bigger ones.

I really don't want to see the day when these things are constantly buzzing the peace an quite of my back yard.

We have had dangerous, noisy, and potentially snooping things like this for decades. They were called model aeroplanes. Those who wanted to fly those as hobby did so in out of the way places. Often with others in clubs and societies and at far away fields and airstrips. The model aircraft types were organized and considerate of those around them.

This new generation of quadcopter users is totally out of line. I'm beginning to thing "drone" is exactly the right word for these machines in the hands of such people.

LoopyByteloose

There are dozens and dozens of good applications for quadcopters.
And nothing flies in a blizzard or typhoon.

Nonetheless, people do love to snoop. And with every new craze, someone tries the craziest things (Amazon wants quadcopter deliver services.)

Regulation and custom will evolve. And of course, there will be incidents that define regulations and custom. It is all very natural.

My real concern is with a new high-technology "Fortress America" that deploys unmanned military might globally from afar and in ways that leave others feeling deeply insecure. We need to win respect and admiration for our culture, not instill fear of it.

Peter KG6LSE

small soap box time .

Part of what I see is the problem .
Quads are cheap ....... Full stop . RC helos and fixed wing was not a low budget hobby back in the 90s . 2 grand was not unheard of .Simply put . If you can afford the toys you most likely had the funds and means to join a club whom had a shared field.

Flight envelope . Quads can take off from a table and land on one.
With this folks start to think they can just fly out of a small back yard .

Back when I flew Glow based RC A/C it was on my parents 5 Acre plot in VA .
You could darn near land a real plane there.


I just got back from OROC's Bend OR Rocket range.
Model rockets have some of the same problems . large ones are a few grand to fly and each fuel grain set can be as much as 600 bucks. the Estes small stuff is not harmless by any means...... I have seen some home brew kits that lost a fin and then head at a 90* across the range . Yea you dont want to launch any thing that can put ANY one or any thing in harms way.......
We just need to put a VERY clear warning on the box of these readdy to fly VTOL based toys .


FWIW here is what I deal with https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterthethinker/14563231389/

1st and last shots are of a .4 scale AIM-9M sidewinder.



One problem IS that to the masses they assume drone = war machine.

Missile = AMRAAM
It's a isssue WE the people instantiated in Our own minds .

I dont use the term drone for any non Mil based device . If its dumb Its a quad part of the UAV umbrella . If it's smart then its a AUAV

The idea that pops in my mind when I hear drone is a RC'ed full size F4-Phantom that has the sad task of being bait for target practice .

tranger

Peter KG6LSE wrote: »

Quads can take off from a table and land on one.

I do ok at the take-off, but landing on the table can be a little precarious.

I call mine a quadcopter and have stopped trying to correct people when they use "drone"

-Russ

trooks

Ken Gracey wrote: »

I didn't like the "D" word in that newscast report. When I heard the newscast the reporter say "a drone flew surprisingly close to the Space Needle but it didn't hit it". What do you think people envision when they hear this word? Likely one of these:

Something like the Predator "hitting" the Space Needle has very different consequences than a quadcopter running into it. But you're right, Phil. Fighting the use of this word is just like banging your head against the wall.

Yet I recognize that quadcopters are now considered drones to many. Just do a Google images search on the word and you'll get 50/50 mix of quadcopters and military drones.

Sometimes people approach when we fly quadcopters to ask questions. Conversations can go two ways:

Person: "That's a really neat drone - where did you get it?"
Ken: "It's not really a drone because it has no weapons - it's a quadcopter"
Person: slightly deflated, a bit confused says "oh" and conversation flattens. They wanted it to be a real drone.

OR:

Person: "That's a really neat drone - where did you get it?"
Ken: "I made it myself, want to see how it works?"
Person: "yeah of course...hey, honey, come over here and check out this guy's drone!"

Might as well spin it in our favor and hand them a Parallax catalog at the same time, just like you suggested.

Ken Gracey

There is another conversation:
#1 Hey you! is that your noisy contraption flying over my back yard?
#2 Yes. That is a gizmo and I built it myself.
#1 I thought so(delivers knuckle sandwich).

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Here's an example of making drones less intimidating -- or moreso, depending on your feelings about dead cats:

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-06/video-dutch-artist-turns-his-dead-cat-flying-quadcopter

See what a friendly face a so-called "drone" can have? And once "drone" becomes acceptable, you can abbrevaite it to simply "D", like "Micky-D" (McDonalds) or "Sunny-D" (Sunny Delight). In this case, I guess it would be "Kitty-D." It gives me the warm fuzzies! (But nope, nope nope: I would never have considered doing that with Browser!)

-Phil

LoopyByteloose

Hmmm. Flying a dead cat?
Is this the results of the Dutch having legal marijuana for decades? (one of those brilliant Har Har moments?)
PETA would certainly be in an uproar if they took notice.
Not exactly in good taste.

Art? I have my doubts.. but anyone can be a phoney artist.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Loopy Byteloose wrote:

PETA would certainly be in an uproar if they took notice.

I doubt it. The owner's beloved pet was already dead, so no maltreatment was involved. We all choose to honor our dead in different ways. Moreover, who cares what that bunch of wild-eyed loonies thinks? FYI, PETA's so-called "shelters" put down more animals than any others, rather than making the effort to get them adopted.

-Phil

LoopyByteloose

@Phil
Yes, PETA are likely a bunch of wild-eye loonies. They just happened to be shapely females that run around with no clothes on as well. So, if the kitty-quadcopter flew past a protest, I wonder if they would take chase.

I really don't have a clue what is a legitimate protest or what is legitimate art these days. Combine the two and I am even more confused.

Genetix

I've always heard the term drone used for military aircraft.

I would consider the Quadcopter a hobbycraft or related to an R/C plane.

ajward

Our local county Sheriff's department is lobbying to acquire some "drones". They say they'll be used to help locate missing elderly folks. That's such a problem around here. Why I must've seen a dozen or so ambling aimlessly past the building before coffee this morning. Give me a break!!!!! :-[

Amanda

ctwardell

ajward wrote: »

Our local county Sheriff's department is lobbying to acquire some "drones". They say they'll be used to help locate missing elderly folks. That's such a problem around here. Why I must've seen a dozen or so ambling aimlessly past the building before coffee this morning. Give me a break!!!!! :-[

Amanda

Well there went my morning coffee, all over BOTH displays...!

C.W.

Heater.

Cops like to have toys to you know, not just us nerdy types.