Visual Language Models and Large Language Models for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Dear Colleagues,

The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly in the domains of computer vision and natural language processing, have created new possibilities for enhancing the capabilities of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This Special Issue aims to explore the integration of Visual Language Models (VLMs) and Large Language Models (LLMs) into UAVs, focusing on their potential applications, challenges, and future directions.

Visual Language Models have demonstrated remarkable performance in tasks such as object detection, image captioning, and visual question answering. By leveraging the power of deep learning, VLMs can enable UAVs to perceive and understand their surroundings with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency. On the other hand, Large Language Models have shown impressive capabilities in natural language understanding, generation, and reasoning. Incorporating LLMs into UAVs can facilitate seamless human–machine interaction, enabling users to control and communicate with drones using natural language commands.

This Special Issue invites original research articles, review papers, and case studies that investigate the application of VLMs and LLMs in UAVs. The scope of this Special Issue encompasses, but is not limited to, the following topics:

1. Object detection and tracking using VLMs in UAVs;
2. Semantic segmentation and scene understanding for enhanced UAV navigation;
3. Visual question answering and visual dialog systems for UAV–human interaction;
4. Natural language processing techniques for UAV mission planning and execution;
5. Integration of VLMs and LLMs for autonomous UAV decision making;
6. Few-shot learning and transfer learning approaches for adapting VLMs and LLMs to UAV-specific tasks;
7. Efficient deployment of VLMs and LLMs on resource-constrained UAV platforms;
8. Real-time performance optimization techniques for VLMs and LLMs in UAVs;
9. Robustness and reliability of VLMs and LLMs in complex and dynamic environments;
10. Ethical considerations and safety measures for deploying VLMs and LLMs in UAVs.

We encourage submissions from researchers, engineers, and practitioners working at the intersection of computer vision, natural language processing, and UAV technologies. By bringing together experts from these diverse fields, this Special Issue aims to foster cross-disciplinary collaborations and accelerate the development of intelligent and autonomous UAV systems powered by Visual Language Models and Large Language Models.

Prof. Dr. Carlos Tavares Calafate
Prof. Dr. I. de Zarzà
Prof. Dr. Joaquim de Curtò i Díaz
Guest Editors

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. Drones is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• large language models
• visual language models
• unmanned aerial vehicles
• autonomous navigation
• few-shot learning
• intelligent UAV systems