(Press-News.org) As cities worldwide begin embracing low-altitude logistics to support rapid, flexible deliveries by drones, urban planners face an increasingly difficult challenge: how to design an aerial delivery network that balances cost efficiency, safety, and noise impact.
A research team from Beihang University has developed a new framework that tackles this challenge head-on. Their study presents a multi-layered, hub-and-spoke logistics network design optimized using a dual-population co-evolutionary algorithm. This method not only improves route planning and facility placement but also explicitly accounts for noise constraints — a key concern for residents living near hospitals, schools, and housing complexes.
The team published their work in Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica on March 12, 2025.
“Noise is often the neglected factor in low-altitude logistics,” said Dr. Yumeng Li, the corresponding author and associate professor at Beihang University. “But as drone delivery scales up, the public’s tolerance for frequent overflights will be tested. Our approach takes noise considerations into the core of the logistics network’s design.”
A key innovation is the adoption of a multi-layered hub-and-spoke network structure, where nodes (takeoff/landing points and delivery centers) are mapped onto different altitude levels, and links represent horizontal drone flight paths. The model incorporates population-density-based risk zoning and classifies noise-sensitive facilities such as residential areas as constraints.
To quantify and constrain the noise impact, the researchers developed a three-dimensional noise exposure and equivalent sound level model. Noise from individual drone flights is measured using exposure level calculations, while the cumulative effect of multiple flights over time is captured using equivalent continuous sound levels. These metrics are then used to define noise tolerance thresholds for sensitive locations in the network.
The resulting multi-objective mixed-integer programming model includes constraints for network structure, traffic assignment, drone range, and noise limits. Solving this model is non-trivial due to its high dimensionality and complex constraints.
To address the computational challenge, the team proposed a Dual-Population Cooperative Co-evolutionary Algorithm for Constrained Multiobjective Optimization with Adaptive Operator Selection (CCMO-AOS). This algorithm maintains two populations: a main population that evolves under noise constraints, and an auxiliary population that explores the solution space without noise constraints to improve diversity and avoid local optima. An adaptive operator selection mechanism dynamically chooses suitable crossover and mutation strategies based on performance, while solution exchange between populations facilitates knowledge transfer and search space exploration.
Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively reduces noise exposure in sensitive areas while maintaining competitive performance in cost and safety. The network topology generated under noise constraints significantly differs from that without such constraints, illustrating the necessity of considering acoustic impact in network design.
This work provides not only a feasible technical pathway for integrating noise control into urban drone logistics planning, but also offers theoretical insights into solving constrained multi-objective problems in irregular search spaces. In future work, the researchers plan to incorporate dynamic and uncertain elements into the problem formulation, making the model more applicable to real-world scenarios.
Other contributors include Chunxiao Zhang and Tong Guo from Beihang University.
Original Source
HANG C X，GUO T，LI Y M. Dual-population coevolutionary optimization for multi-layer urban air logistics network [J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica， 2025, 46(11): 531477 (in Chinese). doi：10. 7527/S1000-6893. 2024. 31477.
END
Studies suggest mindfulness meditation can improve cognition, but few researchers have examined whether virtual mindfulness meditation apps are effective. In a new eNeuro paper, Andy Kim et al., from the University of Southern California, assessed attention control in adults following about a month of mindfulness meditation guided by a mobile app.
In participants of all ages, mindfulness improved attention control as measured by reliable eye movement tasks established to assess how quickly people orient their attention. A control group that listened to an audio book did not have this cognitive improvement. Notably, self-reported measures of cognitive ability, ...
How do emotions influence memory? In a collaboration between Hangzhou Normal University and Nanjing Normal University, Xi Jia led a study to explore whether emotions shape how well people remember meaningless, or neutral, images.
As detailed in their new JNeurosci paper, the researchers recorded the brain activity of 44 study participants as they viewed meaningless images of squiggles followed by images meant to evoke positive, neutral, or negative emotions. Researchers presented each squiggle–emotional image pair to participants three times. During image pair learning sessions, positive emotions promoted ...
A new study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus reveals that individuals living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) often feel dismissed, misunderstood and underserved by the healthcare system.
The study, published today in F&S Reports.
“PCOS is a common hormone-related condition that affects up to 1 in 10 individuals with ovaries. It can cause a range of symptoms including irregular periods, acne, unwanted facial hair, weight gain and fertility issues,” said Kathryn McKenney, MD, co-director of the PCOS Multi-Disciplinary Program and assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and senior author of the study. ...
WASHINGTON, D.C.— A focused review published in the journal Research Integrity and Peer Review has found that Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) provide surprisingly little protection for animals in research, that searches for alternatives to animal use are seldom conducted, and that, when performed, they are inadequate. For the first time since the publication of “The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” (The Guide) in 1963, research scientists are recommending a new guide that puts replacement of animals in research and IACUC member training ...
HOUSTON – (July 7, 2025) – Lei Li, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to develop a new generation of wearable medical imaging technology capable of visualizing deep tissue function in real time.
The highly competitive five-year NSF grants are given to early career faculty members who demonstrate the potential to serve as academic models and leaders in research and education.
Li’s project centers on photoacoustic imaging, a technique that merges light and ...
Treatment with Virtual Reality appears to work very well for people with psychosis. It works faster than the current treatment with cognitive behavioural therapy and is at least as effective. This is evident from research conducted by UMCG psychiatrist Wim Veling. 'I hope that this application of Virtual Reality will soon be available in all mental health care facilities.
Cognitive behavioural therapy is the most important psychological treatment for paranoid ideas in patients with psychotic disorders. In a study, Veling compared the effect of treatment with Virtual Reality-based therapy with current standard therapy. 'With ...
There's something magnetic about a group of people looking in the same direction – others will follow their gazes to see what has caught their attention. But is the same true for animals like pigeons – and, if so, does it make a difference, if just one pigeon or a large group of them looks at something? A team of animal behaviour researchers around Fumihiro Kano (team leader) and Mathilde Delacoux from the University of Konstanz examined the gaze following behaviour in groups of pigeons. A story about why it is important to know where pigeons are looking.
Following the gaze
Gaze following ...
Chihtong “Lily” Lee never set out to reinvent surgical tools, but her curiosity, precision and creativity led her to do just that.
The 2025 Rice University graduate recently earned second place in the undergraduate category at the ASME SB3C Summer Bioengineering Conference, a competition hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Selected as one of the top presentations out of more than 200 submissions, Lee was invited to attend the national conference in New Mexico, where she stood out for her work on improving surgical ...
In the pursuit of more effective and accessible solutions for joint health monitoring, researchers are constantly seeking innovative ways to enhance the capabilities of wearable devices. A recent article published in Nano-Micro Letters, authored by Professor Jin-Chong Tan and Professor Hubin Zhao from the University of Oxford and University College London, presents a groundbreaking AI-enabled piezoelectric wearable device for accurate joint torque sensing, leveraging the unique properties of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs).
Why ...
In the quest for more efficient and sustainable energy storage solutions, researchers are constantly exploring innovative ways to enhance the performance of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for lithium metal batteries (LMBs). A recent article published in Nano-Micro Letters, authored by Professor Xingping Zhou and Professor Zhigang Xue from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, presents a groundbreaking approach to improving lithium-ion conduction in SPEs through in situ polymerization within a covalent organic framework (COF).
Why This Research Matters
Enhanced Ion Transport Efficiency: Traditional SPEs often suffer from low ion transport ...
