# Nonlinear MPC for Collision Avoidance and Controlof UAVs With Dynamic Obstacles

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.00792 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.00792/

## Key facts

- Cited by 14 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 3 Aug 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [WayFAST: Navigation with Predictive Traversability in the Field](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.12071/) (2022)
- [Transformer-Based Fault-Tolerant Control for Fixed-Wing UAVs Using Knowledge Distillation and In-Context Adaptation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.02975/) (2024)
- [Safe Beyond the Horizon: Efficient Sampling-based MPC with Neural Control Barrier Functions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.15006/) (2025)
- [NOVA: Navigation via Object-Centric Visual Autonomy for High-Speed Target Tracking in Unstructured GPS-Denied Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.18689/) (2025)
- [Distributed Model Predictive Control with Adaptive Safety Zones for Multi-Fleet Drone Operations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.20651/) (2026)
- [Advanced Algorithms of Collision Free Navigation and Flocking for Autonomous UAVs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.00166/) (2021)
- [Efficient Real-time Smoke Filtration with 3D LiDAR for Search and Rescue with Autonomous Heterogeneous Robotic Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07264/) (2023)
- [Toward collision-free trajectory for autonomous and pilot-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.10064/) (2023)
- [Custom Non-Linear Model Predictive Control for Obstacle Avoidance in Indoor and Outdoor Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.02732/) (2024)
- [Monocular Obstacle Avoidance Based on Inverse PPO for Fixed-wing UAVs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.18009/) (2024)
- [The Composite Visual-Laser Navigation Method Applied in Indoor Poultry Farming Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08431/) (2025)
- [Meta Policy Switching for Secure UAV Deconfliction in Adversarial Airspace](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.21127/) (2025)
- [AdaptNC: Adaptive Nonconformity Scores for Conformal Prediction under Distribution Shift](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.01629/) (2026)
- [Meta-Adaptive Beam Search Planning for Transformer-Based Reinforcement Learning Control of UAVs with Overhead Manipulators under Flight Disturbances](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.26612/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This article proposes a Novel Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) for navigation and obstacle avoidance of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The proposed NMPC formulation allows for a fully parametric obstacle trajectory, while in this article we apply a classification scheme to differentiate between different kinds of trajectories to predict future obstacle positions. The trajectory calculation is done from an initial condition, and fed to the NMPC as an additional input. The solver used is the nonlinear, non-convex solver Proximal Averaged Newton for Optimal Control (PANOC) and its associated software OpEn (Optimization Engine), in which we apply a penalty method to properly consider the obstacles and other constraints during navigation. The proposed NMPC scheme allows for real-time solutions using a sampling time of 50 ms and a two second prediction of both the obstacle trajectory and the NMPC problem, which implies that the scheme can be considered as a local path-planner. This paper will present the NMPC cost function and constraint formulation, as well as the methodology of dealing with the dynamic obstacles. We include multiple laboratory experiments to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed control architecture, and to show that the proposed method delivers fast and computationally stable solutions to the dynamic obstacle avoidance scenarios.