Intelligent UAV Navigation in Smart Cities Using Phase-Field Deep Neural Networks: A Comprehensive Simulation Study

This paper proposes the integration of the phase-field method (PFM) with deep neural networks (DNNs) for UAV navigation in smart city environments. Using the proposed approach, simulations of an intelligent navigation and obstacle avoidance framework for drones in complex urban environments have been presented. Within the unified PFM-DNN model, phase-field modeling provides a continuous spatial representation, allowing for highly accurate characterization of boundaries between free space and obstacles. In parallel, the deep neural network component offers semantic perception and intelligent classification of environmental features. The proposed model was tested using the 3DCity dataset, which comprises 50,000 urban scenes under diverse environmental conditions, including fog, low light, and motion blur. The results demonstrated that the proposed system achieves high performance in classification and segmentation tasks, outperforming modern models such as DeepLabV3+, Mask R-CNN, and HRNet, while exhibiting high robustness to sensor noise and partial obstructions. The framework was evaluated within a simulated environment, and no real-world UAV drone tests were performed. This framework proves its effectiveness as a promising solution for intelligent drone navigation in future cities thanks to its ability to adapt and respond in dynamic environments.