# Airways: Optimization-Based Planning of Quadrotor Trajectories according to High-Level User Goals

## TL;DR

This paper introduces Airways, an optimization-based planning tool that enables users, even without expert knowledge, to generate feasible quadrotor trajectories aligned with high-level goals for various real-world applications.

## Contribution

It presents a novel optimization method and an intuitive 3D design tool that simplify quadrotor trajectory planning for non-expert users across multiple scenarios.

## Key findings

- Successfully generates feasible trajectories for real-world use cases.
- Allows intuitive editing and exploration of trajectory solutions.
- Demonstrates effectiveness in aerial videography, light-painting, and drone racing.

## Abstract

In this paper we propose a computational design tool that al-lows end-users to create advanced quadrotor trajectories witha variety of application scenarios in mind. Our algorithm al-lows novice users to create quadrotor based use-cases withoutrequiring deep knowledge in either quadrotor control or theunderlying constraints of the target domain. To achieve thisgoal we propose an optimization-based method that gener-ates feasible trajectories which can be flown in the real world.Furthermore, the method incorporates high-level human ob-jectives into the planning of flight trajectories. An easy touse 3D design tool allows for quick specification and edit-ing of trajectories as well as for intuitive exploration of theresulting solution space. We demonstrate the utility of our ap-proach in several real-world application scenarios, includingaerial-videography, robotic light-painting and drone racing.