Table 1 LCA concept matrix of studies on drones and drone delivery systems
Delivery criteria | System boundary | Functional unit | Used vehicle and type | Drone payload | Parts production input | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
One-to-many | Cradle to gate | Transportation of a payload within a 5-mile radius delivering 300 packages per day for two years | Multirotor UAV, Fixed-wing UAV, Truck | 1 kg | Multirotor frame, Battery, Charger, Motor, PCB, Transmitter, Optical Sensor | Neuberger (2017) [38] |
One-to-one + One-to-many | Cradle to grave: production, operation, disposal | 1 package delivered | Multirotor UAV, electrical tricycle, and diesel van | 5.0 kg | Battery Vehicle | Figliozzi (2017) [39] |
One-to-one | Gate to gate + battery manufacturing for drone and electric vehicle + warehouse emissions | 1 package delivered | 4 multirotor UAV, 8 multirotor UAV, Personal electric vehicle, Personal car, Gasoline delivery van, Electric truck, Gasoline helicopter drone, Diesel truck, Natural gas truck | 0.5 and 8,1 kg | Battery | Stolaroff et. al. (2018) [18] |
One-to-one | Gate to gate | 1 pizza delivered | Multirotor UAV Motorcycle Electric Motorcycle | - | Out of System boundary | Park et. al. (2018) [40] |
One-to-one | Cradle to gate | 1 package delivered per km; Lifespan: 5000 h | Multirotor UAV | 5 kg | Frame, Servo motor, Cargo box, Propeller, Electronic speed control Batteries | Koiwanit (2018) [19] |
One-to-many | Gate to gate | Delivery of parcels to recipient addresses in circular service zones | Multirotor UAV Truck | - | Out of System boundary | Goodchild and Toy (2018) [41] |
One-to-one | Cradle to grave | Number of deliveries made by a fleet of 10 UAV in 2 years | Multirotor UAV BEV ICE | 20.4 kg | Electricals, Plastic parts, Metal parts, PCB, Battery, Corrugated cardboard | Yowtak et. al. (2020) [42] |