Advertising through UAVs: Optimized path system for delivering smart real‐estate advertisement materials

Abstract

Real‐estate advertisements through electronic and print media are bringing considerable fortune to the global real‐estate sector. However, innovative advertisement methods must be adopted if real estate aims to transform into smart real estate. The current study, which is based on a systematic literature review of 58 articles published in the last decade, identifies key media for real‐estate advertisements as print media (e.g., magazines, brochures, newspapers, and digests), electronic media (e.g., websites, social media, and other digital tools), and mixed methods (e.g., billboards, signs and banners, and personalized messaging). This study takes the case of Kingsford suburb in the eastern Sydney area, and investigates the performance of the Australian real‐estate industry in general and lists the key dynamics of properties in Kingsford and its prominent real‐estate agencies. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐based smart real‐estate advertisement material delivery system is proposed to deliver advertisement materials and gifts to the potential customers of these agencies. The system paths are optimized through four Java‐run algorithms: greedy, interroute, intraroute, and Tabu. Results based on six cases, three each for rent and sales with varying numbers of customers and UAVs and an 8‐h operating time, indicate that the Tabu algorithm provides the best‐optimized paths in all cases, followed by the interroute, intraroute, and greedy algorithms. However, the inter‐ and intraroute algorithms show superior performance in terms of computation speed. The proposed framework is a practical approach in disrupting the real‐estate advertising sector, thereby helping this sector transform into a smart real estate consistent with industry 4.0 goals.