Drone
Drone
A small unmanned aircraft that flies through the sky using remote control or autonomous piloting.
In Simple Terms
A drone is a small propeller-powered aircraft that flies without anyone on board, controlled remotely or by autopilot. Since there's no need for a pilot in the cockpit, drones can fly into places that would be hard for people to reach.
Behind the Name
The word "drone" comes from the English term for a male bee. It's said to trace back to the U.S. Navy, which named early unmanned aircraft "drones" as a nod to a British-developed target aircraft called the "Queen Bee." It's also commonly called a UAV, short for "unmanned aerial vehicle," in English.
Take a Closer Look!
A drone is an unmanned aircraft that flies without a pilot on board, controlled remotely or by autopilot. Common shapes include multicopters, which hover using several rotating propellers, and fixed-wing types, which generate lift from wings like an airplane.
Multicopters use onboard gyro and accelerometer sensors to constantly track tilt and movement, letting a computer automatically stabilize the aircraft. This lets operators hover or move freely just by gently tilting a stick on a smartphone or controller, making it beginner-friendly. Fixed-wing drones instead generate lift from their wings while moving forward, steering by tilting the body or turning the nose. They can't hover and need runway space to take off and land, so they demand more piloting skill. Many drones carry cameras, making them useful for filming places that are high up or dangerous for people to reach, such as aerial shots for TV or safety checks on large buildings and bridges.
Drones broadly fall into two types: hobby drones and industrial drones. Industrial drones help solve real-world problems like spraying pesticides on farmland, surveying disaster damage, and delivering packages — safely reaching places people can't.