State-of-the-Art and Future Research Challenges in UAV Swarms

• Published in: IEEE internet of things journal 2024-06, Vol.11 (11), p.19023-19045
• Main Authors: Javed, Sadaf, Hassan, Ali, Ahmad, Rizwan, Ahmed, Waqas, Ahmed, Rehan, Saadat, Ahsan, Guizani, Mohsen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Autonomous aerial vehicles; Autonomy; Coordination; coordination and cooperation; ethical aspects; Formation control; Game theory; Internet of Things; Military applications; networking; path planning; R&D; Research & development; Security; Subsystems; Surveys; Survivability; Task analysis; Trajectory optimization; Trajectory planning; unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm; Unmanned aerial vehicles
• ISSN: 2327-4662; 2327-4662
• DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2024.3364230

Due to their potential to accomplish complicated missions more effectively, UAV swarms have attracted a lot of attention lately. UAV swarm offers enhanced intelligence, improved coordination, increased flexibility, survivability, and reconfigurability. It is a multidisciplinary system that necessitates a tight integration of several subsystems, including optimal trajectory planning, localization, task coordination, etc. This review covers the important aspects of UAV swarms, including swarm formation control, communication, swarm path planning, autonomy, coordination, and security. It additionally explores recent technical advancements in UAV swarm algorithms that have made the development of complex UAV swarm systems possible. This article also provides insight into ethical aspects and the use cases of UAV swarms in various military, civilian, and entertainment applications. This article is concluded by highlighting the potential future directions and challenges of UAV swarm technology and the need for more research and development to exploit their potential fully. Overall, this article presents a comprehensive review of UAV swarm technology, addressing its potential for revolutionizing many fields and supporting advancements in the future.