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Architecture, Classification, and Applications of Contemporary Unmanned

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Article in IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine · March 2021

DOI: 10.1109/MCE.2021.3063945

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 1

Architecture, Classification, and Applications of

Contemporary Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Yousef Alghamdi, Arslan Munir, and Hung Manh La

Abstract—Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been in more critical applications, such as search and rescue
gaining significant attention in recent times as they are missions, and delivering medical supplies. UAVs have
becoming increasingly accessible and easier to use. UAVs been used in military applications since the early 1970s,
are used in a variety of applications, ranging from civilian and their role is growing now more than ever. As of 2018,
tasks, law enforcement, and rescue applications, to mili-
the number of remotely piloted aircraft in the U.S. Air
tary reconnaissance and air strike missions. This article
serves as an introduction to UAV systems’ architecture,
Force rose from 1,366 in 2013 to 2,404 [2].
classification, and applications to help researchers and UAVs have been the subject of considerable research
practitioners starting in this field get adequate information over time and various UAV topics have been covered.
to understand the current state of UAV technologies. The Shakhatreh et al. [3] research covered in-depth the
article starts by inspecting the UAVs’ body configuration civilian applications of UAVs and the key challenges
styles and explains the physical components and sensors and problems that are facing each application. The
that are necessary to operate and fly a UAV system. The authors provided a classification of UAVs based on
article also provides a comparison of several components the communication platform into low altitude platform
for state-of-the-art UAVs. The article further discusses
(LAP) and high altitude platform (HAP). Kim et al. [4]
different propulsion methods and various payloads that
could be mounted on the UAV. The article then explores the provided a comprehensive study on the use of UAVs in
classification of UAVs followed by the application of UAVs agriculture. They defined a basic UAV architecture based
in different domains, such as recreational, commercial, on body type as fixed-wing or rotatory wing. The authors
and military. Finally, the article provides a discussion of explored the hardware, sensors, and communication
futuristic technologies and applications of UAVs along with systems that are used in agricultural UAVs. The authors
their associated challenges.1 further discussed the limitations of UAVs in agricultural
applications. Gupte et al. [5] surveyed quadcopter UAVs.
The authors discussed the flying mechanism, control
I. I NTRODUCTION
systems, and some of the sensors of quadcopter UAVs.

U NMANNED aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been

gaining significant attention in recent times as
they are becoming increasingly accessible and easier to
The survey, however, did not discuss the applications of
UAVs.
This article aims to provide a brief introduction
use. The current advancements in flight controllers have to the UAV systems’ architecture, classification, and
enabled users to fly a recreational UAV without any applications to help researchers and practitioners starting
prior flight experience. Hence, the number of recreational in this field get adequate information to understand the
UAVs has shown a tremendous surge in recent years. current state of UAV technologies. This article begins the
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that discussion by inspecting the UAVs’ body configuration
990,000 recreational UAVs were registered by December styles and building materials. The article then explores
2019, up from 137,701 in the fourth quarter of 2015 [1]. the physical components and sensors that are essential to
UAVs are currently used in a variety of applications, operate and fly a UAV system as well other components
ranging from civilian tasks to military reconnaissance and sensors that could be installed for mission-specific
and strike missions. purposes. The article discusses different propulsion
Civilian UAVs can be used for recreational purposes methods that are used to power the UAVs and explore
or used in commercial applications, such as aerial various payloads that might be attached to a UAV.
cinematography, agriculture to spray pesticides and The article provides different classifications of UAVs
herbicides, and logistics. UAVs can also be used and such as that based on the U.S. Department of Defense
1 (DOD) group classification and other classifications
This is the author’s version of an article that has been published
in IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, 2021. The final version of based on weight, wingspan, and altitude. The article
record is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MCE.2021.3063945 explores different applications of UAVs in recreational,
 2

