Vehicle routing problem for drone-based food delivery: a comparison of drone delivery with traditional delivery methods

Abstract

This research proposes vehicle routing problem (VRP) models for food delivery using motorbikes and drones, with the aim of minimizing the total delivery time and distance. Payload capacity, maximum flying time, and the maximum time permitted per drone are considered constraints for drone delivery. Real-world instances were tested and, the implementation of VRP for both motorbike and drone deliveries resulted in substantial reductions in delivery time and distance compared to the traditional method of motorbike deliveries, where food orders were delivered randomly without any planned routing.