Chen, Cheng and Demir, Emrah ![]() |
Abstract
This research introduces a novel vehicle routing problem with time windows in an autonomous last mile delivery system featuring mobile parcel lockers (MPLs), delivery robots, and drone resupply. Customers can choose between home delivery via robots or self-pickup from MPLs stationed at designated parking areas. Delivery robots operate from MPLs, while drones replenish these lockers as needed. We define this problem as the Mobile Parcel Locker Problem with Delivery Robot and Drone Resupply (MPLPDR-DR). To address this problem, we propose a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model and develop a hybrid matheuristic approach. Our method integrates a metaheuristic for optimising MPL and robot routing, while a MILP model determines optimal drone resupply operations. The metaheuristic is based on the artificial bee colony framework, incorporating large neighbourhood search, variable neighbourhood descent, and mutation mechanisms to enhance solution quality. Extensive computational experiments demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach in solving large-scale MPLPDR-DR instances. The findings provide key managerial insights into optimising autonomous delivery operations, improving efficiency, and reducing last mile logistics costs.
Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Other) |
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Status: | Unpublished |
Schools: | Schools > Business (Including Economics) |
Date of Acceptance: | 21 July 2025 |
Last Modified: | 06 Aug 2025 11:15 |
URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/180052 |
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