commercial, and military domains. installed behind the UAV. Another style is a delta wing,
Our main contributions in this article are as follows: which is the simplest build configuration. This style has
• Discussion of UAV architecture and components the propeller at the back like the pusher configuration
including UAV body styles, sensors, flight but there is no rudder and the elevons control the pitch
controller, propulsion methods, and payload. and yaw.
• Providing a comparison of several components for Multirotor: Multirotor UAVs (Fig. 1) can be configured
state-of-the-art UAVs. using multiple motors installed on arms. This body type
• Examining different classifications of UAVs such has the advantages of vertical takeoff and landing and
as the one based on DOD group classification and can hover in a fixed position. Multirotor UAVs can fly
the others based on UAV weight, wingspan, and in any direction and change speed, altitude, and direction
altitude. abruptly, but these UAVs usually tend to have a shorter
• Elaboration of a variety of recreational, commercial, range and flight duration. The multirotor body can be
and military applications of UAVs. designed as a traditional helicopter, a tricopter where
• Discussion of futuristic embodiments and it has three arms with three motors one on each, or a
applications of UAVs and the challenges associated quadcopter where it has four arms with four motors.
with these technologies. Multirotor UAVs can also be configured with a variable
number of arms and rotors.
II. UAV A RCHITECTURE Vertical Takeoff and Landing: Vertical takeoff and
Most UAVs are made up of modular components that landing (VTOL) body type (Fig. 1) is very versatile
fit on and inside the body of UAVs and are powered as it can be a hybrid of the two previously mentioned
by an energy supply. Depending on the style of flight body styles (i.e., fixed-wing and multirotor). The VTOL
and missions to be performed, a UAV can have one UAVs typically use multirotors to takeoff, land, and
of many different body configurations. This section hover, whereas these UAVs transition to a normal fixed-
discusses UAV body styles, body material, and different wing flight style to travel horizontally. The VTOL UAVs
components of UAVs. can be configured by affixing quadcopter rotors on a
fixed-wing like Aerosonde HQ by Textron Systems.
A. UAV Body Styles Other VTOL body configurations include tiltrotors and
tiltwings. In tiltrotor UAVs, some of the rotors on the
UAVs can have many different body styles or shapes
wing tilt vertically and horizontally like the Bell V-247
depending on the flight style and intended usage or
Vigilant. Tiltwing UAVs have a wing that is normally
missions. UAV body styles mainly fall into one of the
horizontal while flying but rotates up in the cases of
following types:
vertical takeoff and landing.

B. UAV Body Material

The body of UAVs could be made of a plethora
of materials, such as foam, plastic, wood, carbon
fibers, aluminum, and G-10 (a high-pressure fiberglass
laminate). Materials such as foam, plastic, and wood
Fig. 1: Examples of UAV body styles. are lightweight and easy to shape and usually used for
small and light UAVs running on an electric motor.
Fixed-Wing: Fixed-wing UAVs (Fig. 1) are modeled Carbon fibers and G-10 are very strong and light but
after conventional airplanes and utilize the same flying an expensive alternative to the aforementioned materials
concepts. Fixed-wing UAVs need a runway or need to be (i.e., foam, plastic, and wood). Aluminum is mostly used
thrown by hand or slung using a catapult to take off. Such in bigger UAVs that have an engine and carry heavier
UAVs also need a runway or need to be caught by a net payloads (e.g., packages for delivery, cargo, missiles).
or require a landing parachute to land safely. The fixed- Table I compares the density, tensile strength, and pros
wing configuration of UAV has the advantage of having a and cons of some of the UAV body materials.
larger payload capacity and longer flight time due to the
low consumption of power needed for gliding. The body C. UAV Components
style of fixed-wing UAVs might be designed as a normal A UAV is made up of modular components that
plane or in a pusher configuration, where the propeller is are installed on or inside the body of UAVs. Some
 3

TABLE I: Comparisons of different UAV body

materials.
Material Density Tensile Pros Cons
(g/cm) Strength
(MPa)

Easy to
Foam 0.05 46 – 60 shape, Weak

Flexible

Plastic 0.06 – 2 – 88 Lightweight,

Varying
1.96 Widely
strength
available Fig. 2: Main components of a UAV.
Wood 0.17 7 – 64

