Drones
Drones (UAVs) in a design context encompass the mechanical, electrical, and software engineering disciplines required to specify, design, build, and certify unmanned aerial systems for commercial, industrial, and defense applications. As a hard skill it requires integrating airframe structures, propulsion systems, avionics, power distribution, and payload interfaces within regulatory constraints (FAA Part 107, DO-178C for certified systems), and validating performance through simulation and flight test. Design engineers apply drone engineering to develop custom inspection platforms, autonomous survey UAVs, and payload-delivery systems where commercial off-the-shelf drones lack the required performance, endurance, or payload capacity.
