Of People and drones

Abstract

Drones – understood here as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in civil context - are becoming more and more evident in public perception. Reaching from parcel delivery to wildlife protection, from precision farming to law enforcement, and from industrial inspection to digital fireworks, nearly every month a new drone application or patent pending is presented in the news. Drones help building bridges, inspecting industrial plants, deliver medication, advertise handbags, survey whales, produce shark-warnings etc. Many applications are said to have market-changing potential (for instance the inspection of power grids, railroads, or pipelines), and nations and institutions across the world are trying to keep up with the dynamic development concerning rules and regulations. The European Commission envisions its ‘U-space’ up and running already in 2019, promising to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. As a strong increase in the number and uses of drones is anticipated by all parties involved there is a rising interest concerning the acceptance of civil drones in the public. As shown with the planning of airport extensions for example lacking public acceptance can be a limit to aviation growth in general. Likewise, hopes and fears of citizens concerning the use of civil drones in their daily environment could be potential barriers or enablers to the further proliferation of civil drones. This paper reports a representative study of the acceptance of the usage of civil drones in Germany. The study questionnaire was compiled by DLR German Aerospace Research Center and conducted by infas institute for applied social services GmbH. Questions were asked by trained staff in a phone interview of about 20 minutes duration. About 830 respondents agreed to participate in the study and provided their answers to the full set of questions. Reporting detailed results this paper helps to better understand the perception of civil drones in the society and thus to describe the general acceptance of civil drones.