Designing a drone delivery network with automated battery swapping
Special MIE Seminar
October 10, 2025
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM America/Chicago
Presenter: Taner Cokyasar, PhD, Argonne National Laboratory
Location: ERF 1043
Abstract: Drones are projected to alter last-mile delivery, but their short travel range is a concern. This study proposes a drone delivery network design using automated battery swapping machines (ABSMs) to extend ranges. The design minimizes the long-term delivery costs, including ABSM investment, drone ownership, and cost of the delivery time, and locates ABSMs to serve a set of customers. We build a mixed-integer nonlinear program that captures the nonlinear waiting time of drones at ABSMs. To solve the problem, we create an exact solution algorithm that finds the globally optimal solution using a derivative-supported cutting-plane method. To validate the applicability of our program, we conduct a case study on the Chicago Metropolitan area using cost data from leading ABSM manufacturer and geographical data from the planning and operations language for agent-based regional integrated simulation (more commonly known as POLARIS). A sensitivity analysis identifies that ABSM service times and costs are the key parameters impacting the long-term adoption of drone delivery.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Taner Cokyasar is a computational transportation engineer in the Transportation and Power Systems Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he focused on optimization methodologies for emerging technologies. His research spans a wide range of transportation topics, including public transit, freight logistics, ridesharing systems, and aviation, with a particular emphasis on electric vehicle infrastructure and system-optimal urban mobility. Cokyasar has led innovative projects on optimizing transit services and urban mobility infrastructure with support from the U.S. Department of Energy and has published in top-tier journals. Recognized for his contributions, he has received several accolades, including the Impact Argonne Award, and he actively contributes to the academic and professional communities through leadership roles. He is an area editor of the Engineering Economist.
Date posted
Oct 7, 2025
Date updated
Oct 7, 2025