Difference between UAV and Drone
As drone photography progresses farther into the mainstream, it’s hard not to wonder about all of the terms being thrown around for it. The two most common words being utilized for our profession are UAV and Drone.
These terms are being used interchangeably, but for the most part, they mean the same thing. UAV stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle while drones are simply a type of UAV.
Why are they used at all?
There’s an interesting problem with both of these phrases when it comes to labeling aerial photography. It all has to do with pop culture influence.
My first run-in with the term was it being known as drone photography. It’s the most recognizable form of the word, but it also carries a lot of stigmas because technically drones are the UAV’s that the government uses in the military. Most people here drone photography and are a little upset at the usage of that phrase.
However, for UAV’s most people recognize that term from video games where UAV’s are typically used to receive grainy, satellite images of the opposing team. While this is technically a correct term, it is often misleading to the general public who expect it to be satellite imaging.
So we have one term, drone, which has stigma surrounding it and summons up imagery of unmanned aircraft; and we also have the term UAV’s which can grossly overestimate the capabilities of aerial photography.
Can this be any more complicated?
Yes. There is a third term called UAS, which is becoming more popular too. UAS stands for unmanned aerial systems and is phrased to be the end-all definition for all aspects of aerial photography. So the operator, the device, and the UAV, will all be considered part of that UAS because there is a system that operates between the three, that is the description point.
So there are these unmanned aerial vehicles that operate similarly to drones and are equally part of an unmanned aerial system. All of these phrases can be used to describe the same thing, but there is currently no universal identifier for the device itself… unless it’s a quadcopter, then it looks like this.