Drones for automated parcel delivery: Use case identification and derivation of technical requirements

Drone-based parcel delivery is a rapidly growing domain posing many technological and operational challenges. Drone technologies have been under increasing levels of investigation and development over the past years. Since the realization of drone-based delivery can only be economically feasible at large scales, it requires processes that address the outstanding challenges holistically. However, the majority of research focuses on individual aspects such as environmental perception, route planning, operational design, and business models without addressing the challenges in the overall system. This paper conducts a quantitative analysis of the requirements for identified use cases that are considered relevant for the upcoming future. We provide a comprehensive technology overview and derive requirements and specifications for the targeted use cases that are not fulfilled by the current state-of-the-art. The use cases are not only related to last-mile delivery but also long-distance (hub-to-hub) logistics as well as courier and express delivery.