Special Issues

Drones publishes Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics, with the aim of building a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by Guest Editors, who are experts on the topic and all Special Issue submissions follow MDPI's standard editorial process. The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or designated Editorial Board Member will oversee Guest Editor appointments and Special Issue proposals, checking their content for relevance and ensuring the suitability of the material for the journal. The papers published in a Special Issue will be collected and displayed on a dedicated page of the journal’s website. Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices and Guest Editor responsibilities can be found here. For any inquiries related to a Special Issue, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Embodied Artificial Intelligence Systems for UAVs
edited by and
submission deadline 28 Nov 2024 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1818 | Submission Open
Keywords: edge computing; energy efficiency and real-time performance; hardware acceleration; robustness and privacy; resource management; algorithm hardware codesign
Drones Navigation and Orientation submission deadline 29 Nov 2024 | 7 articles | Viewed by 33081 | Submission Open
Intelligent Processing and Application of UAV Remote Sensing Image Data
edited by
submission deadline 29 Nov 2024 | 8 articles | Viewed by 16288 | Submission Open
Keywords: intelligent processing and application; UAV 3D reconstruction in indoor/underground scenes; target detection and tracking; intelligent interpretation of UAV video/image; online and real time processing; collaborative and UAV swarm
UAV-Assisted Mobile Wireless Networks and Applications submission deadline 29 Nov 2024 | 7 articles | Viewed by 10475 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV networks; mobility management; network control; routing; traffic management
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advanced Autonomous Mobility Toward Low-Altitude Economy and Three-Dimensional Transportation Systems
edited by Xiangkun He, Hailong Huang, Caizheng Wang and Henglai Wei
submission deadline 29 Nov 2024 | 4 articles | Viewed by 4603 | Submission Open
Keywords: autonomous aerial vehicles for urban air mobility; autonomous ground vehicles for smart cities; end-to-end autonomous ground and aerial vehicle technologies; AI and machine learning applications in 3D traffic management; cybersecurity and privacy concerns in connected aerial and ground mobility  ; autonomous multimodal mobility technologies; 3D transportation infrastructure planning and design; sensor technologies and perception systems for 3D transportation navigation; energy-efficient propulsion systems for aerial vehicles  ; human factors for aerial autonomous mobility
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Reliable and Green Long-Endurance Drones
edited by
submission deadline 29 Nov 2024 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2973 | Submission Open
Keywords: full-electric/hybrid propulsion; power management optimization; innovative aerodynamics; digital twin; fault-tolerant systems; diagnostics and prognostics; reliability/safety analysis
Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: On Selected Areas of Quantum Engineering, Internet, Privacy, and Security in Drones
edited by
submission deadline 29 Nov 2024 | Viewed by 225 | Submission Open
Keywords: quantum internet; quantum communication theory; quantum computing; quantum sensing; quantum codesign over drones; quantum communication protocols; quantum aerial networks; quantum experimental results; quantum prototypes; quantum demonstrations; quantum testbeds; quantum aerial vehicles; quantum theory; quantum aerial communication; quantum navigation; quantum system architectures; quantum drones; quantum repeaters; quantum routing; quantum aerial applications; quantum design principles; quantum-enhanced aerial networks; intelligent quantum methods for drones; quantum entanglement; quantum error techniques; quantum privacy; quantum security; advanced quantum transduction; quantum classification network; federated quantum learning; quantum network; quantum information; quantum computing; quantum technologies; federated quantum learning framework; quantum information-theoretic security; quantum machine learning models; quantum performance metrics; quantum learnable parameters; quantum state; quantum global parameters; quantum entangled state; quantum local training; quantum scheduling algorithm; quantum joint learning; quantum quantization noise; quantum circuit; quantum key distribution; quantum error correction; quantum memory; quantum operations; quantum gates; quantum cryptography; quantum channel; quantum resources; quantum client data; quantum transfer parameters; quantum decoherence; quantum machine learning integration; quantum machine learning algorithms
