Multi-visit drone routing problem

The k-Multi-visit Drone Routing Problem (k-MVDRP) considers a tandem between a truck and k drones. (When k = 1, the problem is called the Multi-Visit Drone Routing Problem.) Each drone is capable of launching from the truck with one or more packages to deliver to customers. Each drone may return to the truck to swap/recharge batteries, pick up a new set of packages, and launch again to customer locations. Unlike many papers in the current literature, the model not only allows for a drone to carry multiple heterogeneous packages but also allows the specification of a drone energy drain function that takes into account each package weight, and it decouples the set of launch locations from the set of customer locations. This paper proposes a flexible heuristic solution. Computational experiments and sensitivity analyses are also conducted using physical parameters for drones that are consistent with recent research. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.