Downside Up:Rethinking Parcel Position for Aerial Delivery

Abstract

The conventional approach to parcel placement in most delivery drone designs today is to place the parcel centrally beneath the drone's rotor plane. However, if the parcel is too large, this will result in an obstruction of the propeller slipstream, incurring significant drag. As such, the parcel's location below the rotor plane limits the size of parcels that can be delivered, specifically super-sized parcels that protrude beyond the bounds of the four rotors. Delivering these large parcels requires bigger drone platforms, which consequently consume more energy, necessitate large storage spaces, and are less portable. In this letter, we propose an alternative approach, placing the parcel above the rotor plane. However, placing a parcel above a quadcopter encounters two main challenges. The first is the optimal position of the CG to maintain stability of the drone. Second is the aerodynamic influence on the lift of the drone with a parcel is placed above the propellers. To address these challenges, aerodynamic characterization experiments were performed and a new drone design was proposed. This letter presents a prototype quadcopter design solution that places the parcel above the propellers to enable delivery of super-sized parcels, as well as a compact rotor design configuration for lower storage cost and increased portability. The new approach of placing an over-sized parcel above propellers provides the 82% increase in thrust over putting the parcel below the propellers.

Resilient Composition of Drone Services for Delivery

“…We design a custom drone simulation model using tools from drone energy consumption model [57], weather model [58], operations research, i.e., delivery service management [59], and 2D path planning [60]. The simulation model consists of the following modules (as shown in Fig.…”

Cooperative Transport of a Suspended Payload via Two Aerial Robots With Inertial Sensing

“…Subsequently, it has been proposed to appoint multiple MAVs to carry a single load [10]. For a single rotorcraft to transport an object, the payload is usually rigidly attached [2], [11] or hoisted [12]- [14]. To have a payload fixed to the robot, considerations must be given to the grasping mechanism [15], weight distribution [2], and the parcel size [11].…”

“…For a single rotorcraft to transport an object, the payload is usually rigidly attached [2], [11] or hoisted [12]- [14]. To have a payload fixed to the robot, considerations must be given to the grasping mechanism [15], weight distribution [2], and the parcel size [11]. The suspension approach, while benefits from a simpler load attachment, introduces passive degrees of freedom to the MAV, necessitating the robot to dynamically regulate the slung payload [13], [16].…”

Business Plan for Autonomous Delivery Robot

“…Drone transportation is very common now [1]. In the military field, there are already smart cars that automatically evade the enemy and transport goods [2]. The real-world application of automation has been discussed since the late 20th century.…”