Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yang, Hai, Du, Yuchen, Le, Tho V., Chow, Joseph Y. J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.17475
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909534868471808
author Yang, Hai
Du, Yuchen
Le, Tho V.
Chow, Joseph Y. J.
author_facet Yang, Hai
Du, Yuchen
Le, Tho V.
Chow, Joseph Y. J.
contents With the rise in demand for local deliveries and e-commerce, robotic deliveries are being considered as efficient and sustainable solutions. However, the deployment of such systems can be highly complex due to numerous factors involving stochastic demand, stochastic charging and maintenance needs, complex routing, etc. We propose a model that uses continuous approximation methods for evaluating service trade-offs that consider the unique characteristics of large-scale sidewalk delivery robot systems used to serve online food deliveries. The model captures both the initial cost and the operation cost of the delivery system and evaluates the impact of constraints and operation strategies on the deployment. By minimizing the system cost, variables related to the system design can be determined. First, the minimization problem is formulated based on a homogeneous area, and the optimal system cost can be derived as a closed-form expression. By evaluating the expression, relationships between variables and the system cost can be directly obtained. We then apply the model in neighborhoods in New York City to evaluate the cost of deploying the sidewalk delivery robot system in a real-world scenario. The results shed light on the potential of deploying such a system in the future.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_17475
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Analytical model for large-scale design of sidewalk delivery robot systems
Yang, Hai
Du, Yuchen
Le, Tho V.
Chow, Joseph Y. J.
Computers and Society
With the rise in demand for local deliveries and e-commerce, robotic deliveries are being considered as efficient and sustainable solutions. However, the deployment of such systems can be highly complex due to numerous factors involving stochastic demand, stochastic charging and maintenance needs, complex routing, etc. We propose a model that uses continuous approximation methods for evaluating service trade-offs that consider the unique characteristics of large-scale sidewalk delivery robot systems used to serve online food deliveries. The model captures both the initial cost and the operation cost of the delivery system and evaluates the impact of constraints and operation strategies on the deployment. By minimizing the system cost, variables related to the system design can be determined. First, the minimization problem is formulated based on a homogeneous area, and the optimal system cost can be derived as a closed-form expression. By evaluating the expression, relationships between variables and the system cost can be directly obtained. We then apply the model in neighborhoods in New York City to evaluate the cost of deploying the sidewalk delivery robot system in a real-world scenario. The results shed light on the potential of deploying such a system in the future.
title Analytical model for large-scale design of sidewalk delivery robot systems
topic Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.17475