Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle Avoidance

Due to their high flexibility, low cost, and energy-saving advantages, applying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in logistics is a promising field to achieve better social and economic benefits. Since UAVs’ energy storage capacity is generally low, it is essential to reduce energy costs to improve th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kunpeng Wu, Juncong Lan, Shaofeng Lu, Chaoxian Wu, Bingjian Liu, Zenghao Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Drones
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/2/93
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850081564244836352
author Kunpeng Wu
Juncong Lan
Shaofeng Lu
Chaoxian Wu
Bingjian Liu
Zenghao Lu
author_facet Kunpeng Wu
Juncong Lan
Shaofeng Lu
Chaoxian Wu
Bingjian Liu
Zenghao Lu
author_sort Kunpeng Wu
collection DOAJ
description Due to their high flexibility, low cost, and energy-saving advantages, applying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in logistics is a promising field to achieve better social and economic benefits. Since UAVs’ energy storage capacity is generally low, it is essential to reduce energy costs to improve their system’s energy efficiency. In this paper, we proposed a novel trajectory planning framework to achieve the optimal trajectory with the minimum amount of energy consumption under the constraints of obstacles in a static environment. Based on UAV dynamics, we first derived the required power functions of multi-rotor UAVs in vertical and horizontal flight. To generate a feasible trajectory, we first adopted the A* algorithm to find a path and developed a safe flight corridor for the UAV to fly across by expanding the waypoints against the environment, and then proposed a time-discretization method to formulate the trajectory generation problem and solve it by the convex optimization algorithm. The optimization results in a static environment with obstacles demonstrated that the proposed method could efficiently and effectively obtain the optimal trajectory with the minimum amount of energy consumption under different allowed mission times and payloads. The framework would promote a variety of logistics UAV applications relevant to trajectory planning.
format Article
id doaj-art-1ed5cd8e939d412cab7bd24ea1528e01
institution DOAJ
issn 2504-446X
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Drones
spelling doaj-art-1ed5cd8e939d412cab7bd24ea1528e012025-08-20T02:44:42ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2025-01-01929310.3390/drones9020093Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle AvoidanceKunpeng Wu0Juncong Lan1Shaofeng Lu2Chaoxian Wu3Bingjian Liu4Zenghao Lu5Shien-Ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 511442, ChinaShien-Ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 511442, ChinaShien-Ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 511442, ChinaThe School of Systems Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, ChinaThe Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo, Ningbo 315100, ChinaFujian Zhongli Technology Co., Quanzhou 362100, ChinaDue to their high flexibility, low cost, and energy-saving advantages, applying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in logistics is a promising field to achieve better social and economic benefits. Since UAVs’ energy storage capacity is generally low, it is essential to reduce energy costs to improve their system’s energy efficiency. In this paper, we proposed a novel trajectory planning framework to achieve the optimal trajectory with the minimum amount of energy consumption under the constraints of obstacles in a static environment. Based on UAV dynamics, we first derived the required power functions of multi-rotor UAVs in vertical and horizontal flight. To generate a feasible trajectory, we first adopted the A* algorithm to find a path and developed a safe flight corridor for the UAV to fly across by expanding the waypoints against the environment, and then proposed a time-discretization method to formulate the trajectory generation problem and solve it by the convex optimization algorithm. The optimization results in a static environment with obstacles demonstrated that the proposed method could efficiently and effectively obtain the optimal trajectory with the minimum amount of energy consumption under different allowed mission times and payloads. The framework would promote a variety of logistics UAV applications relevant to trajectory planning.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/2/93multi-rotor UAVsenergy consumption modeltrajectory planningconvex optimization
spellingShingle Kunpeng Wu
Juncong Lan
Shaofeng Lu
Chaoxian Wu
Bingjian Liu
Zenghao Lu
Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle Avoidance
Drones
multi-rotor UAVs
energy consumption model
trajectory planning
convex optimization
title Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle Avoidance
title_full Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle Avoidance
title_fullStr Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle Avoidance
title_full_unstemmed Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle Avoidance
title_short Integrative Path Planning for Multi-Rotor Logistics UAVs Considering UAV Dynamics, Energy Efficiency, and Obstacle Avoidance
title_sort integrative path planning for multi rotor logistics uavs considering uav dynamics energy efficiency and obstacle avoidance
topic multi-rotor UAVs
energy consumption model
trajectory planning
convex optimization
url https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/9/2/93
work_keys_str_mv AT kunpengwu integrativepathplanningformultirotorlogisticsuavsconsideringuavdynamicsenergyefficiencyandobstacleavoidance
AT junconglan integrativepathplanningformultirotorlogisticsuavsconsideringuavdynamicsenergyefficiencyandobstacleavoidance
AT shaofenglu integrativepathplanningformultirotorlogisticsuavsconsideringuavdynamicsenergyefficiencyandobstacleavoidance
AT chaoxianwu integrativepathplanningformultirotorlogisticsuavsconsideringuavdynamicsenergyefficiencyandobstacleavoidance
AT bingjianliu integrativepathplanningformultirotorlogisticsuavsconsideringuavdynamicsenergyefficiencyandobstacleavoidance
AT zenghaolu integrativepathplanningformultirotorlogisticsuavsconsideringuavdynamicsenergyefficiencyandobstacleavoidance