Drones for Development: Robotic Companions Aiding Citizens and Journalists of the Developing World Matthew Schroyer @matthew_ryan Professional Society of Drone Journalists (PSDJ) Founder & President Entrepreneurial Leadership in STEM Teaching and learning (EnLiST) Drones for Schools Developer
Afghanistan Australia Bangladesh Brazil Cambodia Canada Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Finland France Germany Guatemala Holland Hong Kong India Indonesia Italy Jamaica Korea Latvia Mexico Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Pakistan Philippines Portugal Russia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Tanzania Thailand United Kingdom United States 330+ journalists educators engineers 38 countries
GARTNER HYPE CYCLE FOR TECHNOLOGIES
STATE OF THE DRONE Gartner, 2010 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
STATE OF THE DRONE Gartner, 2011 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
STATE OF THE DRONE Gartner, 2012 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
STATE OF THE DRONE Gartner, 2013 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
STATE OF THE DRONE Gartner, 2014 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
Major areas for impact 1) Precision Agriculture 2) Remote Sensing 3) Disaster and Urban Planning 4) On-Demand Infrastructure 5) Reportage and Information 6) Building Human Capital
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Dawn of Modern Crop-dusting (1998) Yamaha RMax
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Ag Drone Adoption in Japan
2025: PRECISION AGRICULTURE Configuration and Specifications of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for Early Site Specific Weed Management. (PLOS one) Jorge Torres-Sánchez, Francisca López-Granados, Ana Isabel De Castro, José Manuel Peña-Barragán.
2025: PRECISION AGRICULTURE
2025: PRECISION AGRICULTURE Flexible pcb Swappable sensors Precision Hawk Lancaster III
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Drones Assist in Fukushima Disaster (2011) USAF in Guam deployed RQ-4 Global Hawk 22 hours after earthquake Used infrared sensors to detect the temperature of the nuclear reactor Flew 20 missions, encompassing 300 flight hours
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Image by: United States Navy
2025: REMOTE SENSING AND DATA Drones for Schools, Champaign, Illinois, USA
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Post-hurricane mapping in Philippines (2014)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Post-hurricane mapping in Philippines (2014) Flight time: 11.6 hours Mapped: 48.6 sq km Acquired: 5,139 images Resolution: 5cm/px
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Post-hurricane mapping in Philippines (2014)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Post-hurricane mapping in Philippines (2014)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Post-hurricane mapping in Philippines (2014)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Urban planning in Albania (2014)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Urban planning in Albania (2014)
2025: PLANNING AND RUNNING SMART CITIES
HISTORICAL CONTEXT DHL Packetkopter, Dec., 2013
2025: INFRASTRUCTURE ON DEMAND
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Hobby Drone Finds Illegal Dumping (2011) Hobbyist drone Illegal dumping
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Coal Ash Spill, North Carolina, USA (2014)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Gezi Park Protests, Turkey (2013)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Drone Journalism: Newsgathering applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in covering conflict, civil unrest and disaster. Direct personal contact remains an essential element; gathering information and gauging mood, context and accuracy, and this is difficult to achieve remotely. But there are applications where it may be too dangerous or difficult to have a journalist on the ground where the lone drone could be extremely beneficial to the safety of news gatherers in the field. - Corcoran, ABC, 2014
2025: HUMAN RIGHTS INVESTIGATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING LIVESTREAMING Adrian Nemeti, Romania, 2014
HISTORICAL CONTEXT The Maker Revolution Takes Off (2006) Cheaper, smaller, faster processors and memory makes inexpensive open-source controllers possible Code and project ideas are shared freely on the internet Cost of sensors and components drops, making robotics an affordable hobby for many
2025: SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES WoeLab, Tongo
Thank you! (please drone responsibly)