A comprehensive analysis of global patent landscape for recent R&D in agricultural drone technologies

The rapid development of information technology, along with advanced wireless communication technologies, has revolutionized the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) in many industries. In agriculture, due to the climate change and the growing global population, causing unprecedented demands and risks on food supplies, intelligent and automatic agricultural technologies are critical needs. UAVs offer a wide range of applications to transform traditional agricultural practices into Agriculture 4.0 that integrates advanced technology to optimize agricultural productivity, sustainability, and efficiency. To gain comprehensive insights into the current and future development of agricultural UAVs technologies, this research conducts extensive review and analysis of patents and non-patent literature in the field. By thoroughly examining the literature, the knowledge ontology of ag-UAV technologies is presented. Additionally, comprehensive macro- and micro-patent analyses identify the patenting trends and top tech-leaders for the key technologies related to agricultural drones. Moreover, utilizing regression modeling, technology maturity analysis, and technology-function matrix (TFM), the current and future R&D trends and the cold and hot spots of the technical innovations are identified. Through these detailed patent analyses, the state-of-the-art and potential advancements in agricultural UAV technologies are depicted, serving as crucial intelligence for R&D initiatives and IP strategies.