無人機應用於物流產業之前瞻性與願景

Abstract

亞馬遜的貝佐斯於2013年提出無人機送貨的構想。自此之後，包括Google、DHL、順豐、淘寶皆進行了無人機送貨的嘗試。然而，自動化的無人機送貨面臨諸多營運上的問題；無人機本身的技術特點限制了商業上的使用情境；在可靠性與安全性上，更存在著諸多疑慮。因此，到目前為止無人機送貨一直雷聲大雨點小。 針對無人機在物流產業的應用所面臨的營運相關問題，包含無人機的導航機制、地面的空中交管機制、送貨交貨的流程，本文於第三章提出解決的構想。對於無人機送貨的商業模式，本文亦提出，不必侷限於傳統的快遞業模式，而可以採用共享無人機的送貨服務平台，以充分利用無人機高機動性、單次運量低的特點。 在第四章中，本文以VPS – Vision、Position、Scenario循環創新架構擘劃無人機送貨的願景，以此描繪無人機應用於物流產業的切入點，以及之後如何衍生新的願景、新的應用情境。針對無人機的可靠性與安全性議題，本文參考現行民航業相關法規，提出對於未來無人機物流產業法規的構想，並以此創造無人機物流的價值創造循環（VCC – Value Creation Cycle），說明法規制度如何在產業價值創造的關鍵環節中，確保無人機的安全運行；更以此說明各方業者如何結成策略聯盟，讓無人機物流的願景得以實現。 本文旨在為無人機應用於物流產業提出清晰的願景，作為後人進入該產業時的參考藍圖。

Since Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, proposed in 2013 the idea of using unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to deliver goods, logistics and tech giants including DHL, S.F. Express, Google, and Taobao have been rolling out new projects in attempt to make logistics by drones a reality. However, the idea of fully automated operation of drones for logistics faces certain challenges. The limited scenarios of application due to the characteristics of today’s drones, along with the safety and reliability issues, make the prospect of drone-logistics less prominent than it first appeared to be. In attempt to help the drones for logistics overcome the challenges, this study examined several difficulties faced in fully automated drones operation and proposed the solutions in chapter 3, including the navigation mechanism on the drones, the flight control on the ground, and the process of a drone directly delivering the package to a person. Also discussed is the business model beyond the traditional B-C model, encompassing the idea of share-economy with a drone-sharing platform, so as to leverage the drones’ high mobility and low capacity. In chapter 4, this study proposed the vision of the fully realized drone-logistics, depicting the scenarios with the VPS – Vision, Position, Scenario cycle, where the business starts from a vision, makes the position, and comes up with a new vision from the scenario. By studying the regulations of the civil aviation industry, this study also proposed the ideas for future regulations for the drones. Finally, this study created the VCC – Value Creation Cycle for drones for logistics, discussing how the proposed regulations and all the venders along the value chain may work out to realize the proposed vision of logistics by drones. On the whole, this study aims at proposing a clear vision for logistics by drones, so as to serve as the strategic blueprint for the businesses that may be interested in this industry.