Characterisation of Fixed-Wing Versus Multirotors UAVs/Drones

Abstract

Drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that do not carry a human operator, fly remotely or autonomously, and carry lethal or non-lethal payloads. Advances in fabrication, navigation, remote control capabilities, and power storage systems have made possible the development of a wide range of drones. The most popular ones are fixed-wing and multirotor drones.  They have several advantages and disadvantages and can be deployed quickly to obtain very high resolution imagery/point cloud data. With sophisticated computer vision, robotics and data, and low cost digital cameras, it is possible to get centimeter-level resolution and accuracy.  Advances in technology have made the increased uses of drones for various applications. The uses of UAVs/drones are increasing allowing 2D and 3D maps to be created and used for creation of 3D maps and digital elevation models (DEMs).  This paper describes in details about the two broad categories of UAVs; fixed-wing and multirotor UAVs. Their salient characteristics along with advantages and disadvantages are also given. It also provides insights to the users for selection of right kind of UAV.