Recent Advances in Crop Protection Using UAV and UGV submission deadline 30 Nov 2024 | 7 articles | Viewed by 19741 | Submission Open
Keywords: crop protection; chemical application; remote sensing; intelligent agriculture; forest protection; precision agriculture; agriculture aerial application
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
Advances in Modeling, Estimation, and Control of Intelligent Transportation Systems
edited by , Yan Wang, , Henglai Wei and Zhongxu Hu
submission deadline 30 Nov 2024 | 5 articles | Viewed by 7238 | Submission Open
Keywords: cooperative use of drones; flight dynamics; intelligent transportation systems; decision making; machine learning; transportation system dynamics; state estimation and parameter identification; active safety control; trajectory prediction; intelligent connected vehicles
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Physical-Layer Security in Drone Communications
edited by Dongming Li, and Yi Lou
submission deadline 18 Dec 2024 | 7 articles | Viewed by 6801 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone communications; physical-layer security; key generation; drone jitter; beamforming and jamming; trajectory planning
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in Detection and Tracking Applications for Drones and UAM Systems submission deadline 20 Dec 2024 | 6 articles | Viewed by 13817 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial systems; urban air mobility; sense and avoid; artificial intelligence; sensor fusion; tracking
Autonomous Flight of Drone: Control, Trajectory Optimization and Mission Planning: 2nd Edition
edited by and
submission deadline 20 Dec 2024 | 4 articles | Viewed by 3817 | Submission Open
Keywords: pilot control; intelligent control; UAV formation control; trajectory optimization; mission planning; autonomous system
Acquisition and Reliability of Geospatial Data from UAV Platforms for Environmental Management and Monitoring submission deadline 20 Dec 2024 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1147 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV platforms; geospatial data; UAVs with LiDAR; feature extraction; change detection; 3D reconstruction; artificial intelligence
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Emerging Technologies and Innovations in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Control Systems submission deadline 22 Dec 2024 | 8 articles | Viewed by 12303 | Submission Open
Keywords: guidance; navigation; and control; sensor design and state estimation; nano technologies; urban air mobility and delivery; space– air– ground integrated network; drone design and development; artificial intelligence; manned-to-unmanned transition; swarming and collaborative tasks; onboard computing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Advances of UAV in Precision Agriculture submission deadline 25 Dec 2024 | 20 articles | Viewed by 45413 | Submission Open
Keywords: agricultural UAV; guidance; navigation and control; SLAM; swarm intelligence; remote sensing; crop phenotype awareness; crop and/or water stress assessment; drones for agricultural applications; drones for precision agriculture; precision viticulture
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
Trends in Embodied-Intelligence Unmanned Vehicle Technology and Applications of Intelligent Transport Systems
edited by and
submission deadline 25 Dec 2024 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2973 | Submission Open
Keywords: vehicle; unmanned systems; embodied intelligence; agricultural and industrial applications; intelligent transport; autonomous driving; UGV; UAV; SLAM; perception; decision-making; control
Drones for Green Areas, Green Infrastructure and Landscape Monitoring
edited by
submission deadline 26 Dec 2024 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1250 | Submission Open
Keywords: precision urban agriculture; remote sensing; unmanned aerial vehicles; green areas; image processing; object detection; green infrastructure
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Wireless Networks and UAV: 2nd Edition
edited by
submission deadline 27 Dec 2024 | Viewed by 197 | Submission Open
Keywords: efficient and resilient deployment of aerial drones; control of unmanned vehicles aided networks; UAV-aided mobile sensor networks; autonomous vehicles networks monitoring; energy-efficient UAV tracking of mobile targets; energy harvesting for networks composed of unmanned vehicles; traffic monitoring aided by unmanned vehicles; beyond 5G space– air– ground network control; coverage optimization and control in UAV surveillance; smart autonomous networks of vehicles; collision avoidance for unmanned vehicles; autonomous networks for deep space exploration; experimental platforms for UAV-aided mobile networks
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
edited by Yueneng Yang
