The Impact of Airspace Discretization on the Energy Consumption of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones)

Promising massive emissions reduction and energy savings, the utilization of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in last-mile parcel delivery is continuously expanding. However, the limited UAV range deters their widescale adoption to replace ground modes of transportation. Moreover, real-world data on the impact of different parameters on the operation, emissions, and energy consumption is scarce. This study aims to assess the impact of airspace planning and discretization on the energy consumption of autonomous UAVs. We utilize a novel open-source comprehensive UAV autonomous programming framework and a digital-twin model to simulate real-world three-dimensional operation. The framework integrates airspace policies, UAV kinematics, and autonomy to accurately estimate the operational energy consumption via an experimentally verified energy model. In the simulated case study, airspace is discretized by both a traditional Cartesian method and a novel dynamic 4D discretization (Skyroutes) method. This allows for the comparison of different routing and trajectory planning algorithms for ten missions. The results show a variation in the energy consumption by up to 50%, which demonstrates the criticality of airspace discretization and planning on UAV charging infrastructure design, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and airspace management.