Challenges and Innovations in Drone and Autonomous Vehicle Simulators and Controllers

Drones, used across various civilian and military sectors, are rapidly proliferating, but their current simulators and controllers lack flexibility and interoperability, hindering innovation-particularly for multi-agent systems and marine or underwater environments. This state-of-the-art review examines existing simulators and controllers to identify their strengths and weaknesses, assessing aspects such as realism, modularity, and hardware compatibility. This issue is even more pronounced in the case of marine drones. Solutions such as AirSim (realistic simulation using Unreal Engine) and UGCS (multi-drone mission management) represent significant progress, yet remain limited in modularity. Open-source SDKs like Dronecode SDK and MAVSDK allow for greater customization but require advanced technical skills. Moreover, user interface ergonomics remains a key challenge for broad adoption. Finally, integrating Green IT principles is becoming essential to reduce the environmental footprint of simulations. To meet growing demands, future software must deliver increased realism, multi-agent compatibility, and intuitive interfaces, ensuring both performance and sustainability.