Drone to the Rescue

On a summer day in 2018, a fun trip to the beach turned terrifying for two teens. The boys, ages 15 and 17, were swimming off the coast of New South Wales in Australia when the water became rough. They soon found themselves being pounded by 9-foot waves—unable to get to shore and struggling to stay afloat.

When lifeguard Jai Sheridan was alerted that two swimmers were in trouble, he sprang into action. But he didn’t rush into the water. Instead, he sent something that could reach them much faster: a drone.

Within 70 seconds, the drone—called a Little Ripper—had located the boys and dropped a flotation device down to them. The boys made it back to dry land, exhausted but unharmed.

This thrilling rescue—all caught on video by the Little Ripper’s camera—is just one example of the many ways that drones are making their way into our lives. And keep your eyes on the skies, because many more drones will soon be buzzing around up there, doing everything from forecasting storms to delivering pizza.

A drone—or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)—is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. Basically, it’s a flying robot. Drones range in size from nano drones that can launch from the palm of your hand to full-sized planes that need a runway to take off.

Until recently, drones were used mainly by the military. But today, they are part of everyday life, thanks to how much cheaper and easier to use they’ve become. For less than $20, you can get a toy drone to fly around your backyard. For a bit more (OK, a lot more—anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars), you can get a sophisticated drone equipped with a fancy camera to take the kind of stunning overhead photos and videos that were once possible only from a plane. You can even get a drone to follow you on an outdoor adventure, flying along overhead as you canoe down a river. Can you say, “amazing YouTube video”?

But click-worthy videos only scratch the surface of drone potential. Already, drones are being used to deliver medicine to hard-to-reach places. They monitor crops and help first responders find the best ways to reach disaster victims. In Australia, drones like the Little Ripper are being used to spot sharks and keep swimmers safe. Meanwhile, scientists are working on how to use drones to predict hurricanes and tornadoes.

Then there is the frontier of drone home delivery. In the not-so-distant future, many of the drivers that show up at our doors when we order something—whether a pair of jeans or a pizza—may be replaced by drones. Currently, Amazon is testing drones that can deliver lightweight packages within 30 minutes of ordering. Domino’s has used drones to deliver pizza in New Zealand. And Google recently tested drones that delivered Chipotle burritos to college students in Virginia.    

Clearly, drones have a lot to offer. Delivery by drone would be convenient, and it could reduce the number of cars and trucks on the roads, which could in turn mean cleaner air. By delivering supplies to places that are difficult for humans to reach—and, as two teenage boys in Australia will tell you, by rescuing swimmers—drones can save lives.

There are, however, concerns about setting a gazillion drones loose in our skies. How will we prevent them from crashing into each other or interfering with airplanes? How will we make sure they don’t harm property, people, or animals? And what about privacy? Do we really want drones zipping around our neighborhoods, taking photos and collecting data? Even that drone following you as you canoe down the river could cause problems—after all, not everyone appreciates a buzzing robot interrupting a peaceful afternoon in nature.

So we’ve got some things to figure out where drones are concerned. But there’s no doubt that drones are here and they’re not going anywhere—except maybe to bring you lunch.

This article was originally published in the May 2019 issue.