Realization of a Distribution-Service System Using Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

System architecture is presented to realize distribution-service systems using unmanned aerial vehicles (multicopters). This architecture is characterized by deployment of power-supply stations and direct-route-based distribution. Planning of direct-route-based distribution is discussed, and uniform distribution job assignment among multiple multicopters is given on the basis of square-area modeling. Discussions are made on such issues as power- supply station deployment, power-supply coordination, comparison of multicopter and airship as the vehicle that performs distribution service, and distribution job-assignment adjustment for biased destination distribution cases. The numerical evaluation shows cases where the multicopter-based delivery is superior to the truck-based delivery in terms of service completion time.