Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue focused on the advancements and challenges in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAVs have emerged as indispensable tools in various fields, offering remote-controlled or onboard computer-piloted aircraft capabilities. Their applications span precision agriculture, package delivery, monitoring, search and rescue operations, and more. Particularly noteworthy is their ability to safely and securely conduct inspections in high or confined spaces.

However, ensuring the safe and optimal operation of UAVs requires high-quality sensors and advanced control technology. Without these crucial components, UAVs may fail to detect potential collisions and navigate past them. Therefore, the accurate control and optimization of UAVs' paths remain key challenges in this field. As a result, research efforts have rapidly increased to enhance the accuracy and performance of UAVs.

This Special Issue aims to collect articles that cover the recent developments in UAV technology and foster the exchange of knowledge on this topic among researchers in related fields. The scope of the research for this Special Issue encompasses various aspects, including aircraft control, path planning, trajectory optimization, and target tracking, among others. We invite submissions of original research articles and reviews, as we believe they will serve as valuable resources for researchers in the future.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and collaborating together in this exciting area of UAV research.

Specific topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Advanced control techniques for UAVs;
• Path planning and collision avoidance algorithms for UAVs;
• Trajectory optimization for efficient UAV operations;
• Target tracking and object detection in UAV applications;
• UAVs for precision agriculture and environmental monitoring;
• UAVs in package delivery and logistics;
• UAVs in search and rescue operations;
• Autonomous and swarm UAV systems;
• Sensor fusion and perception for UAVs;
• Communication and networking solutions for UAV swarms;
• Safety and security challenges in UAV operations;
• Energy efficiency and battery management for UAVs;
• Machine learning and AI for autonomous UAVs;
• Human–drone interaction and user interfaces;
• UAVs in remote sensing and mapping applications;
• Regulatory and ethical considerations for UAV operations;
• Case studies and real-world applications of UAV technology.

Dr. Giuseppe Silano
Dr. Yahui Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.