The development of autonomous vessels and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) has generated great interest in the scientific community due to their potential and advantages for use in various environments and applications. Several literature review papers have been produced from different perspectives, contributing to a better understanding of the topic and to the analysis of advances, challenges, and trends. We hypothesize that the greatest attention has been focused on the development of high-impact applications in the maritime sector. Additionally, we depart from the need to investigate the potential and advances of USVs in fluvial environments, which involve particular operating conditions, where there are different socio-environmental conditions and restrictions in terms of access to conventional energy sources and communication systems. In this sense, the main objective of this work is to study USVs in the particular context of small craft. The search for records was conducted in Scopus and Web of Science databases, covering studies published from 2000 to May 16, 2024. The methodology employed was based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, which is a widely recognized protocol that ensures quality and rigor in systematic reviews and bibliometric analyses. To optimize the data collection and selection process, the semaphore technique was additionally implemented, allowing for an efficient categorization of the studies found. This combined methodological approach facilitated a systematic and transparent evaluation of the literature. This study was developed based on three research questions about the evolution of research topics, areas of application, and types of algorithms related to USVs. The study of the evolution of works on USVs was carried out based on the results of the meta-analysis generated with the Bibliometrix tool. The study of applications and developments was carried out based on information obtained from the papers for six study categories: application environment, level of autonomy, application area, algorithm typology, methods, and electronic devices used. For each of the 387 papers identified in the databases, labeling was performed for the 359 screened papers with six study categories according to the availability of information in the title and abstract. In the categories application sector, autonomy level, application area and algorithm type/task, it was identified that most studies are oriented toward the maritime sector, the developments to achieve full autonomy for USVs, the development of designs or algorithms at the modeling and simulation level, and the development and implementation of algorithms for the GNC subsystems. Nevertheless, this research has revealed a much wider range of environments and applications beyond maritime, military, and commercial sectors. In addition, from the mapping of the types of algorithms used in the GNC architecture, the study provides information that can be used to guide the design of the subsystems that enable USV autonomy for civilian use in restricted environments.
