Review on Key Technologies and Applications of Heavy-load Agricultural UAVs

Abstract:

With the rapid development of the low-altitude economy in agriculture, agricultural unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become an essential driving force in promoting agricultural modernization and the construction of smart agriculture. As the operational scale expands and task complexity increases, heavy-load agricultural UAVs—with their greater payload capacity and operational efficiency—are emerging as a key development direction for agricultural aviation equipment. The research progress and application status of heavy-load agricultural UAVs were systematically reviewed, and the development trends of key platform technologies such as aerodynamic configuration, power systems, and flight control systems were analyzed. Typical applications in pesticide spraying, seeding and fertilization, and agricultural material transportation were summarized, along with the progress and effectiveness of critical technologies such as variable spraying, spreading mechanism optimization, and sling-load control. The results indicated that heavy-load agricultural UAVs played a significant role in improving operational efficiency and expanding unmanned operation scenarios, yet still faced technical challenges in payload capacity, energy efficiency, and intelligent flight control. Future research should focus on high-efficiency power systems, intelligent decision-making and control, improvements in operational accuracy, as well as safety and reliability assessment, so as to promote the large-scale, intelligent, and sustainable development of these systems in agricultural production.