  Due to its mobility and agility, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has emerged as
a promising technology for various tasks, such as sensing, inspection and
delivery. However, a typical UAV has limited energy storage and cannot fly a
long distance without being recharged. This motivates several existing
proposals to use trucks and other ground vehicles to offer riding to help UAVs
save energy and expand the operation radius. We present the first theoretical
study regarding how UAVs should optimally hitch on ground vehicles, considering
vehicles' different travelling patterns and supporting capabilities. For a
single UAV, we derive closed-form optimal vehicle selection and hitching
strategy. When vehicles only support hitching, a UAV would prefer the vehicle
that can carry it closest to its final destination. When vehicles can offer
hitching plus charging, the UAV may hitch on a vehicle that carries it farther
away from its destination and hitch a longer distance. The UAV may also prefer
to hitch on a slower vehicle for the benefit of battery recharging. For
multiple UAVs in need of hitching, we develop the max-saving algorithm (MSA) to
optimally match UAV-vehicle collaboration. We prove that the MSA globally
optimizes the total hitching benefits for the UAVs.
