UAV Main Applications: From Military to Agriculture Fields

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, are rapidly growing in popularity in different sectors. Although they are still in their infancy stage in terms of mass adoption, usage, and regulations, they have already broken through industry rigid barriers, which otherwise seemed impenetrable by similar technological innovations. Most recently, drone technology uses have spread from commercial, industrial up to military applications and are expected to play a relevant role also as future communication technology, acting as support technology in next generation wireless networks (i.e., 6G network). Nowadays, UAVs are adopted into the main functions of various businesses and governmental organizations. UAVs are largely adopted in all those fields where men cannot reach or are unable to perform in a timely and efficient manner. For instance, quick deliveries at rush hour, scanning an unreachable military base or monitoring of harsh environments, are just a few examples of their main applications. Recently, drones are largely used for military offensive as flying weapons. In general, UAVs are adopted by industries to increase work efficiency and productivity, while decreasing workload and production costs and improving accuracy. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of main UAV applications, starting from military and commercial ones, till investigating their use for smart farming and agriculture. An overview of different machine-learning-based solutions for UAV applications, as well as Blockchain techniques for security purposes in UAV networks, is also included.