Recent Developments in Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have seen unprecedented levels of growth during the last decade in both military and civilian domains. It is anticipated that civilian applications will be dominant in the future, although there are still barriers to be overcome and technical challenges to be met. Integrating UAS into, for example, civilian space, navigation, autonomy, see-detect-and-avoid systems, smart designs, system integration, vision-based navigation and training, to name but a few areas, will be of prime importance in the near future. This is an edited book composed of peer reviewed papers presented in the 2011 International Conference on UAS. The papers present the state of the art in UAS, as well as current developments and applications. This book aims at serving as a guide tool on UAS for engineers and practitioners, academics, government agencies and industry.This is a spin-off edition also published in the Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems (JINT), Volume 65: 1-4.

Prof. Hermann Kreutzmann has been a professor of human geography at Freie Universitat Berlin since April 2005. He had previously completed his doctorate at the Department of Earth Sciences at Freie Universitat Berlin in 1989. Kreutzmann’s research focuses on geographical development studies. He conducts his research mainly in high mountain areas, especially in South and Central Asia, in the context of globalization and climate change debates. His research also focuses on sustainable resource use as well as minority studies and migration research. Hermann Kreutzmann is a recipient of the Tianshan Prize China from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. He received the award for his “outstanding contribution to the economic and social progress” of this region located in northwest China. For more than 25 years Kreutzmann has been conducting research there on issues of resource use and the development of mountain regions. In addition, he was honored for his contribution to scientific cooperation and his support of German-Chinese cooperation in the education of young scientists. This award is the highest that can be awarded to a foreign expert in Xinjiang.