Quantifying weather tolerance criteria for delivery drones - a UK case study
Quantifying weather tolerance criteria for delivery drones - a UK case study
As demand for final mile delivery has increased, the use of delivery drones is being explored in many countries, including the UK. Despite offering perceived benefits over existing methods in terms of delivery speed and reliability, there is little understanding of the design criteria needed for drones to actually realise them. This paper investigates how reliability and resilience of deliveries vary by transport mode, relating to the delivery success (i.e., can a delivery be made in a given timewindow), and the flexibility of this success (i.e., how many different time windows are possible).Comparing the performance of current UK ground transport modes and drones using historic weather and reliability data, a review of the factors that contribute to what makes a reliable and weather resistant drone service is presented. Results suggested that a significant wind tolerance would be required to achieve a level of service equal to ground transportation, with VTOL platforms requiring tolerances ranging from 14 m/s (Solent region), to more than 23 m/s (Scottish Hebrides). Fixed-wing platform tolerances were not as high, with a tolerance of 10 m/s achieving flights on almost all days in all case study areas.It is likely that some locations cannot reliably be served by drone and must depend on contingency options when flights are not possible. With significant variations in tolerance requirements, and notable seasonal variances, applications of delivery drones should be considered on a case-by-case basis, comparing to existing modes, to ensure reliable supply chains are realised.
UAV, drone, reliability, resilience, wind tolerance
1005-1012
Oakey, Andy
dfd6e317-1e6d-429c-a3e0-bc80e92787d1
Cherrett, Tom
e5929951-e97c-4720-96a8-3e586f2d5f95
6 June 2023
Oakey, Andy
dfd6e317-1e6d-429c-a3e0-bc80e92787d1
Cherrett, Tom
e5929951-e97c-4720-96a8-3e586f2d5f95
Oakey, Andy and Cherrett, Tom
(2023)
Quantifying weather tolerance criteria for delivery drones - a UK case study.
In Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS).
IEEE.
.
(doi:10.1109/ICUAS57906.2023.10156144).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
As demand for final mile delivery has increased, the use of delivery drones is being explored in many countries, including the UK. Despite offering perceived benefits over existing methods in terms of delivery speed and reliability, there is little understanding of the design criteria needed for drones to actually realise them. This paper investigates how reliability and resilience of deliveries vary by transport mode, relating to the delivery success (i.e., can a delivery be made in a given timewindow), and the flexibility of this success (i.e., how many different time windows are possible).Comparing the performance of current UK ground transport modes and drones using historic weather and reliability data, a review of the factors that contribute to what makes a reliable and weather resistant drone service is presented. Results suggested that a significant wind tolerance would be required to achieve a level of service equal to ground transportation, with VTOL platforms requiring tolerances ranging from 14 m/s (Solent region), to more than 23 m/s (Scottish Hebrides). Fixed-wing platform tolerances were not as high, with a tolerance of 10 m/s achieving flights on almost all days in all case study areas.It is likely that some locations cannot reliably be served by drone and must depend on contingency options when flights are not possible. With significant variations in tolerance requirements, and notable seasonal variances, applications of delivery drones should be considered on a case-by-case basis, comparing to existing modes, to ensure reliable supply chains are realised.
Text
ICUAS_conf_drone_weather_Submission_v2.0_clean
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 18 April 2023
Published date: 6 June 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This research reported in this paper was carried out as part of the UK EPSRC-funded e-Drone project, EP/V002619/1, (www.e-drone.org), and UK Department for Transport Funded Future Transport Zones Solent project (www.solenttransport. com/solent-future-transport-zone/).
Venue - Dates:
2023 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), , Warsaw, Poland, 2023-06-06 - 2023-06-09
Keywords:
UAV, drone, reliability, resilience, wind tolerance
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 483054
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483054
PURE UUID: c5cb80dc-5303-438c-bdce-812ca6ca9630
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Date deposited: 20 Oct 2023 16:52
Last modified: 24 Apr 2024 02:03
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Author:
Andy Oakey
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