Mathematical models for unmanned aerial vehicle routing problems and a case study in the Marmara region

Unmanned aerial vehicle routing problems have become popular research topics today. Their ability to easily adapt to different tasks with various sensors and their low costs make unmanned aerial vehicles a preferred choice. Due to their speed and ability to operate without human intervention, unmanned aerial vehicles stand out in disaster operations. Opting for aerial vehicles in case of road closures and damage to communication networks makes sense, and their ability to be directed for different tasks provides an advantage. In this thesis, the focus is on unmanned aerial vehicle routing and the selection of the central hub in a potential natural disaster scenario in the Marmara Region. Mixed-integer programming models have been developed to solve the problem. Additionally, the location of the selected management centers holds a significant role in disaster management. The objective of the problem is to efficiently use unmanned aerial vehicles and centers to both meet city demands and gather information from regions through surveillance activities by planning the shortest route, thus determining which candidate management centers should be opened. In the study, three different scenarios have been developed based on a mathematical model, and the scenarios have been coded in GAMS. By utilizing these scenarios, the analysis has been conducted to determine which centers should be opened during disaster situations, the impact of their utilization capacities on the solution, and the appropriate number of unmanned aerial vehicle types to be used for intelligence and transportation tasks. When examining the existing literature on the related topic, it can be seen that the decision mechanisms and scenario of the problem distinguish this study from other similar works.