submission deadline 30 Dec 2024 | 6 articles | Viewed by 16641 | Submission Open
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Honorary Special Issue for Prof. Max F. Platzer submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 6 articles | Viewed by 29585 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV/μ UAV/MAV/NAV; fixed-wing/rotary-wing/flapping-wing drones; space/marine/aerial/underwater drones; flight dynamics and control; drone design and development; fluid– structure interaction/aeroelasticity/hydroelasticity; bioinspiration and biomimicry; drone development; stability; and manufacturing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Drones for Wildfire and Prescribed Fire Science
edited by Brian K. Gullett, Johanna Aurell, Pantelis Velanas, and Katerina Margariti
submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 6 articles | Viewed by 14756 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aircraft systems; drones; wildland fire; fire dynamics; sensors; firefighter safety; plume dispersion; meteorological measurements; fire emissions; exposure risk; fire prevention; fire response; fire restoration
Evidence-Based Drone Innovation & Research for Healthcare submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 3 articles | Viewed by 10154 | Submission Open
Keywords: evidence based; FAIR data; point of care; healthcare drone ontologies; medicine drone delivery; healthcare logistics; UAV for human health; medicine quality; medicine stability; drug packaging; medicine compliance; patient samples
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Global Challenges: Current Technologies and Future Prospects submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 2 articles | Viewed by 5978 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAS; UAV; RPAS; and drones; natural disasters; big data; geodata collection and processing; machine and deep learning; three-dimensional mapping
AI-Assisted Control Strategies and Their Applications to the Stabilization, Guidance and Navigation of Drones
edited by
submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 5 articles | Viewed by 5683 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone technology; optimal design; drone dynamics; drone navigation; machine learning; design optimization; dynamic modeling; navigation systems; autonomous drones; object detection; collision avoidance; tracking systems
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
UAV-Assisted Intelligent Vehicular Networks 2nd Edition
edited by and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 5 articles | Viewed by 5545 | Submission Open
Keywords: intelligent transportation systems (ITSs); unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); vehicle-to-everything (V2X); vehicular networks; mobile edge computing (MEC)
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Unconventional Drone-Based Surveying 2nd Edition submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 3 articles | Viewed by 5428 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV/USV/UUV; structure-from-motion; LiDAR; thermal imaging; multispectral/hyperspectral imaging; acoustic sensors and sonars; autonomous drones for surveying; swarms of drones; operation in hard environments
Cybersecure and Trustworthy Deployment of Drones and Autonomous Vehicles submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 1 articles | Viewed by 4417 | Submission Open
Keywords: artificial intelligence  ; autonomous systems  ; cybersecurity  ; hardware integration  ; signal processing  ; unmanned aerial vehicles  ; vehicle-to-vehicle communications
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
UAV Detection, Classification, and Tracking submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3470 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV detection; UAV classification; UAV tracking; optical sensors; IR sensors; RF sensors; radars; deep learning
UAV Agricultural Management: Recent Advances and Future Prospects submission deadline 31 Dec 2024 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1418 | Submission Open
Keywords: enhanced crop monitoring using UAVs; real-time monitoring of plant health; optimal resource allocation for farming; detecting and preventing crop diseases; automated irrigation systems using UAVs; improved pest management strategies; high-resolution data for yield prediction; timely identification of nutrient deficiencies; enhanced crop scouting capabilities; minimizing chemical input with UAVs; optimizing harvest timing using drones; sustainable agriculture through UAVs
Drone-Based Wildlife Protection, Monitoring, and Conservation Management:2nd Edition submission deadline 10 Jan 2025 | Viewed by 285 | Submission Open
Keywords: habitat monitoring; LiDAR; population estimation; thermal; wildlife conservation; wildlife management; wildlife monitoring; wildlife species detection
