Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): A Survey on Civil Applications and Key Research Challenges
Hazim Shakhatreha b, Ahmad Sawalmehb c, Ala Al‐Fuqahab d e, Zuochao Douf, Eyad K. Almaitag, Issa M. Khalilh, Noor Shamsiah Othmanb c, Abdallah A. Khreishahi j, Mohsen Guizanik
- aDepartment of Telecommunications Engineering, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan
- bORCiD
- cDepartment of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang, Malaysia
- dDepartment of Computer Science, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
- eInformation and Computing Technology (ICT) Division, College of Science and Engineering (CSE), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
- fNovo Vivo, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA
- gDepartment of Power and Mechatronics Engineering, Tafila Technical University, Tafilah, Jordan
- hQatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), HBKU, Doha, Qatar
- iDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University Heights, Newark, NJ, USA
- jDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Newark College of Engineering, University Heights, Newark, NJ, USA
- kDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
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Abstract
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is growing rapidly across many civil application domains, including real-time monitoring, providing wireless coverage, remote sensing, search and rescue, delivery of goods, security and surveillance, precision agriculture, and civil infrastructure inspection. Smart UAVs are the next big revolution in the UAV technology promising to provide new opportunities in different applications, especially in civil infrastructure in terms of reduced risks and lower cost. Civil infrastructure is expected to dominate more than $45 Billion market value of UAV usage. In this paper, we present UAV civil applications and their challenges. We also discuss the current research trends and provide future insights for potential UAV uses. Furthermore, we present the key challenges for UAV civil applications, including charging challenges, collision avoidance and swarming challenges, and networking and security-related challenges. Based on our review of the recent literature, we discuss open research challenges and draw high-level insights on how these challenges might be approached.