E-Mail IMAGE: A standard radio control-based drone, upgraded with necessary hardware and software and equipped with a simple 2D camera for the detection of a symbolized landing pad view more Credit: Malik Demirhan and Chinthaka Premachandra in "Development of an Automated Camera-Based Drone Landing System, " published in IEEE Access by IEEE Xplore, under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0... Initially earmarked for covert military operations, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones have since gained tremendous popularity, which has broadened the scope of their use. In fact, "remote pilot" drones have been largely replaced by "autonomous" drones for applications in various fields. One such application is their usage in rescue missions following a natural or man-made disaster. However, this often requires the drones to be able to land safely on uneven terrain--which can be very difficult to execute.