Perception-Aware Control for Aerial Robotics: LiDAR Integration and Its Effects on Quadcopter Navigation Performance

The integration of LiDAR sensors into quadcopter control systems is fundamental for autonomous navigation in cluttered environments, yet the precise performance trade-offs between different tracking architectures under perceptual uncertainty remain insufficiently quantified. This paper presents a comprehensive 3D computational study evaluating the impact of LiDAR-informed reactive control on quadcopter flight dynamics. A non-linear six-degree-of-freedom quadcopter model coupled with a ray-casting LiDAR simulator and a hierarchical proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller was developed. To ensure a rigorous and fair comparison, two distinct navigation architectures were evaluated under identical conditions of stochastic perceptual noise and kinematic limits: a standard discrete waypoint-tracking algorithm (Scenario A) and an advanced stochastic hybrid system utilizing 3D Spline interpolation, Pure Pursuit tracking, and a noise-filtered LiDAR reactive field (Scenario B). While both approaches achieved 100% collision-free mission success across a multi-obstacle environment, the comparative analysis revealed spatial and temporal trade-offs. The discrete navigation of Scenario A proved highly efficient, completing the trajectory in 174.95 s over 230.25 m with a minimum safety clearance of 1.02 m. Conversely, the continuous hybrid architecture of Scenario B successfully avoided local minimum traps but induced massive orbital evasion maneuvers, which increased flight time to 287.10 s and traveled distance to 389.01 m. Furthermore, the Pure Pursuit controller’s corner-cutting behavior under stochastic conditions reduced the minimum safety distance to 0.78 m, while it penalized the average horizontal speed due to intermittent reactive braking. These findings provide strict quantitative benchmarks, demonstrating that while hybrid spline-based tracking offers robust deadlock evasion in noisy environments, it incurs substantial penalties in overall flight efficiency and safety margins compared to discrete routing.