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Recent Development in Drones Icing submission deadline 15 Jan 2025 | Viewed by 234 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); aircraft icing; aviation safety; ice detection; de-icing technologies weather resilience
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Based Hyperspectral Imaging for Earth Observation
edited by , and Niall Origo
submission deadline 16 Jan 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 4531 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial system (UAS); unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); remotely piloted aerial system (RPAS); cal/val; hyperspectral; earth observation applications; UAV-HSI uncertainty; radiometric assessment; geometric assessment; earth observation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Applications in Critical Industrial Sectors
edited by , Gordon Dobie and
submission deadline 16 Jan 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1007 | Submission Open
Keywords: advanced unmanned aerial vehicles; unmanned aerial vehicles in industrial sectors; autonomous UAV systems; UAV-based critical infrastructure monitoring; hazardous environment inspection using UAVs; UAV technology advancements; infrastructure maintenance using UAVs; UAV environmental impact assessment
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Enhanced Emergency Response
edited by , Wonjae Shin, and Xiangming Li
submission deadline 16 Jan 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 479 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs; emergency response; situational awareness; autonomous navigation; edge computing; multi-UAV cooperation; space– air– ground-integrated network; secure information exchange
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Swarm Intelligence in Multi-UAVs
edited by
submission deadline 17 Jan 2025 | 6 articles | Viewed by 15303 | Submission Open
Keywords: multi-UAVs; swarm intelligence; cooperative control; pigeon-inspired optimization
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in Cartography, Mission Planning, Path Search, and Path Following for Drones
edited by , and Delia Elena Spridon
submission deadline 20 Jan 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 4248 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone; UAV; cartography; path following; mission planning; machine learning; sensor fusion; data acquisition
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Digital Twins and Extended Reality: Opportunities and Challenges of Integrated Applications (2nd Edition)
edited by Daniela Oreni, and Davide Mezzino
submission deadline 24 Jan 2025 | Viewed by 262 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs digital twin XR-MR-AR-VR scan-to-BIM— BIM projects; HBIM projects; BIM-to-FEA; CoSim; BEM; InfraBIM conservation; management and dissemination of cultural built heritage fault diagnosis energy; structural analysis; and costs evaluation virtual museum; virtual– visual storytelling drone-based and drone-supported solutions
The Conceptual Design Methodology for UAV: New Research and New Development
edited by , Jinli Suo, Meng Guo, Min Chang, Zhaowei Ma and Changyun Wei
submission deadline 25 Jan 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3787 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); hybrid aquatic aerial vehicle (HAAV); smart materials and aircraft structures design for drones; new energy and power systems for drones; GPS-denied autonomous localization of UAVs; robust and fast maneuver control for drones; emergent behaviors in swarm; large language model for swarm interaction
Advances in IoT and Wireless Networks of UAVs: State of the Art, Achievements and Perspectives
edited by David Gesbert, Rajeev Gangula, Omid Esrafilian and Satyam Agarwal
submission deadline 25 Jan 2025 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3145 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs; aerial corridor connectivity; internet of drone things (IoDT); O-RAN; UAV localization and sensing; UAV path planning
Drones in the Wild
edited by and Raphael Zufferey
submission deadline 31 Jan 2025 | 7 articles | Viewed by 22350 | Submission Open
Keywords: operations in cluttered spaces; rapid navigation in unknown spaces; novel; unconventional designs allowing new applications; hybrid and multi-modal drones; energy-efficient design; mission planning and control; swarming and collaborative tasks; highly autonomous mission execution; planning and navigation in complex dynamic environments; vision-based control; minimal sensing; navigation in dim or unlit environments; safe/soft drones that cause no damage; demonstration of new applications
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Resilient UAV Autonomy and Remote Sensing: 2nd Edition submission deadline 31 Jan 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1589 | Submission Open
