In this paper, we consider same-day delivery with a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles and drones. Customers make delivery requests over the course of the day and the dispatcher dynamically dispatches vehicles and drones to deliver the goods to customers before their delivery deadline. Vehicles can deliver multiple packages in one route but travel relatively slowly due to the urban traffic. Drones travel faster, but they have limited capacity and require charging or battery swaps. To exploit the different strengths of the fleets, we propose a deep Q-learning approach. Our method learns the value of assigning a new customer to either drones or vehicles as well as the option to not offer service at all. To aid feature selection, we present an analytical analysis that demonstrates the role that different types of information have on the value function and decision making. In a systematic computational analysis, we show the superiority of our policy compared to benchmark policies and the effectiveness of our deep Q-learning approach.

Samuel Greengard is an author and journalist based in West Linn, OR, USA.

In June, Amazon announced it was close to being able to offer for package deliveries by drone for its Prime Air service. That same month, Uber said it plans to test food delivery by aerial drone in crowded cities. And drone delivery company Flytrex already touts the ability to deliver drinks via unmanned vehicle on the golf course. Despite such announcements, drones are not crowding the skies over major cities and population centers just yet. But that may be about to change.

Raytheon has delivered an experimental new anti-drone weapon to the Air Force. The High Energy Laser Weapon Systems (HELWS) prototypes will be put through a year of testing and training by Air Force personnel overseas before finally being ready for live use on the battlefield. The HELWS can be powered by either a standard 220-volt outlet or a generator. Operators that aren't great shots can take comfort in the fact that the energy efficient device can fire'a nearly infinite number of shots.' The laser also comes with a sophisticated targeting system, with an infrared sensor to track and identify enemy drones, according to a report from Gizmodo.

Google is taking packages into the air to customers' homes. The first drone home deliveries of packages from Walgreens have started from Wing, the Alphabet subsidiary. Wing recently received an expanded Air Carrier Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration allowing the first commercial air delivery service by drone directly to homes in the U.S. The FAA permissions are the first allowing multiple pilots to oversee multiple unmanned aircraft making commercial deliveries to the general public simultaneously. Collaborating with Federal Express and Virginia retailer Sugar Magnolia, Wing began delivering over-the-counter medication, gifts and snacks to residents of Christiansburg, Virginia. FedEx completed the first scheduled ecommerce drone delivery on Friday, essentially beginning the connection of retailers to last-mile drone delivery services.

School of Information Technology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia Robots are increasingly tested in public spaces, towards a f uture where urban environments are not only for humans but for autonomous syst ems. While robots are promising, for convenience and efficiency, there are challenges associated with building cities crowded with machines. This p aper provides an overview of the problems and some solutions, and calls for gr eater attention on this matter . Urban environments will increasingly be spaces for autonom ous systems, of which automated vehicles is only one popular type. Robot wheelchairs could be used in public as well other robot -transporters to help the elderly.

Fox News Flash top headlines for Oct. 21 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com When confronted with a swarming drone attack, defenders need to operate with the understanding that each mini-drone could itself be an incoming explosive, a surveillance "node" for a larger weapons system or even an electronic warfare weapon intended to disrupt vital command and control systems. Defenders under drone attack from medium and large drones need to recognize that the attacking platform can be poised to launch missiles or find targets for long-range ground based missiles, air assets or even approaching forces. Modern technology enables drones to use high-resolution sensors and targeting systems to both find and attack targets at very long ranges, thus compounding the threat.

Outfield Technologies is a Cambridge-based agri-tech start-up company which uses drones and artificial intelligence, to help fruit growers maximise their harvest from orchard crops. Outfield Technologies' founders Jim McDougall and Oli Hilbourne have been working with Ph.D. student Tom Roddick from the Department's Machine Intelligence Laboratory to develop their technology capabilities to be able to count the blossoms and apples on a tree via drones surveying enormous apple orchards. "An accurate assessment of the blossom or estimation of the harvest allows growers to be more productive, sustainable and environmentally friendly", explains Outfield's commercial director Jim McDougall. "Our aerial imagery analysis focuses on yield estimation and is really sought after internationally. One of the biggest problems we're facing in the fruit sector is accurate yield forecasting. This system has been developed with growers to plan labour, logistics and storage. It's needed throughout the industry, to plan marketing and distribution, and to ensure that there are always apples on the shelves. Estimates are currently made by growers, and they do an amazing job, but orchards are incredibly variable and estimates are often wrong by up to 20%. This results in lost income, inefficient operations and can result in substantial amount of wastage in unsold crop."

Alphabet (Google) subsidiary Wing has become the first company in the United States to deliver packages by drone. In Christiansburg, the small Virginia town chosen as Wing's test location, the 22,000 residents can order products normally shipped by FedEx, medicine from Walgreens and a selection of candy from a local business -- all of which will arrive via drone. Wing, which already operates in two Australian cities as well as Helsinki, announced in a statement that the first drone-powered deliveries had taken place Friday afternoon in Christiansburg, "paving the way for the most advanced drone delivery service in the nation". One family used the Wing app to order Tylenol, cough drops, Vitamin C tablets, bottled water and tissues, the statement said. An older resident ordered a birthday present for his wife.

The Assam Company India Ltd on Friday said it is aiming to increase its output by nearly fivefold to 50 million kg within next five years with introduction of advanced technologies. The company acquired by Abu Dhabi-based BRS Ventures a year ago and currently has 15 tea gardens, is looking to utilise artificial intelligence, including smart drones, in the field of tea farming to achieve its target. "Our aim is to bring technology and innovation at the forefront of the tea industry. This will not only impact the lives of 26,000 farmers at our estates, but the entire workforce employed in the tea sector across the country," BRS Ventures Chairman B R Shetty said at a press conference here. The company is optimistic that focus on enhancing the lives of the farmers and upgrading the production facilities by optimizing efficiencies will see a remarkable change in the Indian tea industry in the days to come, he added.