An unmanned aerial vehicle for autonomously perching on a cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) from a starting position away from the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250), the UAV (100; 300) comprising: a three-dimensional depth camera configured to capture and output 3D point clouds of scenes from the UAV (100; 300) comprising the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250); a two-dimensional light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system having a one-dimensional field of view, in contrast to a 3D LIDAR system having a 2D FOV, the 2D LIDAR system being configured to capture and output 2D slices of the scenes; a perching mechanism configured to mechanically perch the UAV (100; 300) on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250); and a control circuit configured to: control the depth camera and the 2D LIDAR system to capture the 3D point clouds and the 2D slices, respectively, of the scenes; input the captured 3D point clouds from the depth camera and the captured 2D slices from the 2D LIDAR system; autonomously detect and localize the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) using the captured 3D point clouds and the captured 2D slices; autonomously direct the UAV (100; 300) from the starting position to a landing position on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) based on the autonomous detection and localization of the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250); and autonomously control the UAV (100; 300) to perch the UAV (100; 300) on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) at the landing position using the perching mechanism. a three-dimensional depth camera configured to capture and output 3D point clouds of scenes from the UAV (100; 300) comprising the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250); a two-dimensional light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system having a one-dimensional field of view, in contrast to a 3D LIDAR system having a 2D FOV, the 2D LIDAR system being configured to capture and output 2D slices of the scenes; a perching mechanism configured to mechanically perch the UAV (100; 300) on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250); and a control circuit configured to: control the depth camera and the 2D LIDAR system to capture the 3D point clouds and the 2D slices, respectively, of the scenes; input the captured 3D point clouds from the depth camera and the captured 2D slices from the 2D LIDAR system; autonomously detect and localize the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) using the captured 3D point clouds and the captured 2D slices; autonomously direct the UAV (100; 300) from the starting position to a landing position on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) based on the autonomous detection and localization of the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250); and autonomously control the UAV (100; 300) to perch the UAV (100; 300) on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) at the landing position using the perching mechanism. control the depth camera and the 2D LIDAR system to capture the 3D point clouds and the 2D slices, respectively, of the scenes; input the captured 3D point clouds from the depth camera and the captured 2D slices from the 2D LIDAR system; autonomously detect and localize the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) using the captured 3D point clouds and the captured 2D slices; autonomously direct the UAV (100; 300) from the starting position to a landing position on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) based on the autonomous detection and localization of the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250); and autonomously control the UAV (100; 300) to perch the UAV (100; 300) on the cylindrically curved surface (50; 250) at the landing position using the perching mechanism.