Keywords: drones; UAV; UAV swarm; computer vision; photogrammetry; remote sensing; LiDAR; aerial imagery; image and point cloud fusion; detection and tracking; segmentation; SLAM; path planning; 3D reconstruction; 3D visualization
Mission Planning, Perception and Control for Drones in Wide-Area Operations
edited by , Xiangyu Shao, Yuehua Liu, Liming Xin and Jiatao Ding
submission deadline 31 Jan 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1291 | Submission Open
Keywords: motion control and path planning for wide-area operating drones; mission planning for wide-area operating drones; task decomposition and allocation for wide-area operating drones; simultaneous localization and mapping in a complex environment; vision recognition and detection; intelligent perception techniques; model-based predictive control for intelligent systems; robust control; sliding mode control; and adaptive control; deep learning and reinforcement learning; architecture for learning and control integration; advanced decision and control methods for unmanned systems; intelligent swarm and formation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
UAS in Smart Agriculture: 2nd Edition
edited by and
submission deadline 1 Feb 2025 | 5 articles | Viewed by 7551 | Submission Open
Keywords: smart agriculture; digital agriculture; remote sensing; unmanned control and operation systems; multi-resource image processing technology; deep learning; plant phenotype; plant disease and pest diagnosis; crop and orchard yield monitoring; weed detection; soil monitoring; 3D digital technology; spraying and sowing systems; variable operation prescription technology
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
Electric-Powered and Hybrid-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology and Applications of Low Altitude Aviation
edited by Wenbiao Gan, Zhou Zhou, and
submission deadline 1 Feb 2025 | Viewed by 355 | Submission Open
Keywords: electric-powered aircraft; distributed power; UAV; optimization design; aerodynamics; artificial intelligence; green aviation; urban air mobility and delivery; low altitude economy
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Implementation of UAV Systems for Cultural Heritage submission deadline 10 Feb 2025 | Viewed by 475 | Submission Open
Keywords: cultural heritage; heritage documentation; drones; 3D point clouds; structure from motion; laser scanning; multispectral imaging
Weather Impacts on Uncrewed Aircraft submission deadline 18 Feb 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 16104 | Submission Open
Keywords: uncrewed aircraft; drone; atmospheric boundary layer; micrometeorology; advanced air mobility; atmospheric physics; UAS traffic management; hyperlocal forecasting; trajectory planning; drone sensors
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in Deep Learning for Drones and Its Applications: 2nd Edition
edited by , and Ho Seok Ahn
submission deadline 18 Feb 2025 | 1 articles | Viewed by 828 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs; aerial robots; drones; remote sensing; deep learning; deep neural networks; computer vision; robotic perception
Cooperative Perception for Modern Transportation
edited by , , Sheng Bao and Hailong Shi
submission deadline 18 Feb 2025 | Viewed by 503 | Submission Open
Keywords: Fusion perception of visual; infrared; laser; and other sensors.; Intelligent video surveillance in modern transportation systems.; Remote sensing and data analysis for modern transportation.; Localization and high-definition map for transportation.; Deep-reinforcement learning for multi-unmanned traffic systems; Application of artificial intelligence for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and self-driving vehicles (SDVs); ; Modeling; simulation; and dynamic analysis of the collaboration system for UAVs and SDVs; ; UAV and SDV decision making in a complex urban traffic environment; ; Parameter identification and state estimation of UAVs and SDVs; ; Trajectory prediction and its application to intelligent transportation systems; ; Design of new sensors and novel estimation and data fusion algorithms for UAVs and SDVs.; Dynamic vision sensor and its application in intelligent transportation.; Spiking Neural Network and neuromorphic computing.
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Drone Advances in Wildlife Research: 2nd Edition submission deadline 19 Feb 2025 | 3 articles | Viewed by 4360 | Submission Open
Keywords: wildlife; UAV; fauna; flora; drones; conservation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Drone-Based Photogrammetric Mapping for Change Detection
edited by , , and
submission deadline 20 Feb 2025 | 4 articles | Viewed by 9501 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV; UAS; Photogrammetry; Structure-from-Motion (SfM); Mapping; Surveying; Change Detection; Pattern Recognition; Natural Environment; Built Environment
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