Three-dimensional UAV Path Planning for Low-altitude Logistics Delivery

CHANG Qing; GAO Sen; JI Hongwei; CHEN Xi

doi:10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.11.027

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Packaging Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (11) : 265-275. DOI: 10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.11.027

Green Packaging and Circular Economy

Three-dimensional UAV Path Planning for Low-altitude Logistics Delivery

CHANG Qing^a*, GAO Sen^b, JI Hongwei^a, CHEN Xi^a

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Abstract

To address the problems of path redundancy, high energy consumption, insufficient obstacle-avoidance efficiency, and poor cargo flight stability of unmanned aerial vehicles in complex three-dimensional environments during low-altitude logistics distribution, the work aims to propose a 3D path planning optimization method considering cargo stability constraints. A representative low-altitude logistics distribution scenario was simulated, and a comprehensive three-dimensional low-altitude environment model containing cylindrical and spherical obstacles was constructed. An improved grey wolf optimization algorithm integrated with a cuckoo search mechanism was then proposed. Cat chaotic mapping and opposition-based learning were employed to improve the quality of the initial population, nonlinear dynamic weights were introduced to balance global exploration and local exploitation and a Cauchy mutation operator was incorporated to enhance the ability to escape local optima. Meanwhile, cubic B-spline curves were used to smooth the planned path. Simulation results showed that the proposed method outperformed all comparison methods in terms of path length, convergence stability, and obstacle-avoidance performance. Compared with the best-performing existing method, the proposed method further reduced path length by 3.8% and maximum jerk by 51.3%, indicating that the generated path was smoother in continuity and turning-angle variation, which helped reduce dynamic impact during flight and improve cargo transport stability. The proposed method can improve path smoothness and cargo flight stability while ensuring obstacle-avoidance safety and reducing energy consumption, and thus provides a useful reference for path optimization in low-altitude logistics distribution of fragile goods.

Key words

low-altitude logistics / unmanned aerial vehicle / 3D path planning / cargo flight stability

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CHANG Qing, GAO Sen, JI Hongwei, CHEN Xi. Three-dimensional UAV Path Planning for Low-altitude Logistics Delivery[J]. Packaging Engineering. 2026, 47(11): 265-275 https://doi.org/10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2026.11.027

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