Drones are no longer just the preserve of the military, geeky hobbyists, and aerial photographers: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have landed in the mainstream. This technology has the potential to make our lives easier – and even save them should disaster strike. From making deliveries to teaching children in schools, read on as we take a look at the awesome non-military applications of drones and explore the hurdles they'll need to overcome to take over the world. 

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to the mass deployment of UAVs is the fact that drones will need charging while in the air. Several companies are working on in-flight charging technology, but it could be some time yet before it's effective (and economical) enough to be implemented widely. 

Hurdle number two: US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules require drone operators to keep their UAVs within their line of sight. Similar rules exist in the UK and other countries, making many drone applications a regulatory minefield at present.

These rules are likely to change once regulators are confident in the safety aspects of UAVs. And waivers do exist. For instance, the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is generally more lenient than the FAA, issued Amazon with a waiver that allowed the online retail giant to test its delivery drones in selected urban and suburban areas back in 2016. In August 2020, the FAA also approved Amazon's bid to operate a Prime Air drone delivery service in the US.

The risk of collisions with aircraft and birds, as well as people and obstacles on the ground, are the main safety concerns. Amazon has reportedly been working with the CAA on sophisticated detection systems to minimize this risk, but drone deliveries aren't always plain sailing. In September last year, Google was forced to suspend its drone delivery service in parts of Australia due to aggressive birds, which repeatedly attacked its drones as they flew through the air...

Google's Project Wing program has developed drones that can deliver a variety of items, from consumer products to medication, and has worked on a shared airspace detection system to maximise drone flight safety. Before persistent birds put pay to its efforts in Australia, the company had celebrated 100,000 deliveries in the country, with demand for deliveries apparently growing by 500% from 2019 to 2020.

Dubai's Civil Aviation Authority has also had mixed success with drones. Back in 2017, permission was granted for a dedicated drone taxi service which launched in the emirate that July. Using a touchscreen, commuters and tourists were able to choose from a selection of pre-set destinations. Once they'd selected their destination, the taxi drone, piloted and monitored from a remote command center, would ake off and fly them there in next to no time. In theory.

The service was a collaboration between Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority and Chinese drone firm Beijing Yi-Hang Creation Science & Technology Co. However, it's unclear whether these taxis were ever rolled out widely.

Hot on Dubai's heels, Uber has also been working on its very own drone passenger service called Uber Elevate since 2017. The taxi giant, which hired one of Nasa's top engineers to head the project, originally expected its flying cabs to be ready in three years' time, with the service up and running within a decade.

Beating the traffic and then some, passenger drones have the potential to slash journey times. Uber predicted that an arduous two-hour and 12-minute car journey will take just 15 minutes in one of its flying taxis. In 2020, however, Uber Elevate was acquired by American aerospace company Joby Aviation – and its line of vehicles is still very much in the works. 

With its Prime Air drone delivery service, Amazon has arguably had more success than Google or Uber. The service will deliver certain goods within 30 minutes of a customer placing an order, providing they live within 10 miles of a participating Amazon fulfillment centre. In both the UK and US the drones have been tested under a waiver program, and operations are reportedly scheduled to begin in Lockeford, California later this year. 

Medicine delivery drones are already in service. In 2015, the FAA granted a waiver to a special program called 'Let's Fly Wisely', which uses drones to deliver medicine to hard-to-reach clinics in Virginia. These 'ambulance drones' have the potential to save lives, delivering urgently-needed medication in the nick of time to places that could be difficult for vehicles to reach. And they're only getting more popular; according to estimates from Future Market Insights, Inc, the medical drone market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.3% through next year. 

We can all look forward to having our mail delivered by drones too. In the US, USPS has tested HorseFly drones, DHL has been working on a so-called 'Pacelcopter', and FedEx has been carrying out extensive UAV feasibility studies. But where exactly will these drones deliver your mail? 

 Earlier this week on Fox & Friends, 'the world's first smart mailbox' was revealed to audiences by the founder of Dronedek, an Indiana-based company that's developing a mailbox specifically to receive drone deliveries. The mailbox will be climate controlled to make it suitable for storing medicines or hot food. It will also have the technology to scan for suspicious packages and autonomously call emergency services if necessary. Pictured is the inaugural USPS delivery to a Dronedek mailbox in Lawrence, Indiana on 9 August this year. 

Mail companies in the rest of the world, from China's SF Express to France's La Poste/DPD, are also working on drone delivery technology. The UK's Royal Mail is considering plans to use UAVs to deliver letters and parcels in remote parts of the country.

