An Exact Algorithm for Heterogeneous Drone-Truck Routing Problem

Munjeong Kang () and Chungmok Lee ()
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Munjeong Kang: Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17035, Korea
Chungmok Lee: Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17035, Korea

Transportation Science, 2021, vol. 55, issue 5, 1088-1112

Abstract: Recently, there are attempts to utilize drones in the logistic application. We consider the case in which there are multiple drones with different characteristics, such as speed and battery capacity. The truck and drone collaborate the delivery to serve all customers, while the drones are carried by and dispatched from the truck. The multiple drones can be deployed simultaneously; however, the truck must wait until all drones return. Therefore, the goal is to minimize the total sum of truck travel and waiting times for drones to return after deliveries. We call the proposed model a heterogeneous drone-truck routing problem (HDTRP), and a mixed-integer programming formulation for the problem is presented. We develop an exact algorithm based on the logic-based Benders decomposition approach, which outperforms the state-of-the-art solvers.

Keywords: vehicle routing problem; drone logistics; Benders decomposition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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