Carbon
1.75 2000 – 5600 Very
Fibers measure the UAV’s speed, orientation, and direction
lightweight, Expensive
G-10 1.80 262 – 310 Strong along 9 axes. Currently, most professional and military
IMUs tend to incorporate redundant IMU sensors. The
Aluminum 2.70 276 – 310 Strong Heavy
advantage of this redundancy is to get the most accurate
data from the sensors. Furthermore, redundancy is
of these components are essential for the operation helpful in case of a sensor failure, where the redundant
and flying of UAVs whereas other components are components provide a level of fault tolerance.
installed for mission-specific purposes. Fig. 2 depicts
Global Positioning System: The global positioning
the main components of a UAV. This section discusses
system (GPS) chip is used to get the position of the
the main components of UAVs focusing on sensors,
UAV from multiple satellites, which is how the UAV
flight controllers, propulsion subsystem, payloads, and
gets a navigation system. The GPS chip together with
communication subsystem.
the IMU constitutes the navigation system of a UAV,
1. S ENSORS : UAVs use a variety of sensors that provide which measures the speed, positioning, and heading of
the flight controller with data such as telemetry, attitude the UAV. The GPS chip can either be a separate receiver
measurements, terrain, and obstacles. Sensors are also chip or part of the flight controller.
an integral part of situational awareness of UAVs. The Visual, Ultrasonic, and Infrared Sensors: UAVs often
combination of sensors installed on UAVs depends on the incorporate visual, ultrasonic, and infrared sensors to
complexity and sophistication level of UAVs. The most detect obstacles and avoid collisions by measuring the
common sensor suite for UAVs include the following relative distances to the objects in the path of the UAV
sensors. or surrounding it.
Inertial Measurement Unit: An inertial measurement
2. F LIGHT C ONTROLLER : The flight controller is the
unit (IMU) is an electronic device that provides a
brain of the UAV. The flight controller is the hardware
measurement of UAV’s attitude, specific force (i.e., non-
and the firmware that processes all the information that
gravitational force per unit mass also called g-force),
is collected from the IMU, GPS, and other sensors. The
angular velocity, orientation, and position information.
flight controller also controls the payload on the UAV
Most of the IMUs consist of a combination of the
(such as cameras and other sensors). The flight controller
following sensors:
can be fully autonomous or just provide some level of
• Accelerometer: measures the linear acceleration ax , navigation assistance in the autopilot mode using the
ay , az on the three axes of the body x,y,z. sensed data from the IMUs and other sensors to control
• Gyroscope: measures the angular change rate p, q, the UAV. Some of the flight controllers are capable of
r on the three axes of the body x,y,z. being programmed to set a home point from where the
• Magnetometer: Determines the heading of a UAV UAVs can be launched and land back automatically. The
by measuring the earth’s magnetic field. flight controllers provide the ability to fly a UAV through
• Barometer: Determines the altitude of a UAV by preloaded flight paths utilizing waypoints. Waypoints are
measuring the earth’s atmospheric pressure. a set of predefined location coordinates, which can be set
Since each one of the IMU components works on 3 up before the flight by specifying each point’s latitude,
axes, by combining the three components (accelerometer, longitude, and altitude, that creates a route so that a
gyroscope, magnetometer) the flight controller can UAV can fly autonomously from one waypoint to the
 4

TABLE II: Example of contemporary flight controllers.

UAV Components Pixhawk Cube Orange Lockheed-Martin Kestrel v3.1 CUAV V5 NANO
Processor 32-bit ARM-M7 @ 400MHz DSP @ 500MHz 32-bit Arm-M7 @ 216MHz
Memory 1 MB RAM, 2 MB flash 32 MB RAM, 32 MB flash 512 KB RAM, 2 MB flash
Three 3-axis accelerometers Three 3-axis accelerometers
Accelerometer ICM-20948 / ICM-20649 / ICM- One 3-axis accelerometer ICM-20602 / ICM-20689 /
20602 BMI055
Three 3-axis gyroscopes Three 3-axis gyroscopes
Gyroscope ICM-20948 / ICM-20649 / ICM- One 3-axis gyroscope ICM-20602 / ICM-20689 /
IMU 20602 BMI055
One 3-axis magnetometer One 3-axis magnetometer
Magnetometer One 3-axis magnetometer
ICM-20948 IST8310
Barometer MS5611X5 Absolute and differential sensors MS5611
Cost $250.00 $5,000.00 $183.42

next. The flight controller can also be programmed to TABLE III: Different types of fuel-powered UAV
make the UAV loiter in a specific location. The flight engines.
controller automates the UAV flight with the help of Attribute LYCOMING Rotax 914 Honeywell Rolls
sensors, throttle, servos, and payloads that are connected EL-005 T76 Royce
to the flight controller. The autopilot capabilities depend F137
on the flight controller’s firmware. All the commands Two-stroke Four-stroke Turboprop Turbofan
are programmed on a computer before the flight and Type piston piston jet jet
then loaded to the flight controller. Table II shows the engine engine engine engine
processing power, memory, IMU components, and cost Max 900 Watts 84.5 kW @ 700 kW 44.7 kW
of three of the most common flight controllers: the Power @ 5,500 5,800 RPM @ 2,000 @ 16300
Pixhawk Cube Orange, Lockheed Martin Kestrel v3.1, RPM RPM RPM
and CUAV V5 NANO. Weight 13.8 lb 140.8 lb 385 lb 641 lb

