ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. Active introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will make Russian drones more autonomous in the coming 3-5 years and their range will increase, Commercial Director of the Future Laboratory Company Pavel Kamenev told TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"We can expect greater autonomy of drones due to machine vision and artificial intelligence. It will happen regardless of the type of the drone, whether it is a fixed-wing one, multicopter or hybrid. The AI will demand increased onboard computer capacities and will initially process data onboard thus decreasing the load on ground personnel," he said.

Another guideline of the drone market is production localization of communication systems, re-transmitters of control signals, onboard flight and power electronics, he added.

However, he doubted that Russian engineers can master batch production of cameras, thermal vision sensors, and laser scanners in the near future. Kamenev also noted the trend to increase the flight range and payload.

"The near-Earth space will be developed and will influence the drones. In general, in 3-5 years it will be impossible to imagine our life without drones. Progress cannot be stopped. Such guidelines, as monitoring, diagnostics of linear and infrastructure objects, cargo delivery and aerial survey will be closely linked to drones," he said.

The SPIEF is held on June 5-8 and discusses new growth points as the basis of the multipolar world.