Fast food firms are embracing the technology in their droves. Chipotle has teamed up with Google to test a burrito delivery drone at the Virginia Tech campus, Domino's Pizza has trialed the 'DomiCopter' in the UK and is already using drones to deliver pizzas in New Zealand, and UK company Deliveroo is looking into using similar drone technology. This year, fast food chain KFC announced that it was partnering with drone freight company Wing to make deliveries in Queensland, Australia, while food and retail delivery company Flytrex has just received FAA approval to expand its drone radius. 

Meal delivery services for the elderly and other vulnerable members of the community are set to be transformed by drone technology. Back in 2017, a Portuguese charity and local authority partnered with Connect Robotics to develop a 'meals on wings' service for seniors. The project's customized drone delivered its first meal in December that year to a septuagenarian living in an isolated part of Portugal.

Drones are even making their way into restaurants to deliver meals. The Timbre Group, a restaurant chain based in Singapore, has worked with Infinium Robotics on a fleet of waiter robots that will deliver food and drinks to diners in its eateries. Similar robots took centre stage in the Olympic Village at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, where human workers were replaced by autonomous machines to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections.

On top of delivering urgently-required medication to far-flung places, drones help save lives in disaster situations. A worldwide volunteer drone search and rescue network called SWARM already exists and is on call 24/7 to help locate missing persons in difficult terrain.

An Israeli company is developing the Cormorant, a passenger rescue UAV that was scheduled to have its first test flight in 2020. Although it's not clear whether the inaugural flight ever went ahead, the Cormorant is reported to be safer than helicopters in certain disaster situations and can reach places that are inaccessible to manned 'copters.

Drones also save lives by helping firefighters tackle blazes and locate missing people and animals. US drone firms Workswell and FLIR Systems make infrared camera UAVs that can detect hot spots and pinpoint casualties. Elsewhere, the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service in the UK uses similar technology. 

According to Canadian news outlet Lethbridge News, drones were also used earlier this month to tackle wildfires in Penticton, British Columbia. Drone technology was reportedly used to map hot spots and scan the edges of a blaze to ensure it's been fully extinguished.  

The market for infrastructure drones that inspect and help maintain everything from gas pipelines and bridges to wind turbines and railroad tracks could be worth up to $45 billion (£36bn) a year according to 2017 estimates from PwC. Companies that are currently producing inspection drones include Insitu and SenseFly, with studies suggesting the construction and infrastructure sectors could make up to 20x cost savings by using UAVs.

Firms such as Agribotix and Precision Drone manufacture agriculture-friendly drones that help farmers look after their crops and keep tabs on livestock, improving efficiency and saving money. These drones can survey crops, identify areas that require irrigation, locate missing animals, and even spray fertilizers and pesticides.

Forget scarecrows. Farmers can snap up the Bird-X ProHawk UAV drone to frighten birds away from their crops. The drone emits a combo of predator calls and prey bird cries to banish them humanely. It can also patrol airport runway perimeters to repel flocks of geese that can strike and disable aircraft. If only Google had implemented this technology in its fleet of delivery drones...

Similarly, conservationists are using drones to monitor landscapes, checking for hazards such as erosion and discretely monitoring bird or land animal migrations. They can also help to protect endangered animals from illegal hunters. The Lindbergh Foundation funds a fleet of drones that help park rangers catch poachers in South Africa's game reserves.

Do you work as a journalist? A drone could be after your job. Capturing footage from warzones, Chernobyl, and the aftermath of natural disasters, drones can travel to areas that would be unsafe for humans. There's even a professional Society of Drone Journalists, though the use of drones in reporting has raised ethical questions about privacy and press freedom. .

Drones have hit the classroom as well. In 2015, US firm Tynker has teamed up with drone company Parrot to produce UAVs that teach kids how to code. The project has been rolled out to thousands of schools in the US – although UAV technology has been used for very different purposes in China, where schools have reportedly employed so-called 'quadcopters' to check students don't cheat on exams.

Drone racing has really taken off as a spectator sport. In 2017, European insurer Allianz entered into a five-year sponsorship deal with the New York-based Drone Racing League, and drones are also providing entertainment in the form of spectacular synchronised formation shows. Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime performance featured hundreds of light-emitting UAVs in February 2017, while the opening ceremony for Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year used more than 1,800 drones to illuminate the sky above the park in Chengdu. 

The fun stuff aside, drones are being used by civilians as well as the military for security and surveillance purposes. For example, the smart Sunflower Home Awareness system deploys a drone to patrol its owner's property, checking for intruders or anything untoward.