3. P ROPULSION S UBSYSTEM : UAVs can utilize a Jet Fuel, 100LL

Mogas, Leaded
variety of propulsion subsystems depending on the size, Fuel Unleaded Avgas, Jet Fuel Jet Fuel
type, and mission of the UAV. Avgas Unleaded
Regular Gas
Fuel Engines: UAVs can utilize the same engine
technologies like that of the aircraft. The UAV engine Cost $150K $34.9K $480K $3.76M
can be a piston engine, whether a two-stroke engine such
as the LYCOMING EL-005, or a four-stroke like the of the aforementioned engine types.
Rotax 914. UAVs can also be powered by jet propulsion, Electric Motors: UAVs that run on electric motors
such as turbofan and turboprop engines. The Honeywell usually fly for a shorter period as compared to those
T76, for instance, is a turboprop engine found in General being run on fuel engines, but they have the advantage
Atomics’s MQ-9 Reaper. The Rolls Royce F137 is an of being lighter, quieter, and easier to launch. Motorized
example of a turbofan engine, which is used by the UAVs use brushed motors that are powered by a
Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4C battery, mostly lithium-polymer (Li-Po). Additionally,
Triton. an electronic speed controller (ESC) circuit is required
Depending on the engine type, a UAV can be to give the flight controller control over the speed and
powered by a variety of fuel types such as kerosene, direction of rotation of an electric motor. An ESC works
diesel, gasoline, biodiesel, methanol, ethanol, or liquefied by adjusting the frequency of the transistors and creating
petroleum gas (LPG). Engines usually have a higher a rotating magnetic field that rotates the motor. The speed
noise level as compared to electric motors, but they tend of the motor is proportional to the switching frequency
to have better endurance. The Aerosonde HQ by Textron of transistors of the ESC circuit.
Systems with the LYCOMING EL-005 flew over the Hybrid Engines: A hybrid propulsion system consists
Atlantic for 26 hours and 45 minutes in stormy weather, of two parts: an engine and an electric motor. A
using only a gallon and a half of fuel [6]. Table III shows hybrid propulsion system can be set up in multiple
the maximum power, weight, fuel type, and cost for each configurations:
 5

