Mixed trucks and robots delivery approach: a simulation study

Abstract

Among the objects of scientific research in the field of logistics, one of the most important factors is the new technologies needed to simplify and speed up delivery systems compared to human labor. This paper proposes and test a last mile delivery strategy that combines trucks and robots. The city is divided in a set of zones and each zone is a hub where the trucks arrive to serve the final destinations belonging to the zone. Hence, the last mile delivery is performed in the narrow roads of the city by robots. The problem is formalized as an optimization problem that maximizes the number of deliveries per day. A case study implemented in the old town of Bari (Italy) is studied and the obtained solutions are analyzed considering different speeds of the robots and are simulated in PTV Vissim simulation software.