A Logistics UAV Parcel-Receiving Station and Public Air-Route Planning Method Based on Bi-Layer Optimization

The popularity of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has made UAV logistics transportation possible. However, based on the current development status of logistics UAVs, there are difficulties in using UAVs directly for door-to-door logistics transportation. Therefore, it is necessary to establish UAV parcel-receiving stations that can gather logistics needs in a small area. The construction of stations allows the UAVs to transport back and forth between the distribution warehouse and the established stations, enabling customers to send and receive packages at the more convenient stations. Based on the current situation, it is a more appropriate air-ground cooperative transport mode to solve the "last-mile" cargo transportation problem. In this paper, a bi-layer UAV parcel-receiving station and public air-route planning method is proposed to explore the interaction between station location and public route planning, and is solved with a genetic algorithm and max-min ant system (GA-MMAS). The model proposed in this paper can determine the location of the stations and plan the public air routes between the warehouse and stations simultaneously. Simulation results show that the planning results of the bi-layer optimization model proposed in this paper meet the requirements of station location and public air-route planning. Compared with the layered planning results, the cost of the upper-layer model is reduced by 5.12% on average, and the cost of the lower-layer model is reduced by 4.48%.