• Parallel: In a parallel configuration, either the

electric motor can be used alone to drive the
propeller, or the engine can be used alone to rotate
the propeller and charge the battery. In the latter
case, the motor works as a generator powered by
the engine. The engine and the electric motor in
this setup are mechanically coupled using a gear
that is used to drive the propeller.
• Series: In a series configuration, the electric motor
is connected directly to the propeller and is used to
drive it. The engine is not mechanically connected Fig. 3: Different methods for UAV communications.
to the propeller, instead, it is connected to a
generator that is used to charge the batteries and enforcement applications, UAVs can be outfitted with
power the electric motor. speakers and lights. A speaker can be installed on UAVs
• Parallel-Series: This setup uses a planetary gear to transmit sounds, and the lights are useful in low light
connected directly to the propeller; both the engine environments.
and the electric motor are connected to the planetary 5. C OMMUNICATION S UBSYSTEM : A UAV operator
gear. The UAV could run on the electric motor or can communicate with the UAV using any of the
the engine. When the engine is used, the planetary following: radio controller transmitter, ground control
gear transfers most of the energy to the propeller station (GCS), or satellite duplex data links. The GCS
and some to a generator that is used to charge the communicates with the UAVs by implementing the micro
batteries. air vehicle link (MAVLink) communication protocol.
4. PAYLOADS : The payload means the weight that a The most widely used method of communication in
UAV can carry other than the UAV weight itself. The commercial UAVs is the radio frequency (RF). A data
body style of the UAV is crucial in determining the link is installed on-board the UAV that contains an
payload size. Multirotor UAVs can carry small objects uplink to carry the control instructions to the UAV
for a short-range. On the other hand, fixed-wing UAVs from the operator or command and control (C&C)
can have a high payload capacity. Depending on the stations and a downlink to get the video feed and
mission type and the purpose of flying a UAV, many telemetry from the UAV such as speed, orientation,
different combinations of payloads can be installed on direction, altitude and latitude, power or fuel levels,
the UAV as described below. payload information, and many other parameters. The
Sensors and Cameras: All the interchangeable sensors radio frequencies commonly used for controlling UAVs
that are not part of the flight controller and are not are 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz. The 900 MHz
critically related to the UAV flight operations are part of frequency has a longer range but smaller data rate as
the payload. A UAV can utilize a multitude of payload compared to other controlling frequencies for UAVs. On
sensors (e.g., temperature, humidity, pressure, proximity, the other hand, the 5.8 GHz frequency has a shorter
rangefinder, and LiDAR) and cameras, such as night range, but higher data rate as compared to other
vision, visual (red, green, blue (RGB)) cameras, and controlling frequencies for UAVs. Military UAVs utilize
infrared, both near-infrared (NIR) and long-wavelength X-band satellite communication (SATCOM) to perform
infrared (LWIR), cameras. Any UAV will have at least beyond the line-of-sight missions. The X-band SATCOM
one camera (to provide the live feed) or multiple cameras works at the super-high frequency (SHF) in the range
for high-quality images and videos. 7.25 GHz to 8.4 GHz which has the advantage of being
resilient to weather. Fig. 3 illustrates MAVLink, RF, and
Weapons: Weapons are an essential payload in military
SATCOM methods for communication with UAVs.
applications. UAVs can be outfitted with a variety of
missiles and bombs such as Hellfire missiles, Stinger
missiles, Griffin missiles, Viper strike bombs, laser- III. C LASSIFICATIONS OF UAV S
guided bombs, or any other combinations. There have been plenty of classifications for UAVs
Tanks and Sprayers: In commercial applications, a UAV based on a variety of parameters or characteristics,
can be equipped with a tank and sprayer to help in crop such as size, weight, speed, altitude, and endurance.
irrigation, pesticide spraying, and firefighting. Commercial and recreational UAVs are classified in a
Speakers and Lights: In search and rescue and law way that is different from military ones. There is not
 6

TABLE IV: U.S. DOD Classification of UAV Groups. TABLE V: UAV classification based on weight and
wingspan [9].
UAV Group Max Takeoff Operating Speed
Weight (lb.) Altitude (Ft) (knots) Class Weight WingSpan
Group 1 < 20 < 1200 < 100 UAV > 5Kg > 2m
Group 2 21-55 < 3500 Small UAV ≤ 5Kg ≤ 2m
< 250
Group 3 < 1320 MAV (Micro Air Vehicle) ≤ 2Kg ≤ 1m
< 18,000
Group 4 Any NAV (Nano Air Vehicle) ≤ 50g ≤ 15m
> 1320
Group 5 > 18,000 Speed PAV (Pico Air Vehicle) ≤ 3g ≤ 2.5cm
Smart Dust ≤ 0.5g ≤ 0.25cm

a specific standard classification across all applications IV. A PPLICATIONS OF UAV S

