Sensor technologies in unmanned aerial vehicles: types and applications

Abstract

Applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with various sensor system, have been steadily increasing. Initially, only sensors necessary for the safe flight of UAVs were employed. However, in recent years, sensor types with advanced environmental perception capabilities have been developed and integrated into UAVs. The development of sensor types and their reduced size has facilitated their integration into UAV systems and encouraged various scientific studies. UAVs equipped with sophisticated sensors find applications in a wide range of fields. These include precision agriculture applications such as monitoring crop health and determining soil moisture content, forest fire detection, natural disaster monitoring, search and rescue operations and meteorological measurements. This study provides insights into the types of sensors found in UAVs, followed by a review of relevant literature. Finally, future expectations and prospects are outlined.