Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Engineering - Robotics, , language: English, abstract: The Department of Transportation recently announced that it intends to impose a registration system for drones (LINK 1). Drones (scientific name unmanned aerial vehicles) are aircraft that do not need a human pilot on board. Their flight is monitored remotely from the ground or via computers embedded on the vehicle. Previously restricted to military operations, these vehicles are increasingly finding applications in the civilian world—firefighting, policing, commerce, research and monitoring etc. According to the secretary, registration will stress the need for drone operators and hobbyists to observe safe flight practices and apply airspace rules (LINK 2). This announcement is a clear indication of just how profound drones are influencing and will continue to impact our lives. In this article, I present ten ways through which drones are shaping our future.