and no classification is better than the other. UAV applications can be categorized into three
One way of classifying UAVs is based on their body main domains based on the purpose of flying UAVs;
type and flying style. UAVs can be classified into three recreational, commercial, and military. The application
distinct classes fixed-wing, multirotor, and VTOL UAVs domains of UAVs also provide a means of classification
based on their body type and flying style. of UAVs. In this section, we elaborate on the applications
of UAVs in recreational, commercial, and military
Watts et al. [7] used altitude and endurance to classify domains.
UAVs into (i) high altitude long endurance (HALE),
(ii) medium altitude long endurance (MALE), (iii) low
altitude long endurance (LALE), and (iv) low altitude A. Recreational
short endurance (LASE). Any UAV flown for the sole purpose of entertainment
The U.S. DOD uses a five group classification [8] and fun by hobbyists is categorized as a recreational
that is based on the maximum takeoff weight, operating UAV. Usually, this type of UAV contains the least
altitude, and speed of UAVs. Table IV depicts the five sophisticated equipment and sensors. Recreational UAVs
groups of the DOD classification. This classification are sold as ready to fly or bind and fly where most of the
system was created to be uniformly used across all the UAV components are already installed, programmed, and
branches of service (i.e., Air Force, Army, and Navy) calibrated. The user just put the parts together and charge
instead of tier system classification where each branch the battery to fly. The typical usage for recreational
of the service had its tiers. For example, the U.S. Air UAVs is mostly aerial photography and first-person-
Force had a five-tier system with small and micro UAVs view (FPV) flying, hence the manufacturers focus on
belonging to tier 0 or N/A (not applicable), tier I included the camera quality, gimbal stabilization, and obstacle
LALE UAVs, tier II encompassed MALE UAVs, tier II+ detection. Some examples of recreational UAVs are DJI
consisted of HALE UAVs, and tier III- included HALE Mavic, Parrot FPV Drone, and Skyhunter.
low-observable UAVs. On the other hand, the U.S. Army
had a three-tier system where tier I consisted of small B. Commercial
UAVs, tier II included short-range tactical UAVs, and tier
Advanced and specialized UAVs that are made for
III comprised of medium-range tactical UAVs. Similarly,
a specific purpose or task are considered commercial
U.S. Navy (Marine Corps) had a four-tier system where
UAVs. Official training and licensing are a requirement
tier 0 or tier N/A included micro UAVs, tier I consisted
to fly a commercial UAV. Some of the applications
of small UAVs, tier II encompassed LALE UAVs, and
for commercial UAVs are agriculture, inspection
tier III comprised of medium-range tactical UAVs.
and monitoring, logistics and delivery, surveying
Hassanalian et al. [9] classified UAVs based on their and mapping, search and rescue, and professional
weight and wingspan into UAV, small UAV, micro air cinematography. The size and body type of the UAV
vehicle (MAV), nano air vehicle (NAV), pico air vehicle depends on the specific mission and the payloads to
(PAV), and smart dust. Table V shows the classification be carried. Fig. 4 illustrates some of the applications
of UAVs by Hassanalian et al. [9]. This classification, of commercial UAVs. Table VI compares some of the
however, is too broad, and the authors did not take into most commonly used commercial UAVs in terms of
consideration the endurance, range, or the mission type maximum speed, endurance or flight time, payloads,
in the classification. main applications, and cost. In the following, we discuss
 7

TABLE VI: Comparison of popular commercial UAVs.

Attribute DJI DJI Agras Flyabilty FireFly6
Mavic 2 MG-1 Elios 2 Pro
Pro
Max
speed 45 49 14.5 18
(mph)
Max
endurance 30 24 10 59
(minutes)
Payloads 20MP 4K 2.6 gallons Thermal Variable
camera tank, camera, cameras
Sprayers, 12MP 4K and
Microwave camera, thermal
Fig. 4: Applications of commercial UAVs: (i) radar, Lighting sensors
agricultural UAV spraying pesticides on crops; (ii) Camera system
inspection and monitoring UAV inspecting bridges and Uses Filming Agriculture Indoor Surveying,
power-lines. inspections Search
and rescue
in more detail some of the commercial applications of Cost $1,599.00 $14,999.00 $49,200.00 $7,499.00
UAVs.
Agriculture: Agricultural UAVs are typically equipped
with FPV cameras, LiDAR, multispectral sensors, can be very advantageous for package delivery as the
obstacle avoidance sensors, and a tank and sprayers. UAVs can reduce the transport time in big cities to
These UAVs are used to monitor crop health and soil minutes. UAVs are also beneficial for deliveries in rural
quality. Agricultural UAVs are instrumental for precision areas. The Zipline Robin fixed-wing UAV is being used
agriculture. The tanks outfitted on agricultural UAVs are to deliver medical supplies, such as blood, vaccines, and
used to supply water and fertilizer to water- and nutrient- medicine to rural areas in Ghana, Rwanda, India, and
stressed areas of crops and pesticides to infested crop the Philippines.
portions. The UAVs are also utilized to provide a live
feed for livestock monitoring. Some of the common Surveying and Mapping: UAVs are being utilized in
agricultural UAVs are the multirotor DJI Agras MG-1 mapping and surveying applications due to the high-
and the fixed-wing PrecisionHawk Lancaster. resolution images that can be taken by a low altitude
Inspection and Monitoring: Inspection and monitoring flying UAV and that can be mapped at a closer range
applications require that the UAV be equipped with as compared to the images obtained from a plane or
an FPV camera, thermal cameras, proximity sensors, a satellite. The 3D Robotics Aero is an example of a
multi-gas detector, and a lighting system. Some of these surveying and mapping commercial UAV. It is a hand-
applications even require a UAV to be equipped with a launched electric UAV that can have multiple cameras
protective frame. These UAVs are used to inspect objects and customizable payloads.
that are out of reach or areas that might be risky and
Search and Rescue: Search and rescue UAVs give first
dangerous, such as power lines, oil pipes, wind turbines,
responders the advantage of flying over disaster zones or
and bridges. Inspection and monitoring UAVs can also
go to places that are too difficult for humans to reach and
be used to inspect confined spaces that are difficult to
search for victims. Some of the applications of search
be inspected by humans, such as smokestacks and ducts.
and rescue UAVs are post-disaster evaluation, finding
The Flyabilty Elios 2 is an example of a multirotor
missing persons, and delivering first aid to victims.
UAV that is used for beyond-line-of-sight indoor visual
inspection. This specific UAV is collision-tolerant due Aerial Cinematography: Aerial cinematography is a
to a spherical cage that encases the entire UAV. The major commercial application of UAVs. It is easier,
FireFLY6 PRO from BirdsEyeView Aerobotics is an faster, and cheaper to fly a UAV to take the aerial shots
example of a VTOL long-range inspection UAV that is needed rather than constructing a camera crane or flying
used to inspect power lines and pipes. a helicopter to take aerial shots. The multirotor DJI
Logistics and Delivery: While logistics and package Matrice 600 Pro is an example of a UAV that is used in
delivery using UAVs are still in the early stages, UAVs professional cinematography.
 8

