Optimization and analysis of a robot-assisted last mile delivery system
Optimization and analysis of a robot-assisted last mile delivery system
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DOI：
10.1016/j.tre.2020.102049
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发表时间：
2020-10
影响因子：
10.6
通讯作者：
M. Simoni;E. Kutanoglu;C. Claudel
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
M. Simoni;E. Kutanoglu;C. Claudel
最后一英里的货运配送是供应链的关键部分，因为其成本高昂，客户对电子商务和当日送达服务的期望也越来越高。货物运输自动化技术为开发更有效的系统提供了机会，其特点是将不同的互补模式结合起来。在这项研究中，我们专注于实施一个集成的卡车机器人系统的最后一英里交付的可能性。这种类型的问题与卡车-无人机问题有相似之处，尽管机器人的特点是速度慢得多，并且可以执行多次连续交付。基于这些特殊的功能，提出了一种启发式算法，有效地识别基于初始卡车图尔斯旅游和相应的关节机器人操作的解决方案。这种解决方案利用了“加权区间调度问题”的一个特殊版本，它允许一个非常有效的动态规划解决方案。开发的解决方案的方法是通过分析效率的不同功能的机器人的设计和操作，以及周围环境的影响。结果表明，机器人辅助的最后一英里交付系统是非常有效的，如果机器人在严重拥挤的地区，并适当改造，以适应几个隔间的机器人的存储。
The last mile of freight distribution is a critical part of the supply chain because of its significant costs and customers’ increasing expectations from e-commerce and same-day delivery services. Automated technologies in freight transportation represent an opportunity to develop more efficient systems characterized by the integration of different and complementary modes. In this study, we focus on the possibility of implementing an integrated truck-robot system for the last-mile delivery. This typology of problem shares similarities with truck-drone problems, although robots are characterized by much slower speeds and can perform several consecutive deliveries. Based on these particular features, a heuristic that efficiently identifies solutions based on initial truck tours and corresponding joint robot operations is presented. This solution approach leverages a special version of the “Weighted Interval Scheduling Problem,” which allows for a very efficient Dynamic Programming solution. The developed solution approach is adopted to analyze the influence on efficiency of different features concerning the robot’s design and operation, and the surrounding environment. The results show that robot-assisted last-mile delivery systems are quite efficient if robots are employed in heavily congested areas and appropriately retrofitted to accommodate several compartments in the robot’s storage.