MODELING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES TECHNOLOGIES

In the past decade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have become increasingly more popular in the commercial sector. Drones are being used for all kinds of purposes, such as surveillance, inspecting architecture, filming, wildlife research, and more. Freight delivery is a potential application that is getting lots of attention from large companies.
This research presented novel data, relationship, and models for deliveries utilizing small UAVs. Small UAVs were defined as aircrafts with a tare of up to 15 kilograms (kg) and a potential payload of up to 15 kg. Since the weight of the UAVs is capped, only drones with engines that are electric were included; noise and pollution problems are likely to hinder urban deployments of internal combustion engines. Internal combustion engines are mostly used in larger UAVs. The scope of the search was limited to multicopter drones that can potentially deliver in both urban and rural areas. Fixed-wing drones were excluded from the search because currently only copters have the capability of hovering and delivering products in tight spaces (required in urban areas); fixed-wing UAVs typically cannot land or take off vertically. Single copters can hover similarly to helicopters, but were not included in the search because these aircrafts tend to be larger, and the size of the propeller and blade made them unsafe for areas without a large. Multicopters or multi-rotor drones can hover but also have higher stability and maneuverability, which makes them more suitable for navigating tight spaces or flying near humans and/or valuable property.