Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Navigation and Intelligent Unmanned Systems
A special issue of Information (ISSN 2078-2489). This special issue belongs to the section "Artificial Intelligence".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Artificial intelligence has become a foundational driver of progress in autonomous navigation and intelligent unmanned systems. Recent advances in machine learning, perception, planning, and decision-making have enabled unmanned platforms, ranging from UAVs and UGVs to USVs and AUVs, to operate with increasing autonomy in complex and dynamic environments. Despite these advancements, substantial challenges persist. AI models must process and interpret multi-modal sensor data with high reliability, reason under uncertainty, adapt to domain shifts, and function within stringent real-time and safety-critical constraints. Achieving robustness, accuracy, and dependable real-time performance across diverse operational conditions remains a significant challenge for unmanned systems.
This Special Issue aims to bring together contributions that advance the theories, algorithms, and applications that relate to the use of AI for autonomous navigation and intelligent unmanned systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- AI-driven perception, sensor fusion, and scene understanding;
- Learning-based navigation, mapping, SLAM, and trajectory planning;
- Deep reinforcement learning and decision-making under uncertainty;
- Multi-agent coordination, swarm intelligence, and collaborative autonomy;
- Simulation-to-real transfer and large-scale testing frameworks;
- Safe, explainable, and trustworthy AI for autonomous systems;
- Edge intelligence, onboard computing, and energy-aware AI models;
- Cross-domain applications in aerial, ground, surface, and underwater unmanned systems.
Dr. Shengkai Zhang
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- artificial intelligence
- autonomous navigation
- unmanned systems
- perception and planning
- multi-agent cooperation
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