TABLE VII: Comparisons of active military UAVs. could be semi-autonomous or fully-autonomous. Semi-
Attribute RQ-4 MQ-1C MQ-1 ScanEagle
autonomous swarms are usually controlled by a GCS
Global Gray Predator which communicates with each UAV simultaneously.
Hawk Eagle Fully-autonomous swarms use flying ad-hoc networks
Max Speed 340 167 120 80 (FANET) to communicate with each other and one leader
(knots) UAV communicates with the GCS. Utilizing swarms in
Max Altitude 60,000 25,000 25,000 19,500 applications such as surveying and mapping, agricultural,
(ft) and logistics and delivery has the benefits of saving
Engine Rolls Lycoming Rotax 2-stroke time and man-hours by distributing the tasks between
Royce DEL-120 914 3W the UAVs. UAV swarms have gained a lot of attention
F137-RR- piston
from the Air Force and the Department of Defense in
100
recent years. UAV swarms can even be used to save lives
Max Internal 3,000 540 450 7.5
Payload (lb.)
in the case of search and rescue applications. Deploying
a swarm of UAVs in a disaster zone leads to a faster
Max NA 1,500 300 NA
External discovery of survivors. The main challenges in UAV
Payload (lb.) swarms are collision avoidance between the UAVs in the
Endurance 32+ 50+ 24 24+ swarms and the energy efficiency of swarm operation.
(Hours)
Cost $130M $21.5M $40M $3.2M B. Augmented Reality
C. Military AR is a technology that allows users to interact with
computer-generated objects in a real-world environment
A UAV is considered a military type if it is [10]. AR has been used in a variety of applications,
flown or manufactured for military purposes, such such as design and manufacturing, tourism, navigation,
as intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance, education, and gaming. By integrating AR technology in
target acquisition, and battle damage assessment, or if UAVs, a multitude of new applications are possible. AR
the UAV can carry a variety of weapons and perform can be used to display real-time overlaying information
air strikes. Some of the types of military UAVs that on the real-world environment like maps, floor plans,
are being used right now are the General Atomics MQ- and points of interest. These AR maps can be beneficial
1 Predator, Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk, in the military, and search and rescue operations.
General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle, and Boeing Insitu Another example of integrated UAV-AR is planning and
ScanEagle. Table VII shows a comparison of the four designing, where architects and engineers can fly over
above mentioned UAVs in terms of maximum speed, a location and use 3D models to visualize the project.
maximum altitude, engine type, maximum internal and Integrated UAV-AR can also be used in inspection where
external payloads, endurance, and cost. the AR would overlay and synchronize the building
information model (BIM) on the video feed from the
V. F UTURE OF UAV S AND A SSOCIATED UAV. This could be useful in inspecting underground
C HALLENGES pipes, bridges, power lines, and dams.
In future, UAVs will be integrated with emerging
technologies such as augmented reality (AR), artificial C. Artificial Intelligence
intelligence (AI), and cellular networking to enable UAVs using AI can be utilized in various object
a multitude of innovative applications. Furthermore, detection and recognition applications. Detecting traffic
advancements and miniaturization of electronics will congestion is an example of an application utilizing
help realize exciting new applications of UAVs. This AI-assisted UAVs [11]. In this example, a UAV
section discusses some of the futuristic embodiments and takes pictures of traffic in a preplanned route, which
applications of UAVs and the challenges associated with are subsequently processed by a convolutional neural
them. network (CNN) to decide if a road is congested or not.
The results from the CNN are then sent to the road traffic
management center, which can take necessary actions to
A. UAV Swarms alleviate the congestion. Another application of UAVs
A swarm of UAVs is a group of UAVs that coordinate utilizing AI is early forest fire recognition [12]. In this
with each other to carry out a task. The swarm system, a UAV or a group of UAVs use cameras to detect
 9

