Lifespan-Prolonging Dual Battery System Online Operation Scheduling for In-City Drone Delivery

Delivery conducted by drones plays a significant role in in-city delivery and last-mile delivery, owing to their fast speed and economy. However, since drones are powered by batteries, battery lifetime and the associated replacement cost are one of the main hindrances to more cost-efficient drone applications in delivery. In this work, the lifetime-prolonging dual battery online scheduling problem for drone operation is introduced. The dual battery consists of a new battery bank and a second-life battery bank, in which the scheduling can regulate the output of the new battery pack and thus extend its lifespan and meanwhile make full use of the abundant second-life battery resources. This scheduling problem can be solved optimally offline using a dynamic programming algorithm. However, online decisions in this dual battery system need to be made without future information. Thus the battery degradation cost is amortized into the operational cost per time interval, and an online algorithm is proposed. The proof of the competitive ratio of the online algorithm compared to the offline optimal is provided.