UASĪn Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) refers to the whole system (everything) that makes a UAV work including the aircraft itself, all of its ground control systems (including any laptop/tablet/smartphone, and handled flight controller), GPS module, transmission systems, camera, all its software, and also including the pilot on the ground controlling the drone. Aerial drones, quadcopters and any remote-controlled unmanned aircraft are UAVs.

UAVĪ device that can propel itself through the air without a pilot onboard. RPASĪnother term for Aerial drone / UAV / UAS, but more specifically equivalent to UAS as it encompasses the whole system.Ī term that is favoured by aviation authorities and often appears in regulatory and legal documents. ROV is a term now most typically used for aquatic submarine ROV's. The term is now used widely to denote a remotely controlled terrestrial vehicle. The term 'rover' was made fashionable way back during the NASA lunar landings, when a lunar rover manned vehicle was landed on the moon to enable NASA astronauts to explore wider areas during their brief time on the moon. Most typically this term is used for terrestrial or aquatic robotic vehicles. ROV / ROVERĪs with the term drone, this can be a terrestrial, aerial or aquatic remote-controlled system. Generic term for a UAV with multiple rotors/propellers. Strictly speaking this can be a terrestrial, aerial or aquatic remote-controlled system, although this is now increasingly a term accepted to mean an aerial system. DroneĪn unmanned vehicle capable of programmed/software controlled or autonomous operation. There are many terms (typically three letter acronyms, TLAs) that are used interchangeably to refer to aerial, terrestrial and aquatic drones.Ī remote controlled submersible aquatic drone. In this Drone Tech Aerospace Glossary of Terms resource page we attempt to explain many of these acronyms and terms in order to aid clients and business partners to understand and navigate this new drone industry.

As with all technology industries, the drone industry uses a vast number of terms and terminology that to the uninitiated can simply be gobbledygook.

Commercial drone meaning