A Systematic Space-Time Route Planning Approach Coordinated With Task Assignment for Autonomous Delivery Vehicles Fleet

With the development and maturity of autonomous driving technology, parcel terminal distribution has taken the lead as an application scenario for unmanned delivery vehicles that autonomously perform the task of delivering packages between distribution centres and customers. The traditional terminal delivery model faces challenges such as high costs, low efficiency and time conflicts between delivery and customer convenience. Considering the multiple demands of parcels terminal delivery, this paper proposes a space-time route planning model coordinated with task assignment for autonomous delivery vehicle fleet with the objective of minimizing the total transportation distance and designs a route planning with task assignment algorithm. Firstly, a method of period division and the concept of reliable service time are put forward and a task integration approach is introduced. Then, the task assignment model based on task network and the shortest space-time route planning model are built. According to the characteristics of the model, a route planning with task assignment algorithm by improving the Tabu Search algorithm is designed to gain the best delivery space-time routes of autonomous delivery vehicle fleet. Simulation results show that the approach system of space-time route planning designed in this paper can effectively accomplish task assignment and route planning simultaneously.