Toward Low-Altitude Embodied Intelligence: A Sensing-Communication-Computation-Control Closed-Loop Perspective
For researchers and engineers developing autonomous UAV systems for low-altitude applications, this work provides a foundational framework and identifies key challenges in integrating SC^3 for closed-loop operation.
This article systematically explores low-altitude embodied intelligence (LAEI) networks from a sensing-communication-computation-control (SC^3) closed-loop perspective, examining key enabling techniques and presenting a case study of a UAV mission in an unknown urban area. It identifies major challenges and outlines future research directions for next-generation low-altitude intelligent systems.
The rapid growth of the low-altitude economy drives increasingly autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations, giving rise to low-altitude embodied intelligence (LAEI), in which sensing, communication, computation, and control (SC$^3$) are tightly integrated to enable closed-loop interaction, ensuring timely, effective, and safe responses in complex or unknown environments. This article systematically explores the LAEI networks, from its fundamental architecture to the diverse scenarios that it can support. We examine key enabling techniques that sustain timely information exchange and effective decision feedback within the $\text{SC}^3$ closed loop. A representative low-altitude UAV mission in an unknown urban area is presented as a case study, where the UAV provides communication services and performs environmental sensing to inform closed-loop control, illustrating how coordinated $\text{SC}^3$ capabilities enable efficient and responsive operation. By identifying major challenges and outlining future research directions, this work serves as a cornerstone for developing next-generation low-altitude intelligent systems.