applsci-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Recent Advances and Applications of Autonomous Aerial Vehicles

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Robotics and Automation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2025 | Viewed by 890

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Research and Multidisciplinary Studies, Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City 07360, Mexico
Interests: UAV; multi-agents; non-linear control; robust control; autonomous vehicles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have garnered considerable attention due to their ability to perform a wide range of tasks that are beyond human capability, with UAVs offering versatility and efficiency in missions. These factors have attracted the attention of the scientific community in recent decades, with many research contributions addressing the associated challenges in order to increase the flight autonomy, robustness and design of UAVs. These factors are crucial for staying up to date with the latest developments and research on the application of UAVs. UAV research involves many disciplines and a wide range of applications in aerospace engineering, communications, computer science, robotics, applications, automatic control, energy, remote sensing, etc. This Special Issue, entitled “Recent Advances and Applications of Autonomous Aerial Vehicles”, welcomes the submission of recent research on the application of UAVs in environment and conservation monitoring, advances in artificial intelligence algorithms, communications, autonomous navigation, network architectures, sensors and perception, multiagent and cooperative control, human interaction, open software and hardware, energy generation, urban mobility, long-range navigation, slung payload, human interactions and machine learning.

Dr. Salaza Sergio
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • UAV
  • UAV applications
  • UAV new advances
  • autonomous aerial navigation
  • UAV swarm
  • AI

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 8867 KiB  
Article
Proof-of-Concept of a Monopulse Antenna Architecture Enabling Radar Sensors in Unmanned Aircraft Collision Avoidance Systems for UAS in U-Space Airspaces
by Javier Ruiz Alapont, Miguel Ferrando-Bataller and Juan V. Balbastre
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(10), 5618; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15105618 - 17 May 2025
Viewed by 515
Abstract
In this paper, we propose and prove an innovative radar antenna concept suitable for collision avoidance (CA) systems installed onboard small, unmanned aircraft (UA). The proposed architecture provides 360° monopulse coverage around the host platform, enabling the detection and accurate position estimation of [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose and prove an innovative radar antenna concept suitable for collision avoidance (CA) systems installed onboard small, unmanned aircraft (UA). The proposed architecture provides 360° monopulse coverage around the host platform, enabling the detection and accurate position estimation of airborne, non-cooperative intruders using lightweight, low-profile antennas. These antennas can be manufactured using low-cost 3D printing techniques and are easily integrated into the UA airframe without compromising airworthiness. We present a Detect and Avoid (DAA) concept of operations (ConOps) aligned with the SESAR U-space ConOps, Edition 4. In this ConOps, the Remain Well Clear (RWC) and CA functions are treated separately: RWC is the responsibility of ground-based U-space services, while CA is implemented as an airborne safety net using onboard equipment. Based on this framework, we derive operation-centric design requirements and propose an antenna architecture based on a fixed circular array of sector waveguides. This solution overcomes key limitations of existing radar antennas for UAS CA systems by providing a wider field of view, higher power handling, and reduced mechanical complexity and cost. We prove the proposed concept through a combination of simulations and measurements conducted in an anechoic chamber using a 24 GHz prototype. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Applications of Autonomous Aerial Vehicles)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop