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Main Authors: Lu, Weiyan, Li, Huizhe, Fang, Yuhao, Zhou, Zhexuan, Wu, Junda, Li, Yude, Gong, Youmin, Mei, Jie
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.10349
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author Lu, Weiyan
Li, Huizhe
Fang, Yuhao
Zhou, Zhexuan
Wu, Junda
Li, Yude
Gong, Youmin
Mei, Jie
author_facet Lu, Weiyan
Li, Huizhe
Fang, Yuhao
Zhou, Zhexuan
Wu, Junda
Li, Yude
Gong, Youmin
Mei, Jie
contents Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with suspended payloads offer significant advantages for aerial transportation in complex and cluttered environments. However, existing systems face critical limitations, including unreliable perception of the cable-payload dynamics, inefficient planning in large-scale environments, and the inability to guarantee whole-body safety under cable bending and external disturbances. This paper presents Acetrans, an Autonomous, Corridor-based, and Efficient UAV suspended transport system that addresses these challenges through a unified perception, planning, and control framework. A LiDAR-IMU fusion module is proposed to jointly estimate both payload pose and cable shape under taut and bent modes, enabling robust whole-body state estimation and real-time filtering of cable point clouds. To enhance planning scalability, we introduce the Multi-size-Aware Configuration-space Iterative Regional Inflation (MACIRI) algorithm, which generates safe flight corridors while accounting for varying UAV and payload geometries. A spatio-temporal, corridor-constrained trajectory optimization scheme is then developed to ensure dynamically feasible and collision-free trajectories. Finally, a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) augmented with cable-bending constraints provides robust whole-body safety during execution. Simulation and experimental results validate the effectiveness of Acetrans, demonstrating substantial improvements in perception accuracy, planning efficiency, and control safety compared to state-of-the-art methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_10349
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Acetrans: An Autonomous Corridor-Based and Efficient UAV Suspended Transport System
Lu, Weiyan
Li, Huizhe
Fang, Yuhao
Zhou, Zhexuan
Wu, Junda
Li, Yude
Gong, Youmin
Mei, Jie
Robotics
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with suspended payloads offer significant advantages for aerial transportation in complex and cluttered environments. However, existing systems face critical limitations, including unreliable perception of the cable-payload dynamics, inefficient planning in large-scale environments, and the inability to guarantee whole-body safety under cable bending and external disturbances. This paper presents Acetrans, an Autonomous, Corridor-based, and Efficient UAV suspended transport system that addresses these challenges through a unified perception, planning, and control framework. A LiDAR-IMU fusion module is proposed to jointly estimate both payload pose and cable shape under taut and bent modes, enabling robust whole-body state estimation and real-time filtering of cable point clouds. To enhance planning scalability, we introduce the Multi-size-Aware Configuration-space Iterative Regional Inflation (MACIRI) algorithm, which generates safe flight corridors while accounting for varying UAV and payload geometries. A spatio-temporal, corridor-constrained trajectory optimization scheme is then developed to ensure dynamically feasible and collision-free trajectories. Finally, a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) augmented with cable-bending constraints provides robust whole-body safety during execution. Simulation and experimental results validate the effectiveness of Acetrans, demonstrating substantial improvements in perception accuracy, planning efficiency, and control safety compared to state-of-the-art methods.
title Acetrans: An Autonomous Corridor-Based and Efficient UAV Suspended Transport System
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.10349