Point-to-point drone-based delivery network design with intermediate charging stations

Drone-based delivery represents a possible way of performing last-mile logistics activities with potential benefits on process efficiency, traffic congestion, and pollution emissions. However, many technological and legislative challenges still have to be overcome. From the technology perspective, the operating range of drones represents a critical aspect. This paper addresses the problem of extending the drones operating range from a network design perspective, in which there is the possibility (already technically feasible) to recharge drones on their journey to their final destinations using suitably located charging stations. This paper proposes a mathematical model and a heuristic method for a network design problem that combines two objectives regarding infrastructural investments (i.e., the number of charging stations to be deployed) and service aspects (i.e., minimizing the travelled distances). The proposed model and the developed heuristic delineate a strategic-level approach to the delivery process using drones.