Editing Unmanned aerial vehicle (section)

=== Autonomy ===
{{main|Autonomous aircraft}}
[[File:Degrees of autonomy.jpg|thumb|UAV's degrees of autonomy]]
The level of autonomy in UAVs varies widely. UAV manufacturers often build in specific autonomous operations, such as:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Automated Vehicles for Safety |location=United States|publisher=[[National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]]|url=https://www.nhtsa.gov/technology-innovation/automated-vehicles-safety|access-date=2021-10-08|language=en|archive-date=7 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007021013/https://www.nhtsa.gov/technology-innovation/automated-vehicles-safety|url-status=live}}</ref>

* Self-level: attitude stabilization on the pitch and roll axes.
* Altitude hold: The aircraft maintains its altitude using barometric pressure and/or GPS data. 
* Hover/position hold: Keep level pitch and roll, stable yaw heading and altitude while maintaining position using [[GNSS]] or inertial sensors.
* Headless mode: Pitch control relative to the position of the pilot rather than relative to the vehicle's axes. 
* Care-free: automatic roll and yaw control while moving horizontally
* Takeoff and landing (using a variety of aircraft or ground-based sensors and systems; see also "[[autoland]]")
* Failsafe: automatic landing or return-to-home upon loss of control signal
* Return-to-home: Fly back to the point of takeoff (often gaining altitude first to avoid possible intervening obstructions such as trees or buildings).
* Follow-me: Maintain relative position to a moving pilot or other object using GNSS, [[image recognition]] or homing beacon.
* GPS waypoint navigation: Using GNSS to navigate to an intermediate location on a travel path.
* Orbit around an object: Similar to Follow-me but continuously circle a target.
* Pre-programmed [[aerobatics]] (such as rolls and loops)
* Pre-programmed delivery (delivery drones)

One approach to quantifying autonomous capabilities is based on [[OODA loop|OODA]] terminology, as suggested by a 2002 US [[Air Force Research Laboratory]] report, and used in the table on the right.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA515926|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200924155100/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA515926|url-status = live|archive-date = 24 September 2020|title = Metrics, Schmetrics! How The Heck Do You Determine A UAV's Autonomy Anyway?|date = August 2002|website = US Air Force Research Laboratory|last = Clough|first = Bruce}}</ref>

[[File:X-47B receives fuel from an Omega K-707 tanker while operating in the Atlantic Test Ranges.jpg|thumb|A [[Northrop Grumman X-47B]] unmanned combat aircraft demonstrator of the US Navy refuels in flight from a tanker aircraft.]]
Full autonomy is available for specific tasks, such as [[airborne refueling]]<ref>{{Cite news|title = Watch a step in Navy history: an autonomous drone gets refueled mid-air|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/04/23/watch-a-step-in-aviation-history-an-autonomous-drone-getting-refueled-mid-air/|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 23 April 2015|access-date = 3 February 2016|issn = 0190-8286|first = Christian|last = Davenport|archive-date = 20 January 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160120103200/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/04/23/watch-a-step-in-aviation-history-an-autonomous-drone-getting-refueled-mid-air/|url-status = live}}</ref> or ground-based battery switching.

Other functions available or under development include; collective flight, real-time [[Collision avoidance system|collision avoidance]], wall following, corridor centring, simultaneous localization and mapping and [[Swarm robotics|swarming]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tahir |first1=Anam |last2=Böling |first2=Jari |last3=Haghbayan |first3=Mohammad-Hashem |last4=Toivonen |first4=Hannu T. |last5=Plosila |first5=Juha |title=Swarms of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – A Survey |journal=Journal of Industrial Information Integration |date=2019 |volume=16 |pages=100106 |doi=10.1016/j.jii.2019.100106 |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[cognitive radio]], and [[machine learning]]. In this context, [[computer vision]] can play an important role for automatically ensuring flight safety.