Multi-Dimensional Visual Feature Fusion for UAV Maneuver Recognition in Power Transmission Line Protection
Research Article  ·  Published: 27 September 2026
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Chinese Journal of Information Fusion
Volume 3, Issue 3, 2026: 189-208
Research Article Open Access

Multi-Dimensional Visual Feature Fusion for UAV Maneuver Recognition in Power Transmission Line Protection

1 School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
* Corresponding Author: Han Li, [email protected]
Volume 3, Issue 3
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Article Information

Abstract

The increasing popularity of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) poses serious safety challenges to low-altitude airspace near power transmission and distribution lines. Existing monitoring technologies rely heavily on expensive radar or radio frequency devices that are susceptible to interference, while mainstream vision schemes are typically limited to object detection and fail to analyze flight intentions. To address these problems, this paper proposes a UAV maneuver recognition method for transmission and distribution line protection, providing precise semantic support for action-based risk warnings through multi-dimensional visual feature fusion. First, a YOLO object detection model extracts real-time UAV bounding boxes and trajectories from video streams to construct raw motion state sequences. Second, to suppress detection noise while preserving critical maneuvering features, a feature-preserving trajectory reconstruction algorithm based on median absolute deviation (MAD) enhancement (FP-SGM) is proposed, which combines a Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filter with an adaptive statistical threshold. On this basis, a multi-dimensional feature space comprising trajectory and scale features is constructed to design a cascade decision strategy. By fusing these features, the lateral and radial motions of UAVs are effectively decoupled, achieving robust recognition of four typical maneuvers: ‘Hovering’, ‘Circling’, ‘Approaching’, and ‘Receding’. Simulation experiments on the Gazebo platform demonstrate a 95% accuracy rate in maneuver recognition. The results indicate that this low-cost method presents a viable potential for integration into existing surveillance terminals, laying a foundation for intelligent power line defense systems.

Graphical Abstract

Multi-Dimensional Visual Feature Fusion for UAV Maneuver Recognition in Power Transmission Line Protection

Keywords

UAV maneuver recognition object detection feature fusion transmission and distribution line protection

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available on request.

Funding

This work was supported without any funding.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

AI Use Statement

The authors declare that ChatGPT-5 was used for language editing of the manuscript. The authors have carefully reviewed, revised, and verified the AI-assisted output and take full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

Not applicable.

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APA Style
Chen, L., Xu, R., Ma J., Wang, Z. & Li, H. (2026). Multi-Dimensional Visual Feature Fusion for UAV Maneuver Recognition in Power Transmission Line Protection. Chinese Journal of Information Fusion, 3(3), 189-208. https://doi.org/10.62762/CJIF.2026.661309
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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Chen, Liangfeng
AU  - Xu, Ruiqi
AU  - Ma, Jinyu
AU  - Wang, Zheng
AU  - Li, Han
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/27
TI  - Multi-Dimensional Visual Feature Fusion for UAV Maneuver Recognition in Power Transmission Line Protection
JO  - Chinese Journal of Information Fusion
T2  - Chinese Journal of Information Fusion
JF  - Chinese Journal of Information Fusion
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
SP  - 189
EP  - 208
DO  - 10.62762/CJIF.2026.661309
UR  - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/CJIF.2026.661309
KW  - UAV maneuver recognition
KW  - object detection
KW  - feature fusion
KW  - transmission and distribution line protection
AB  - The increasing popularity of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) poses serious safety challenges to low-altitude airspace near power transmission and distribution lines. Existing monitoring technologies rely heavily on expensive radar or radio frequency devices that are susceptible to interference, while mainstream vision schemes are typically limited to object detection and fail to analyze flight intentions. To address these problems, this paper proposes a UAV maneuver recognition method for transmission and distribution line protection, providing precise semantic support for action-based risk warnings through multi-dimensional visual feature fusion. First, a YOLO object detection model extracts real-time UAV bounding boxes and trajectories from video streams to construct raw motion state sequences. Second, to suppress detection noise while preserving critical maneuvering features, a feature-preserving trajectory reconstruction algorithm based on median absolute deviation (MAD) enhancement (FP-SGM) is proposed, which combines a Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filter with an adaptive statistical threshold. On this basis, a multi-dimensional feature space comprising trajectory and scale features is constructed to design a cascade decision strategy. By fusing these features, the lateral and radial motions of UAVs are effectively decoupled, achieving robust recognition of four typical maneuvers: ‘Hovering’, ‘Circling’, ‘Approaching’, and ‘Receding’. Simulation experiments on the Gazebo platform demonstrate a 95% accuracy rate in maneuver recognition. The results indicate that this low-cost method presents a viable potential for integration into existing surveillance terminals, laying a foundation for intelligent power line defense systems.
SN  - 2998-3371
PB  - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge
LA  - English
ER  - 
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@article{Chen2026MultiDimen,
  author = {Liangfeng Chen and Ruiqi Xu and Jinyu Ma and Zheng Wang and Han Li},
  title = {Multi-Dimensional Visual Feature Fusion for UAV Maneuver Recognition in Power Transmission Line Protection},
  journal = {Chinese Journal of Information Fusion},
  year = {2026},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {189-208},
  doi = {10.62762/CJIF.2026.661309},
  url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/CJIF.2026.661309},
  abstract = {The increasing popularity of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) poses serious safety challenges to low-altitude airspace near power transmission and distribution lines. Existing monitoring technologies rely heavily on expensive radar or radio frequency devices that are susceptible to interference, while mainstream vision schemes are typically limited to object detection and fail to analyze flight intentions. To address these problems, this paper proposes a UAV maneuver recognition method for transmission and distribution line protection, providing precise semantic support for action-based risk warnings through multi-dimensional visual feature fusion. First, a YOLO object detection model extracts real-time UAV bounding boxes and trajectories from video streams to construct raw motion state sequences. Second, to suppress detection noise while preserving critical maneuvering features, a feature-preserving trajectory reconstruction algorithm based on median absolute deviation (MAD) enhancement (FP-SGM) is proposed, which combines a Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filter with an adaptive statistical threshold. On this basis, a multi-dimensional feature space comprising trajectory and scale features is constructed to design a cascade decision strategy. By fusing these features, the lateral and radial motions of UAVs are effectively decoupled, achieving robust recognition of four typical maneuvers: ‘Hovering’, ‘Circling’, ‘Approaching’, and ‘Receding’. Simulation experiments on the Gazebo platform demonstrate a 95\% accuracy rate in maneuver recognition. The results indicate that this low-cost method presents a viable potential for integration into existing surveillance terminals, laying a foundation for intelligent power line defense systems.},
  keywords = {UAV maneuver recognition, object detection, feature fusion, transmission and distribution line protection},
  issn = {2998-3371},
  publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}

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CC BY Copyright © 2026 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
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