AUTHOR=Tang Weizhen , Dai Jie , Huang Zhousheng , Hao Boyang , Xie Weizheng 

TITLE=4D trajectory lightweight prediction algorithm based on knowledge distillation technique

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurorobotics

VOLUME=Volume 19 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurorobotics/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2025.1643919

DOI=10.3389/fnbot.2025.1643919

ISSN=1662-5218

ABSTRACT=IntroductionTo address the challenges of current 4D trajectory prediction—specifically, limited multi-factor feature extraction and excessive computational cost—this study develops a lightweight prediction framework tailored for real-time air-traffic management.MethodsWe propose a hybrid RCBAM–TCN–LSTM architecture enhanced with a teacher–student knowledge distillation mechanism. The Residual Convolutional Block Attention Module (RCBAM) serves as the teacher network to extract high-dimensional spatial features via residual structures and channel–spatial attention. The student network adopts a Temporal Convolutional Network–LSTM (TCN–LSTM) design, integrating dilated causal convolutions and two LSTM layers for efficient temporal modeling. Historical ADS-B trajectory data from Zhuhai Jinwan Airport are preprocessed using cubic spline interpolation and a uniform-step sliding window to ensure data alignment and temporal consistency. In the distillation process, soft labels from the teacher and hard labels from actual observations jointly guide student trainingResultsIn multi-step prediction experiments, the distilled RCBAM–TCN–LSTM model achieved average reductions of 40%–60% in MAE, RMSE, and MAPE compared with the original RCBAM and TCN–LSTM models, while improving R² by 4%–6%. The approach maintained high accuracy across different prediction horizons while reducing computational complexity.DiscussionThe proposed method effectively balances high-precision modeling of spatiotemporal dependencies with lightweight deployment requirements, enabling real-time air-traffic monitoring and early warning on standard CPUs and embedded devices. This framework offers a scalable solution for enhancing the operational safety and efficiency of modern air-traffic control systems.