A New Last Mile Delivery Approach for the Hybrid Truck Multi-Drone Problem Using a Genetic Algorithm

Abstract

In this study, the use of drones in transportation and some optimization studies carried out in the literature so far were examined. Based on these investigations, a genetic algorithm-based method has been proposed to solve the hybrid truck multi-drone problem. With the proposed algorithm, scenarios have been created using single or multiple drones and one truck for a certain number of customers to be delivered, and results have been obtained. In these scenarios, the main aim is to minimize delivery time. The results obtained have also been compared with other optimization algorithms and other results in the literature, and in addition, it has been proven that there is an inverse relationship between the number of drones and the delivery time. As a result of the comparisons, it has been clearly seen that the proposed algorithm is quite successful in finding the most suitable route in the shortest time compared to other studies. A solution has been created for a real-world problem with the proposed genetic algorithm-based algorithm, and it has been concluded that it is quite successful here as well.