Sizing of the Drone Delivery Fleet Considering Energy Autonomy

Asma Troudi, Sid-Ali Addouche, Sofiene Dellagi and Abderrahman El Mhamedi
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Asma Troudi: QUARTZ Laboratory EA 7393, IUT of Montreuil- Paris8 University, 93100 Montreuil, France
Sid-Ali Addouche: QUARTZ Laboratory EA 7393, IUT of Montreuil- Paris8 University, 93100 Montreuil, France
Sofiene Dellagi: LGIPM, UFR MIM -Lorraine University, 57070 Lorraine, France
Abderrahman El Mhamedi: QUARTZ Laboratory EA 7393, IUT of Montreuil- Paris8 University, 93100 Montreuil, France

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: One of the most innovative solutions treated in the literature in order to reduce the environmental impact of urban parcel delivery logistics is the use of drones for delivery on the last kilometer. Consequently, nowadays, the primary challenge is essentially related to the drones’ fleet sizing according to its means of support for the urban delivery of parcels. In this paper, we will discuss the issue of dimensioning from a forecast of deliveries of an urban perimeter, the size of the fleet, the stock of battery to dispose of and the strategy of battery charging. We will present an analytical model expressing the proposed problem of the optimal drones’ delivery mission taking into account the issues of autonomy and energy consumption related to the drone’s technical specification. According to the developed analytical model, two optimization policies will be proposed. The first policy consists of planning missions under reducing distance. The second policy tries to make a compromise between the distance and the number of drones. A case study will be presented in order to compare the two policies based on the overall cost of a plan. The main objective of the study is to create a decision-making tool for the design of a drone fleet in the case of forecast deliveries over a time horizon under operational constraints.

Keywords: sustainable delivery; parcel delivery; drone delivery; fleet dimensioning; drone autonomy; energy consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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