... to fly solely by UAV itself. “Balloon-borne UAV system” is a developing technology that uses high-altitude balloons to launch small UAVs in near space height, which can provide an optional scheme for this application scenario (Lachenmeier, 2003). It has both the characteristics of the respective aircraft...

.... Originality/value For the autonomous flight of small UAVs having a payload limit, this paper suggests a means of forming three‐dimensional information about obstacles with images obtained from a monocular camera. Jeong‐Oog Lee can be contacted at: ljo7@konkuk.ac.kr © Emerald Group Publishing Limited...