Trajectory Optimization

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Overview

Trajectory optimization finds motions or control inputs that achieve goals efficiently while respecting dynamics, obstacles, actuator limits, and sometimes uncertainty or contact. Common approaches include direct optimal-control methods such as sequential convex programming and differential dynamic programming, spline-based formulations, and sampling methods such as MPPI and cross-entropy search; recent work also uses diffusion models and learned warm starts. Applications range from robot manipulation and legged locomotion to autonomous driving, UAV planning, and spacecraft guidance, with evaluation spanning simulation benchmarks and real-robot or flight tests. A central challenge is balancing fast, reliable solutions with global exploration and strong feasibility or safety guarantees, especially for contact-rich, uncertain, and high-dimensional systems.

Latest papers

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204 papers22 papers in the last four weeks, down 31% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. Natural Functional Gradients for Smooth Trajectory Optimization

    May 27, 2026Kisang Park, Chanwoo Kim, Kyungjae Lee +1Constrained Motion PlanningTrajectory Optimization

    Department of Artificial Intelligence, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea · Department of Statistics, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea · 3RLWRLD, Seoul, Republic of Korea

  2. Pretrained Approximators for Low-Thrust Trajectory Cost and Reachability

    May 26, 2026Zhong Zhang, Giacomo Acciarini, Dario Izzo +2Neural Surrogate ModelingTrajectory Optimization

    Politecnico di Milano · European Space Agency · Tsinghua University

  3. Mind the Gaps: Multi-Robot Feedback-Driven Ergodic Coverage in Unknown Environments

    May 20, 2026Thales Costa Silva, Nora AyanianTrajectory OptimizationMulti-Robot Systems

    Department of Computer Science at Brown University, Providence-RI, USA.

  4. Trajectory Planning and Control near the Limits: an Open Experimental Benchmark on the RoboRacer Platform

    May 19, 2026Mattia Piccinini, Patrick Zambiasi, Aniello Mungiello +3Autonomous Driving BenchmarksRobot Trajectory Tracking

    Professorship of Autonomous Vehicle Systems, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany; Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI). · Avilus GmbH, Germany. · Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (DIETI), University of Naples Federico II, Naples 80125, Italy. +1

  5. Learning-Accelerated Optimization-based Trajectory Planning for Cooperative Aerial-Ground Handover Missions

    May 19, 2026Jingshan Chen, Bochen Yu, Henrik Ebel +1Multi-Robot Motion PlanningTrajectory Optimization

    Institute of Engineering and Computational Mechanics, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany · Mechanical Engineering, LUT University, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland

  6. Orchestrating Wheeled Mobile Robots Online without Conflicts

    May 18, 2026Jianghong Dong, Yifeng Zhang, Wenhan Cao +4Multi-Robot Formation ControlMulti-Robot Motion Planning

    School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China · Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117575, Singapore · Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

  7. CosFly-Track: A Large-Scale Multi-Modal Dataset for UAV Visual Tracking via Multi-Constraint Trajectory Optimization

    May 18, 2026Xiangyue Wang, Hanxuan Chen, Songsheng Cheng +7Aerial RoboticsTrajectory Optimization

    Autel Robotics · Nanjing University · Peking University +2

  8. Structured Jacobian Construction for Motion Optimization with High-Order Time Derivatives in Multi-Link Systems

    May 15, 2026Taiki Ishigaki, Ko Ayusawa, Eiichi YoshidaTrajectory OptimizationMultibody Dynamics

    Tokyo University of Science · National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

  9. Wind-Aware Optimal Trajectory Planning for Efficient Gliding of Fixed-Wing Aerial Systems

    May 15, 2026Luca Morando, Nishanth Bobbili, Giuseppe LoiannoAerial RoboticsTrajectory Optimization

    New York University, NY 10012, USA · University of California Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

  10. Behavioral Data-Driven Optimal Trajectory Generation for Rotary Cranes

    May 14, 2026Iskandar Khemakhem, Manuel Zobel, Johannes Schüle +3Robotic ControlTrajectory Optimization

    Institute for Adaptive Mechanical Systems, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 70569, Germany · Institute for System Dynamics, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 70563, Germany · Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi, 441-8580, Japan +1

  11. Motion Planning for Autonomous Vehicles using Optimization over Graphs of Convex Sets

    May 13, 2026Matheus Wagner, Antônio Augusto FröhlichTrajectory OptimizationAutonomous Driving

    Software/Hardware Integration Lab, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florian´opolis, Brazil

  12. Ergodic Trajectory Design by Learned Pushforward Maps: Provable Coverage via Conditional Flow Matching

    May 13, 2026Ehsan Aghazadeh, Masoud Malekzadeh, Ahmad Ghasemi +1Trajectory OptimizationTrajectory Generation

    University of Massachusetts Amherst

  13. Mismatch-Aware Adaptive Constraint Tightening for Bicycle-Model Trajectory Optimization

    May 10, 2026Lingxue Lyu, Zihui LiuTrajectory OptimizationModel Predictive Control

    School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA · Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

  14. IMPACT: An Implicit Active-Set Augmented Lagrangian for Fast Contact-Implicit Trajectory Optimization

    May 9, 2026Jiayun Li, Dejian Gong, Georgia ChalvatzakiConstrained Motion PlanningTrajectory Optimization

    1PEARL Lab, Dept. of Computer Science, TU Darmstadt, Germany · 2Hessian.AI, Darmstadt, Germany · 3Robotics Institute Germany (RIG)

  15. Transfer Learning of Multiobjective Indirect Low-Thrust Trajectories Using Diffusion Models and Markov Chain Monte Carlo

    May 9, 2026Jannik Graebner, Ryne BeesonMarkov Chain Monte CarloTrajectory Optimization

    PhD Candidate, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, NJ, USA. · Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, NJ, USA.

