Optimizing items pickup for drones

A computer system for managing drones, comprising:

• a processor set;
• a set of one or more computer-readable storage media;
• and
• program instructions stored on the set of one or more storage media to cause the processor set to perform operations comprising:
• selecting a drone for completing a transportation task, wherein selecting the drone comprises selecting the drone based on a lead time representing an amount of time the drone needs to complete an existing transportation task and available package capacity of the drone to accommodate a number of cargos for the transportation task;
• receiving an origin and a destination for the drone, wherein the drone is designed to receive a number of cargos at the origin and deliver the number of cargos to the destination for completing the transportation task;
• determining a number of routes for the drone based on flight conditions between the origin and the destination, wherein selecting the drone and determining the number of routes are performed concurrently with validating the transportation task and collecting information associated with the number of cargos;
• selecting a route from the number of routes for the drone based on costs associated with the number of routes, wherein the costs associated with the number of routes are determined based on energy consumption, maintenance costs, route length, travel time, load weight, and load utilization of the drone to complete the transportation task;
• and
• navigating the drone to complete pickup and delivery for the number of cargos according to the selected route in real-time.

A computer program product, comprising:

• a set of one or more computer-readable storage media;
• program instructions stored in the set of one or more computer-readable storage media to perform operations comprising:
• selecting, by a processor set, a drone for completing a transportation task, wherein selecting the drone comprises selecting the drone based on a lead time representing an amount of time the drone needs to complete an existing transportation task and available package capacity of the drone to accommodate a number of cargos for the transportation task;
• receiving, by the processor set, an origin and a destination for the drone, wherein the drone is designed to receive a number of cargos at the origin and deliver the number of cargos to the destination for completing the transportation task;
• determining, by the processor set, a number of routes for the drone based on flight conditions between the origin and the destination, wherein selecting the drone and determining the number of routes are performed concurrently with validating the transportation task and collecting information associated with the number of cargos;
• selecting, by the processor set, a route from the number of routes for the drone based on costs associated with the number of routes, wherein the costs associated with the number of routes are determined based on energy consumption, maintenance costs, route length, travel time, load weight, and load utilization of the drone to complete the transportation task;
• and
• navigating, by the processor set, the drone to complete pickup and delivery for the number of cargos according to the selected route in real-time.