Trajectory Bundle Method in SE(3) for Black-Box Fixed-Wing Aircraft Trajectory Optimization

Abstract:Dynamically feasible trajectory optimization for rigid-body systems is naturally formulated on the special Euclidean group SE(3) but is challenging when dynamics are available only as black-box computations without derivatives. This paper formulates the Trajectory Bundle Method (TBM) for motion planning implicitly on SE(3). Bundles are constructed in the Lie algebra and propagated through nonlinear rigid-body dynamics using exponential and logarithmic maps, enabling derivative-free planning of non-Euclidean trajectories. We show that Euclidean TBM interpolation error is bounded quadratically by bundle diameter and extend this result to SE(3), where the bound additionally depends on a local Lipschitz constant of the Log map. Numerical experiments corroborate these bounds. Finally, we demonstrate SE(3) TBM by optimizing an acrobatic, collision-free fixed-wing maneuver through a rotated aperture without explicit models or derivatives of the vehicle dynamics, aerodynamics, or collision model.

This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible. Submitted to IEEE L-CSS / ACC

Robotics (cs.RO)

arXiv:2609.12248 [cs.RO]

(or arXiv:2609.12248v1 [cs.RO] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.12248 arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)