title: Science, technology and the future of small autonomous drones.
abstract: We are witnessing the advent of a new era of robots - drones - that can autonomously fly in natural and man-made environments. These robots, often associated with defence applications, could have a major impact on civilian tasks, including transportation, communication, agriculture, disaster mitigation and environment preservation. Autonomous flight in confined spaces presents great scientific and technical challenges owing to the energetic cost of staying airborne and to the perceptual intelligence required to negotiate complex environments. We identify scientific and technological advances that are expected to translate, within appropriate regulatory frameworks, into pervasive use of autonomous drones for civilian applications.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Station 11, Lausanne, CH 1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Floreano
authors.affiliation: Microrobotics Lab, Harvard University, 149 Maxwell Dworkin Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005426:Flight, Animal; D066192:Manufacturing Industry; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000639:trends; D013672:Technology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence