Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability

Unmanned aircraft are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance healthcare logistics, offering rapid and reliable transport solutions. Among the many envisioned use cases, emergency medical deliveries stand out as particularly promising due to their immediate societal value. This study...

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Authors: Ganic, Emir, Barrado Muxí, Cristina|||0000-0003-0100-724X, Krstic-Simic, Tatjana, Kuljanin, Jovana|||0000-0002-3380-262X, Baena Botana, Miguel
Format: article
Publication Date:2025
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/449057
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/449057
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones9110728
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:U-space
UAM
Drone
Unmanned aircraft
eVTOL
Emergency delivery
Healthcare logistics
Medical delivery
Transport
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai
id ES_6a0b6f4bad47fcecf9b7ffbf089ed38d
oai_identifier_str oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/449057
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictabilityGanic, EmirBarrado Muxí, Cristina|||0000-0003-0100-724XKrstic-Simic, TatjanaKuljanin, Jovana|||0000-0002-3380-262XBaena Botana, MiguelU-spaceUAMDroneUnmanned aircrafteVTOLEmergency deliveryHealthcare logisticsMedical deliveryTransportÀrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espaiUnmanned aircraft are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance healthcare logistics, offering rapid and reliable transport solutions. Among the many envisioned use cases, emergency medical deliveries stand out as particularly promising due to their immediate societal value. This study investigates the potential of drones operating under U-space to support hospital-to-hospital emergency deliveries in Madrid. Using the GEMMA tool, we modeled and simulated operations with two drone types along direct routes between four hospitals, resulting in six hospital pairs. Drone travel times were estimated and compared against road transport times obtained from the Google Routes API, incorporating one week of traffic data to capture daily and weekend variability. The results show substantial advantages of aerial transport, with time savings ranging from 2 to 26 min, equivalent to 35–58% compared to road transport. Drones consistently ensured deliveries within 15 min, outperforming regular cars (39%) and ambulances or motorcycles in highly congested periods. Sensitivity analysis confirms their reliability in scenarios with strict time constraints, especially under 15 min. These findings demonstrate that drones reduce travel times and improve predictability, providing a robust evidence base for policymakers and regulators to advance U-space integration in healthcare logistics.This work was supported by the MUSE project (Measuring U-Space Social and Environmental Impact). This project has received funding from the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking (SESAR 3 JU) under grant agreement No. 101114858. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program and the SESAR 3 JU members other than the Union.Peer ReviewedMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)20252025-10-0120252025-12-12journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2117/449057https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones9110728reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPCinstname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)InglésengEuropean Commission http://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 HE 101114858 Measuring U-Space Social and Environmental Impactopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/4490572026-05-27T15:37:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
title Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
spellingShingle Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
Ganic, Emir
U-space
UAM
Drone
Unmanned aircraft
eVTOL
Emergency delivery
Healthcare logistics
Medical delivery
Transport
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai
title_short Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
title_full Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
title_fullStr Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
title_full_unstemmed Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
title_sort Unmanned aircraft for emergency deliveries between hospitals in Madrid: Estimating time savings and predictability
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Ganic, Emir
Barrado Muxí, Cristina|||0000-0003-0100-724X
Krstic-Simic, Tatjana
Kuljanin, Jovana|||0000-0002-3380-262X
Baena Botana, Miguel
author Ganic, Emir
author_facet Ganic, Emir
Barrado Muxí, Cristina|||0000-0003-0100-724X
Krstic-Simic, Tatjana
Kuljanin, Jovana|||0000-0002-3380-262X
Baena Botana, Miguel
author_role author
author2 Barrado Muxí, Cristina|||0000-0003-0100-724X
Krstic-Simic, Tatjana
Kuljanin, Jovana|||0000-0002-3380-262X
Baena Botana, Miguel
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv U-space
UAM
Drone
Unmanned aircraft
eVTOL
Emergency delivery
Healthcare logistics
Medical delivery
Transport
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai
topic U-space
UAM
Drone
Unmanned aircraft
eVTOL
Emergency delivery
Healthcare logistics
Medical delivery
Transport
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai
description Unmanned aircraft are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance healthcare logistics, offering rapid and reliable transport solutions. Among the many envisioned use cases, emergency medical deliveries stand out as particularly promising due to their immediate societal value. This study investigates the potential of drones operating under U-space to support hospital-to-hospital emergency deliveries in Madrid. Using the GEMMA tool, we modeled and simulated operations with two drone types along direct routes between four hospitals, resulting in six hospital pairs. Drone travel times were estimated and compared against road transport times obtained from the Google Routes API, incorporating one week of traffic data to capture daily and weekend variability. The results show substantial advantages of aerial transport, with time savings ranging from 2 to 26 min, equivalent to 35–58% compared to road transport. Drones consistently ensured deliveries within 15 min, outperforming regular cars (39%) and ambulances or motorcycles in highly congested periods. Sensitivity analysis confirms their reliability in scenarios with strict time constraints, especially under 15 min. These findings demonstrate that drones reduce travel times and improve predictability, providing a robust evidence base for policymakers and regulators to advance U-space integration in healthcare logistics.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025-10-01
2025
2025-12-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2117/449057
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones9110728
url https://hdl.handle.net/2117/449057
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones9110728
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv European Commission http://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 HE 101114858 Measuring U-Space Social and Environmental Impact
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
instname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
instname_str Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
reponame_str UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
collection UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,812429

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