fires. The AI in UAVs is trained to recognize smoke unknown area, while simultaneously updating the map
and fire in pictures. The resulting alerts are then sent and tracking the current location of a vehicle within the
to the GCS. The integration of AI in UAVs has many created map. SLAM is an important topic in unmanned
challenges, the biggest of which is computational power vehicle systems as it is one of the main methods used in
as UAVs have limited on-board computation ability creating autonomous vehicles. SLAM is also important
as well as limited battery energy for battery-operated for navigating UAVs in GPS-deprived locations or
UAVs. Due to the limited on-board compute capability, flying UAVs indoor. To obtain sensor data required for
AI embedded in UAVs is often not very sophisticated developing SLAM for UAVs, a UAV could be outfitted
and thus can have a limited accuracy. An incorrect with many sensors, such a LiDAR sensor, an RGB-D
prediction/classification could result in wrong alerts and camera, a stereo camera, or any combination of these
wasted efforts in case of false positives and no response sensors. The SLAM algorithm for autonomous UAVs
for an emergency situation in case of false negatives. can be based on Kalman filters or particle filters. The
algorithm uses the sensor data to determine the odometry
D. Wireless Networking and update the map. High flight speed and real-time
response are challenges that currently face SLAM in
UAVs are projected to be a major part of the 5G and UAVs.
beyond 5G (B5G) cellular architectures [13]. UAVs can
connect to cellular networks which help improve the VI. C ONCLUSION
real-time data stream and extend the maximum range
With the price-to-value of building or buying an
of UAVs. Swarms of UAVs could utilize the existing 5G
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being lower than ever,
and B5G networks to enhance communication between
and with the advancements in flight controllers and
the UAVs which leads to better autonomy. Another
payloads, it is now more feasible, even advantageous,
application is using a swarm of UAVs as flying base
to use UAVs for commercial and military missions. This
stations to provide cellular networks in an area deprived
article explored the architecture and components of a
of cellular signal or in disaster zones. Communication
modern UAV. The article presented some of the common
reliability, security, privacy, quality of service, and
flight controllers and engine types for contemporary
interference management are some of the challenges in
UAVs. The article also discussed different body styles
wireless networking using UAVs.
and body material types for UAVs. The article further
presented different classification methods for UAVs.
E. Nano-UAVs Finally, the article elaborated the applications of UAVs in
Highly miniaturized UAVs could be developed and recreational, commercial, and military domains as well
deployed either solo or in swarms and could be used as discussed the futuristic embodiments and applications
in military applications such as espionage or precision of UAVs along with their associated challenges.
strikes. For example, the FLIR Black Hornet PRS is
a nano-UAV with low visual and audible signatures, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
a size of only 13 grams, and is equipped with the This work is supported in part by the U.S. National
same cameras and sensors as a full-sized UAV. The Science Foundation (NSF) under grants NSF-CAREER:
Black Hornet’s small size allows it to carry surveillance 1846513 and NSF-PFI-TT: 1919127, and the U.S.
and reconnaissance missions covertly and unnoticed. Department of Transportation, Office of the Assistant
Another application for nano-UAVs is covert lethal force Secretary for Research and Technology (USDOT/OST-
missions and assassinations by equipping a nano-UAV R) under Grant No. 69A3551747126 through INSPIRE
with a small amount of explosives and targeting vital University Transportation Center.
organs. The Swiss Drones and Robotics Center tested
the possibility of using 3 grams of explosive charge R EFERENCES
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