A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future Directions

Unmanned aerial vehicles have evolved rapidly in the recent past for their widespread utilization for both commercial and military purposes. It is extremely desirable while designing unmanned aerial vehicles, to enable them to accomplish their tasks with little human intervention. To achieve full au...

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Main Authors: Muhammad Amir Tahir, Imran Mir, Tauqeer Ul Islam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10120941/
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author Muhammad Amir Tahir
Imran Mir
Tauqeer Ul Islam
author_facet Muhammad Amir Tahir
Imran Mir
Tauqeer Ul Islam
author_sort Muhammad Amir Tahir
collection DOAJ
description Unmanned aerial vehicles have evolved rapidly in the recent past for their widespread utilization for both commercial and military purposes. It is extremely desirable while designing unmanned aerial vehicles, to enable them to accomplish their tasks with little human intervention. To achieve full autonomy, an optimal and robust control algorithm that covers complete flight phases is needed. Being propriety in nature, very little information is available in the literature that encompasses all modalities related to UAV design and development. Literature is even more dreath when it comes to near-actual implementation of the developed strategies. This study provides a comprehensive and in-depth review of the most recent and state-of-the-art control and estimation techniques for UAVs, as well as an examination of the flight phases in which those controllers and estimators are utilized. This study also suggests UAV-related research that would improve the overall quality of UAV design and facilitate the transition from software simulations to hardware implementation. Through this paper, a comprehensive platform is established that not only examines the controller and state estimators used for the development of autonomous UAVs but also identifies and discusses the limitations of existing research. In conclusion, several practical implementation considerations and future research directions are proposed.
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spelling doaj.art-adfa04bdf88e46f890056c9c585558852023-06-05T23:00:23ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362023-01-0111525405255410.1109/ACCESS.2023.327378010120941A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future DirectionsMuhammad Amir Tahir0Imran Mir1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0277-8337Tauqeer Ul Islam2Department of Avionics Engineering, College of Aeronautical Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Risalpur, PakistanDepartment of Avionics Engineering, College of Aeronautical Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Risalpur, PakistanCollege of Aeronautical Engineering, National University of Science & Technology, Risalpur, PakistanUnmanned aerial vehicles have evolved rapidly in the recent past for their widespread utilization for both commercial and military purposes. It is extremely desirable while designing unmanned aerial vehicles, to enable them to accomplish their tasks with little human intervention. To achieve full autonomy, an optimal and robust control algorithm that covers complete flight phases is needed. Being propriety in nature, very little information is available in the literature that encompasses all modalities related to UAV design and development. Literature is even more dreath when it comes to near-actual implementation of the developed strategies. This study provides a comprehensive and in-depth review of the most recent and state-of-the-art control and estimation techniques for UAVs, as well as an examination of the flight phases in which those controllers and estimators are utilized. This study also suggests UAV-related research that would improve the overall quality of UAV design and facilitate the transition from software simulations to hardware implementation. Through this paper, a comprehensive platform is established that not only examines the controller and state estimators used for the development of autonomous UAVs but also identifies and discusses the limitations of existing research. In conclusion, several practical implementation considerations and future research directions are proposed.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10120941/Autonomous missionsfixed wingflight controllerlandingstate estimationtake-off
spellingShingle Muhammad Amir Tahir
Imran Mir
Tauqeer Ul Islam
A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future Directions
IEEE Access
Autonomous missions
fixed wing
flight controller
landing
state estimation
take-off
title A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future Directions
title_full A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future Directions
title_fullStr A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future Directions
title_full_unstemmed A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future Directions
title_short A Review of UAV Platforms for Autonomous Applications: Comprehensive Analysis and Future Directions
title_sort review of uav platforms for autonomous applications comprehensive analysis and future directions
topic Autonomous missions
fixed wing
flight controller
landing
state estimation
take-off
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10120941/
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