Control, Planning, and Embodied Intelligence of Agile UAVs in Indoor Environments

Dear Colleagues,

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating in confined indoor spaces represent one of the most demanding frontiers in autonomous robotics. Unlike open outdoor environments, indoor settings often present GPS-denied conditions, complex geometry, dynamic obstacles, and tight maneuvering constraints. To ensure fast, safe, and reliable navigation under such conditions, UAVs must integrate high-performance control, agile motion planning, and tightly coupled perception and decision-making modules—hallmarks of embodied intelligence.

Advancing autonomous flight in these scenarios requires addressing several intertwined challenges: precise state estimation without external localization systems, real-time obstacle avoidance at high velocity, robust control under aerodynamic disturbances and close-quarters dynamics, and the ability to perceive and adapt to cluttered, dynamic environments. Emerging methods that blend model-based control with learning-based planning, visual–inertial odometry, and onboard sensor fusion are pushing the limits of what is possible for agile UAV flight indoors.

This Special Issue will gather the latest research on enabling agile UAVs to navigate complex indoor environments with minimal human intervention. We seek contributions that explore fundamental theory, algorithmic innovation, system integration, and experimental validation. Studies demonstrating end-to-end autonomy on resource-constrained platforms are especially welcome.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts related to the following themes:

• Agile flight control and disturbance rejection in constrained spaces;
• Perception-aware motion planning and trajectory optimization;
• Vision-based navigation and state estimation in GPS-denied environments;
• Learning-based policies for navigation and control (e.g., imitation learning, reinforcement learning);
• Integration of perception, control, and planning for real-time operation;
• Collision avoidance and environment interaction at high speeds;
• Design of lightweight, high-performance UAV platforms for indoor use;
• Embodied intelligence and sensorimotor coupling in autonomous UAVs.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Minghao Han
Dr. Bo Cai
Dr. Lin Zhao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• autonomous guidance and navigation
• agile UAVs
• indoor navigation
• agile control
• perception-aware planning
• embodied intelligence