Development and Challenges of UAV Technology in Civil Engineering Surveying and Mapping

In recent years, as the cost of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology has steadily decreased and advancements in data processing speed and image recognition have accelerated, UAVs have become increasingly favored in civil engineering surveying and mapping. The purpose of this paper is to study the development of UAV technology in the field of civil engineering surveying and mapping and its current application methods. By analysing the above contents, the problems still existing in the current practical use of UAV technology are studied. Through a review of relevant literature, newly developed technologies will be integrated with current UAV capabilities to propose recommendations for future improvements. This article employs literature analysis and case study methodologies to investigate the utilization of UAV technology. It delineates the current state of development and the challenges that UAV technology faces in the surveying field by examining extant academic research materials and legal regulations. It also provides a concise overview of the distinctive benefits of UAV technology. Simultaneously, the deficiencies of UAV technology in field environments are investigated, particularly focusing on data collection and accuracy in engineering surveying projects. UAV technology has obvious advantages compared with traditional methods in the field of civil engineering surveying and mapping. It can complete surveying and mapping tasks efficiently and quickly in many application scenarios. The high flexibility of UAVs and the high-precision scanning of their sensors are enough to meet the needs of current engineering surveying and mapping. The wide application of UAV technology still faces problems such as imperfect laws and regulations, insufficient surveying and mapping scope, and large surveying and mapping data. Addressing these issues requires the development of new laws and the creation of algorithms to enhance data processing capabilities.