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Drone or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) has been a fast-developing technology in recent years. Designed for automatic and remote control, those drones can be used for many different purposes, from rescuing to speedy delivery. It has also been used in many areas, from environment supervision to agriculture, military, and entertainment. However, the question of how to find a lost drone, especially how to find a lost drone without a tracker, seems to be quite a challenge to beginners. In this article, we will introduce 5 steps to finding a UAV without using a tracker for your reference.
What is a tracker of a drone?
To get started with the question of how to find a lost drone without a tracker, let’s find out about the definition of a tracker.
Tracker for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a device used to track the location and the status of the drone in real-time. Those trackers are often used in military activities, environment conservation, scientific research, and wildlife preservation.
Trackers for drones are usually equipped with technology like GPS and sensors for measuring height, speed, flying direction, temperature, and air pressure. The data, after being collected, will be sent to the control center to enable managing and to keep track of the activities of the drone from far away.
The trackers for UAVs can be equipped on the drone or be placed in different spots on the ground to improve the exactness and the limit of data collected.
Step 1: Gather Initial Information
To start with how to find a lost drone, you may need to gather initial information about the lost drone. This includes the name, series number, description of that UAV, and the last spot where it is seen. If you don’t possess enough information about UAVs, try contacting the manufacturer or seller to get the information needed. Or you can go to the websites where you bought it to get access to essential information like types of drones, product specifications, weight, size, flying time, speed, and charging time,…
Step 2: Use GPS and map
GPS stands for Global Positioning System, and it is a global navigation system that was introduced by the American Department of Defense. This system makes use of satellites to send signals to the Earth, and the positioning devices will receive that signal to identify the positions with great accuracy. It is widely used nowadays in navigation devices like smartphones, tablets, cars, planes, and boats,…
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is integrated with GPS so that if you know precisely the coordinates of that drone, you can utilize maps and GPS systems to identify its accurate location. Suppose that the drone has been flying through many different spots. In that case, you can check the geographical data on the map to forecast its current destination.
Step 3: Use the image analysis system
Can you find a lost drone without knowing its exact location? The answer is yes. You can use an image analysis system to track it.
Image analysis systems are widely used in many areas like medical assistance, security, agriculture, and cars,… And you can also take advantage of it to get back to your lost drone!
This system will make use of computer algorithms to analyze the picture and identify the appearance of the drone in that picture. This method may require you with the already-existing image of that UAV. From that, the image analysis system will assist you with getting its correct location.
Step 4: Use Google Earth
Google Earth is an intuitive geographical app enabling users to explore the world through satellite images, maps, 3D models, and other geographical information. This app is developed by Google, and it is available free on many platforms, including a personal laptop, mobile devices, and the web. Google Earth users can see a variety of spots in the entire world, search for geographical information, navigate on the streets, or even take part in virtual tours through cities, famous sites, and areas in the entire world without having to leave their current spots.
Google Earth is a brilliant tool on how to find a lost drone. You can use the “Image history” feature on Google Earth to see the captured picture in the past. This means you can see multiple images of unmanned aerial vehicles. If you can see any familiar image, quickly save it to your phone or laptop for later investigation.
Step 5: Keep up with local information
Many organizations and local communities use unmanned aerial vehicles for environmental supervision, measuring pollution levels, or even wild animal preservation. For example, WWF has been using drones to monitor wilderness and make sure that all endangered animals are protected.
Or Ocean Alliance is using drones to do research and keep track of marine creatures, specifically dolphins and whales. Using drones will help them with data collection about the behavior of those animals, assessing health conditions and their surroundings. Or NASA has been using unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct research on the Earth’s environment. Those drones will collect information about air, water, and land pollution. As a result, we can quickly be aware of what is happening to our environment and what are the upcoming problems.
Suppose you know any of these organizations and local communities. Try contacting them to ask if they are using drones to do their missions. This will help you specify areas where UAVs make the most appearance. From that way, the question of how do I find a lost drone may turn out to be easier for you to answer.
