Abstract

Abstract: Drones provide a novel method for transporting various goods, frequently faster than traditional transport methods, especially in cities where road infrastructure may not facilitate efficient delivery during peak traffic hours. However, drones face several challenges that must be addressed for effective urban parcel delivery. These include adapting drone technologies to urban environments and tackling social concerns such as privacy, noise, safety, and package security. Furthermore, recently introduced regulations by aviation authorities are impacting the scalability of city drone delivery operations. It is crucial to develop suitable infrastructure for drones, establish regulatory frameworks, and implement new technologies such as AI and advanced air traffic management systems to realise the full potential of drones in urban logistics. Despite these challenges, drone delivery could significantly influence city logistics by offering faster and more flexible solutions.

Speaker’s bio: Dr Przemysław Mariusz Kornatowski obtained his PhD from the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, in January 2020. His dissertation focused on developing folding flying robots for urban parcel delivery, designed to transport small packages directly to people’s hands. After completing his PhD, he established Dronistics, a start-up dedicated to creating human-friendly drone delivery systems for last-centimetre, person-to-person deliveries (http://dronistics.ch). In June 2015, he was recognised as a laureate of the Polish edition of MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35” competition (https://lnkd.in/duMZv_-m). Dr. Kornatowski currently leads the Aerial Robotic Systems Lab at the Warsaw University of Technology (https://www.arslab.edu.pl/), focusing on state-of-the-art drone hardware designs. He is also the head of the “Algorithms in Autonomous UAVs” research team at IDEAS NCBR (https://ideas-ncbr.pl/en/research/algorithms-in-autonomous-uavs/), where he directs the development and implementation of AI algorithms for drones across various applications.