  16. Terminal Matters: Kinodynamic Planning with a Terminal Cost and Learned Uncertainty in Belief State-Cost Space

    May 9, 2026Zhuoyun Zhong, Seyedali Golestaneh, Constantinos ChamzasBelief-Space PlanningTrajectory Optimization

    All authors are affiliated with the Department of Robotics Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA 01609, USA

  17. PISTO: Proximal Inference for Stochastic Trajectory Optimization

    May 8, 2026Hongzhe Yu, Zinuo Chang, Yongxin ChenTrajectory OptimizationTrajectory Generation

    School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA · School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

  18. On the Emergence of Pendular Structure in Multi-Contact Locomotion

    May 7, 2026Lingxue Lyu, Zihui LiuLegged RoboticsTrajectory Optimization

    School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA · Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

  19. Tightly-Coupled Estimation and Guidance for Robust Low-Thrust Rendezvous via Adaptive Homotopy

    May 6, 2026Batu Candan, Simone ServadioTrajectory OptimizationSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.

  20. Joint Optimization of Trajectory Control, Resource Allocation, and Task Offloading for Multi-UAV-Assisted IoV

    May 6, 2026Maoxin Ji, Qiong Wu, Pingyi Fan +4Trajectory OptimizationIntelligent Transportation Systems

    School of Internet of Things Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China · School of Information Engineering, Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Signal Processing and Intelligent Communications, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China · Department of Electronic Engineering, State Key laboratory of Space Network and Communications, Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China +4

  21. Feedback Motion Planning for Stochastic Nonlinear Systems with Signal Temporal Logic Specifications

    May 4, 2026Liqian Ma, Zishun Liu, Glen Chou +1Constrained Motion PlanningTrajectory Optimization

    Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332

  22. Optimized and kinematically feasible multi-agent motion planning

    May 3, 2026Anja Hellander, Kristoffer Bergman, Daniel AxehillConstrained Motion PlanningTrajectory Optimization

    Division of Automatic Control, Linköping University, Sweden · Saab AB, Linköping, Sweden

  23. Global Sampling-Based Trajectory Optimization for Contact-Rich Manipulation via KernelSOS

    Apr 29, 2026Zhongqi Wei, Frederike DümbgenTrajectory OptimizationLong-Horizon Robotic Manipulation

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA · Inria, Département d’informatique de l’ENS, CNRS, PSL Research University, Paris, France

  24. Bi-Level Optimization for Contact and Motion Planning in Rope-Assisted Legged Robots

    Apr 29, 2026Ruben Malacarne, Ioannis Tsikelis, Enrico Mingo Hoffman +1Legged RoboticsTrajectory Optimization

    The authors are with the Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Scienza dell’Informazione (DISI), University of Trento. · The authors are with Inria, Université de Lorraine, CNRS, 54000 Nancy, France.

  25. ATRS: Adaptive Trajectory Re-splitting via a Shared Neural Policy for Parallel Optimization

    Apr 24, 2026Jiajun Yu, Guodong Liu, Li Wang +6Trajectory OptimizationAlternating Direction Method of Multipliers

  26. Tempered Sequential Monte Carlo for Trajectory and Policy Optimization with Differentiable Dynamics

    Apr 23, 2026Heng YangMarkov Chain Monte CarloTrajectory Optimization

    Harvard University

  27. Accelerating trajectory optimization with Sobolev-trained diffusion policies

    Apr 21, 2026Théotime Le Hellard, Franki Nguimatsia Tiofack, Quentin Le Lidec +1Trajectory OptimizationTrajectory Generation

    Inria - Département d’Informatique de l’École normale supérieure, PSL Research University, France · Courant Institute, New York University, USA

  28. Intent-aligned Autonomous Spacecraft Guidance via Reasoning Models

    Apr 19, 2026Yuji Takubo, Simone D'AmicoTrajectory OptimizationLLM Planning

    Stanford University · Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305 · Stanford University 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305

  29. Multi-stage Planning for Multi-target Surveillance using Aircrafts Equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radars Aware of Target Visibility

    Apr 18, 2026Daniel Fuertes, Carlos R. del-Blanco, Fernando Jaureguizar +2Trajectory OptimizationRemote Sensing

    Grupo de Tratamiento de Im´agenes, Information Processing and Telecommunications Center, ETSI Telecomunicaci´on, Universidad Polit´ecnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain · Airbus Defence and Space, 28906 Madrid, Spain

  30. Diffusion-Based Optimization for Accelerated Convergence of Redundant Dual-Arm Minimum Time Problems

    Apr 17, 2026Jushan Chen, Jonathan Fried, Santiago PaternainTrajectory OptimizationBimanual Robotic Manipulation

    Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th St, Troy, NY 12180, USA