A Cyber-Physical System's Roadmap to Last-Mile Delivery Drones

According to recent studies, unmanned aerial vehicles can play a game-changing part in cost reduction and speed increase to address the last-mile delivery problem and attend to emergencies. Last-mile delivery services are becoming more and more relevant, especially when in times when social distance is required. However, a systemic view of how to provide a feasible solution to enable this application as a vertical market in the urban context is still inexistent. Given this scenario, this article contributes by proposing a cyber-physical system roadmap applicable to last-mile delivery drones. The proposed cyber-physical system (CPS) guidelines are based on a system's ability to enhance an operation toward smart cities’ governance. This article also discusses topics from air–space control and reservation to communication infrastructure and decentralized control supported on a blockchain.