Trajectory Planning and Control for Differentially Flat Fixed-Wing Aerial Systems
New York University and Technology Innovation Institute
2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2025
A real-time planning and control framework that uses differential flatness to generate dynamically feasible fixed-wing UAV trajectories, including under wind disturbances.
Abstract
Fixed-wing UAVs must account for non-holonomic motion, complex dynamics, and uncertain aerodynamic effects. This work introduces a real-time planning and control approach that exploits differential flatness in coordinated flight to produce dynamically feasible trajectories. It continuously replans as the aircraft advances, accommodating curvature constraints and challenging disturbances such as wind. Simulations and real-world experiments validate the approach.
Key contributions
- Uses differential flatness to efficiently construct dynamically feasible fixed-wing trajectories.
- Replans continuously to account for evolving curvature requirements along the path.
- Demonstrates the method in simulation and physical experiments, including wind-disturbance conditions.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{morando2025trajectory,
title={Trajectory Planning and Control for Differentially Flat Fixed-Wing Aerial Systems},
author={Morando, Luca and Salunkhe, Sanket A. and Bobbili, Nishanth and Mao, Jeffrey and Masci, Luca and Nguyen, Hung and de Souza, Cristino and Loianno, Giuseppe},
booktitle={2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)},
pages={4220--4226},
year={2025},
doi={10.1109/ICRA55743.2025.11128404}
}