Abstract
Delivery drones and ‘air taxis’ are currently among the most intensely discussed emerging technologies, likely to expand mobility into the ‘third dimension’ of low-level airspace. This paper presents a systematic literature review of 111 interdisciplinary publications (2013 - 03/2019). The review systematizes the current socio-technical debate on civil drones for transportation purposes allowing for a (critical) interim assessment. To guide the review process four dimensions of analysis were defined. A total of 2581 relevant quotations were subdivided into anticipated barriers (426), potential problems (1037), proposed solutions (737) and expected benefits (381). We found that the debate is characterized by predominantly technical and regulatory problems and barriers which are considered to prevent or impede the use of drones for parcel and passengers transportation. At the same time, definite economic expectations are juxtaposed with quite complex and differentiated concerns regarding societal and environmental impacts. Scrutinizing the most prevalent transportation-related promises of traffic reduction, travel time saving and environmental relief we found that there is a strong need to provide scientific evidence for the promises linked to the use of drones for transportation. We conclude that the debate on drones for transportation needs further qualification, emphasizing societal benefits and public involvement more strongly.
Highlights
Recent years have shown that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly termed ‘drones’, have the potential to become an iconic technology of the 21st century
This paper presents a literature review of 111 interdisciplinary publications (2013 - 03/2019) that summarizes the current socio-technical debate on the use of civil drones for transportation purposes by asking: what are the anticipated barriers, potential problems, 1 The European Commission estimates an economic impact of 10 billion € annually by 2035 (15 billion € annually by 2050) and envisions the creation of more than 100,000 direct jobs
Our analysis of 111 interdisciplinary publications examining the subject of drones revealed that since 2013 the discussion about a potential use of delivery and passenger drones has flourished, in academia
Summary
Recent years have shown that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly termed ‘drones’, have the potential to become an iconic technology of the 21st century. Drones combine three key principles of technological modernity - data processing, autonomy and boundless mobility. They provide access to (new) spaces and enable their analysis with the help of unprecedented methods of data collection. These capabilities, previously a privilege reserved to the military, are increasingly incorporated into civil domains. Drones generate potential use-cases ranging from surveillance/sensing missions to novel forms of logistics and passenger transportation. Regardless of their application, drones are driven by a general motivation to make processes faster and more flexible, while improving precision and cost-efficiency (Kitonsa and Kruglikov, 2018). The commercial use of drones is associated with vast
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