HD Camera-Equipped UAV Trajectory Planning for Gantry Crane Inspection

Abstract

While Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be a valuable solution for the damage inspection of port machinery infrastructures, their trajectories are still prone to collision risks, trajectory non-smoothness, and large deviations. This research introduces a trajectory optimization method for inspecting vulnerable parts of a gantry crane by a UAV fitted with a high-definition (HD) camera. We first analyze the vulnerable parts of a gantry crane, then use the A* algorithm to plan a path for the UAV. The trajectory optimization process is divided into two steps, the first is a trajectory correction method and the second is an objective function that applies a minimum snap method while taking into consideration flight corridor constraints. The experimental simulation results show that, compared with previous methods, our approach can not only generate a collision-free and smooth trajectory but also shorten the trajectory length significantly while substantially reducing the maximum deviation average deviation distances. The simulation results show that this modelling approach provides a valuable solution for UAV trajectory planning for gantry crane inspection.