Small UAS and Delivery Drones: Challenges and Opportunities The 38th Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lecture

During the past two decades, there has been major growth of small-unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAV) for hobbyists and rapidly expanding commercial and military applications. The impetus for this dramatic expansion has been due to the explosion of mobile technology in terms of microelectronics, data processing and transmission capability, high-energy-density batteries, miniaturized integrated programmable chips, and innovations in computer vision and videography/photography. However, there are many challenges to overcome before these small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) can be used for routine commercial and military applications, which include reliability, sizable payload and range, stringent navigation/guidance requirements, and precision takeoff/landing and robust autonomous flight in constrained and low-altitude gusty environment. The objective of this paper is to cover state-of-the-art of sUAS and delivery drones, identify technology gaps and key scientific barriers, and present future research needs for high payoff applications.