Robots From Above: Extending Our Reach [From the Editor’s Desk]

From the earliest time to the present, humans have sought to extend their reach by designing new tools and gadgets. Weather balloons have been used for over 150 years to carry meteorologic instruments for weather prediction, storm forecasting, and climate change research. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, were initially developed as radio-controlled aircraft during the First World War. Nowadays, UAVs are used in agriculture, construction, insurance, and infrastructure inspection, and the commercial market of drones has been fast growing
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. Drones are also very helpful in public sectors and have been used in search and rescue tasks, such as spotting a missing person in mountainous terrain or dropping a lifesaving vest to a person in danger of drowning at sea.