Improved Autonomy for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Unstructured Environments

预计全球无人机（UAV）支出将从2015年的40亿美元大幅增长到2025年的140亿美元，十年内总计930亿美元（来源：Teal Group）。军事研究预计将在这十年中增加300亿美元的支出。这种显著的增长是因为无人机扩展和补充了人类的能力，使其能够更快，更准确，更安全地完成困难的工作，并减少预算。民用应用包括在人类无法生存的地区进行灾难恢复，或检查基础设施，如覆盖大片无法进入的土地的输电线路。无人机是军事机器人革命的一部分，它们通常用于情报，监视和侦察（ISR）。它们是全球军事力量未来的关键，特别是加拿大空军的未来，正如加拿大空军空战中心在战略规划文件中提到的那样，如“2019年塑造加拿大空军的预测力量趋势”。

Global spending on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is predicted to grow dramatically from USD 4 billion in 2015 to USD 14 billion by 2025, which is a total of USD 93 billion in a decade (source: Teal Group). Military research is expected to add USD 30 Billion in spending over this decade. This remarkable growth is because UAVs extend and complement human capability to do difficult jobs faster, more accurately, safer, and at a reduced budget. Civilian applications include disaster recovery in regions where humans cannot survive, or inspection of infrastructure such as electrical transmission lines covering vast expanses of inaccessible land. UAVs are part of a robotics revolution in the military where they are often used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). They are key to the future of military forces worldwide, and in particular to that of Canada’s Air Force as mentioned in strategic planning documents such as “Projecting Power Trends Shaping Canada’s Air Force in the Year 2019” by the Canadian Forces Air Warfare Center.