Original story

SatWeb 3.5.2006

Environmentalists demand global ban on leisure drone-kites -

nesting birds endangered

WildLife and several other environmentalist organizations have demanded a global ban on the sale and non-professional use of drone-kites. They left a petition to this end with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at their meeting in New York yesterday.

The drone-kites differ from conventional remote-controlled aircraft in that they take their energy from the ground and can be airborne for a practically unlimited period. In actual fact, the most developed examples are flying robots. In certain areas they are so prevalent that they have caused disturbances to nesting birds. In Sri Lanka, for instance, where the craze has spread to all sections of society, many species of birds have not nested at all this year, since they have been surrounded on all sides by dozens of drone-kites. The kites have also interfered with commercial air traffic in numerous cases, despite strict exclusion zones in force around air corridors.

As well as in Sri Lanka, the hobby of flying these drone-kites has become immensely popular in Mexico, Japan, China, and Thailand. The development of a constant energy supply for the toys has meant that it is now possible to equip them with an impressive array of add-on devices. Some of the latest models come with built-in panorama mini-cams, which send a picture to the controller’s videophone on the ground. In this way, the user can - within limits - fly the kite to wherever he chooses, and is not limited to the immediate area above him, where he can actually see it. Next year, Sapporo in Japan plans to host the 1st Drone-Kite World Championships.

Initially the drone-kites were designed to perform a specific task, often with a military intention. Primitive flying robots were deployed for surveillance and missile guidance operations already in the Persian Gulf conflict of the early 1990s. A few years later the Japanese developed a kite-like aircraft that took its energy from the ground in micro-pulses. This gave it an unlimited time in the air, and radically altered the nature of the invention. Aside from military uses, drone-kites have been employed for infra-red mapping, in aerial searches for missing persons, and also for crop-spraying operations in areas where it would be difficult to land and take off conventional aircraft. They were also developed for navigation and for guidance purposes, being programmed to fly ahead of cars, ships, or pleasure craft. The sole limitation on their use was that they could only operate where there was access to a micro-impulse field.

After the turn of the millennium, the first machines came onto the market having the energy source passed to the drone-kite by laser. These craft stayed airborne just as long as it was possible to supply them with energy from portable laser units, and in practice this meant they were only capable of being operated within clear sight of the pilot on the ground.

The present generation of drone-kites is equipped with technology to notify the laser transmitters when they require extra energy, but the limiting factor here is the cost of the transmitters. Kite manufacturers are attempting to skirt this problem by pooling their resources to construct a series of large micro-pulse networks. This would finally free the drone-kites completely, allowing them to be flown almost anywhere - even hundreds of kilometres from the owner - without a laser transmitter leash. According to the plans, the network operators would invoice the kite users with an energy charge according to the micro-pulses used, much the same as in the case of videotelephony.

The idea of micro-pulse networks - in other words of a cordless energy transfer system - has spawned numerous other developments. Some European research establishments have adapted the technology to the design of a city-car, which would derive its energy not from heavy onboard batteries but in the form of micropulses, and would thus be both light, manoeuvrable, and totally pollution-free.

Toteuma-arvio 2026

Toteuma lyhyesti

  • Ilmiön toteuma: 4/5
  • Toteuma viiden vuoden tarkkuudella: ei; arviointi-ikkuna on 2001–2011
  • Toteuma väljemmällä aikahorisontilla: kyllä, myöhemmin ja tunnistettavasti
  • Ilmiön ydin: kuluttajien lennokit yleistyvät niin, että niiden häiriö luonnolle ja eläimille johtaa käyttörajoituksiin.

Kuluttajadroonit ovat häirinneet lintuja ja villieläimiä, ja luonnonsuojelualueilla on asetettu lentokieltoja ja etäisyysrajoja. Laaja yleistyminen tapahtui kuitenkin pääosin vuoden 2011 jälkeen eli ennusteen aikaikkunan ulkopuolella.

Johtopäätös: ydin toteutui vahvasti, mutta ajoitus oli hieman liian varhainen.