Browse Topic: Advanced air mobility (AAM)

Items (48)
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) envisions heterogenous airborne entities like crewed and uncrewed passenger and cargo vehicles within, and between urban and rural environment. To achieve this, a paradigm shift to a cooperative operating environment similar to Extensible Traffic Management (xTM) is needed. This requires the blending of traditional Air Traffic Services (ATS) with the new generation UAM vehicles having their unique flight dynamics and handling characteristics. A hybrid environment needs to be established with enhanced shared situational awareness for all stakeholders, enabling equitable airspace access, minimizing risk, optimized airspace use, and providing flexible and adaptable airspace rules. This paper introduces a novel concept of distributed airspace management which would be apt for all kinds of operational scenarios perceived for UAM. The proposal is centered around the efficiency and safety in air space management being achieved by self-discipline. It utilizes
KG, SreenivasanSuseelan, SunilRajHuncha, Pradeep
Continuous improvements and innovations towards sustainability in the aviation industry has brought interest in electrified aviation. Electric aircrafts have short missions in which the temporal variability of thermal loads is high. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have emerged as prominent power source candidate for electric aircrafts and Urban Air Mobility (UAM). UAMs and Electric aircrafts have large battery packs with battery capacity ranging in hundreds or thousands of kWh. If the battery is exposed to temperatures outside the optimum range, the life and the performance of the battery reduces drastically. Hence, it is crucial to have a Thermal Management System (TMS) which would reduce the heat load on battery in addition to the cabin thermal loads. Thermal management can be done through active or passive cooling. Adding a passive cooling system like Phase Change Material (PCM) to the TMS reduces the design maximum thermal loads. However, the added weight of the PCM module may at
Nyamagoudar, VinayakP R, NamrathaBalasubrahmanyam, MadireddyVanka, SridharGattu, RaghavendraAbuheiba, AhmedJha, Rajesh Kumar
Recent advancements of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft have generated significant interest within and beyond the traditional aviation industry, and many novel applications have been identified and are in development. One promising application for these innovative systems is in firefighting, with eVTOL aircraft complementing current firefighting capabilities to help save lives and reduce fire-induced damages. With increased global occurrences and scales of wildfires—not to mention the issues firefighters face during urban and rural firefighting operations daily—eVTOL technology could offer timely, on-demand, and potentially cost-effective aerial mobility capabilities to counter these challenges. Early detection and suppression of wildfires could prevent many fires from becoming large-scale disasters. eVTOL aircraft may not have the capacity of larger aerial assets for firefighting, but targeted suppression, potentially in swarm operations, could be valuable. Most
Doo, JohnnyMcQueen, BobZhang, Yangjun
This document includes recommendations of installations of adequate landing and taxiing lighting systems in aircraft of the following categories: a Single engine personal and/or liaison type b Light twin engine c Large multiengine propeller d Large multiengine turbojet e Military high-performance fighter and attack f Helicopter g Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (EVTOL) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM
A-20B Exterior Lighting Committee
Air Force Research Lab Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH 937-522-3252
The traditional centralized random access (RA) and data transmission (DT) protocol used to transmit small-sized packets suffers from high signaling overhead and low channel utilization. To cope with that, this paper proposes a novel distributed queuing random access and data transmission protocol based on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology for intelligent aircraft scenarios. In the RA phase, the collided, successful, and idle states are redefined according to the degree of freedom (DOF) in MIMO to utilize the RA channel effectively. In the DT phase, the optimal number of simultaneously transmitted M2M devices in the data queue is derived by the number of base station’s antennas to enhance throughput and reduce signaling. Results reveal that the proposed protocol can not only improve the efficiency of RA but also increase the throughput and reduce the delay of DT with the aid of DoF in MIMO while reducing the signaling overhead
Ye, FayongFang, ChunyanHuang, YiZuo, DingyiZhang, DongfangFeng, Xiangxi
This overview and study article scrutinizes the evolution and challenges of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL), with a primary focus on airworthiness and safety certification. The paper discusses key issues such as high-energy-density aviation-grade batteries and the light weighting of electrical propulsion systems. Utilizing scientific models and real-world data, the study outlines the required battery technology and electrical propulsion specifications for eVTOLs with effective commercial load capabilities. For eVTOLs operating in the 300 km range, aviation-grade batteries must achieve energy densities between 300-600 wh/kg. For those covering a 600 km range, the energy density requirements exceed 600 wh/kg. Compliance with stringent safety standards, including triple certification by the FAA under 14 CFR Part 23, is imperative. This article conducted research and offered flowchart of the complicated FAA standard, which is rare in existing articles. This article
Ma, XinDing, Shuiting
Advanced flight control system, aviation battery and motor technologies are driving the rapid development of eVTOL to offer possibilities for Urban Air Mobility. The safety and airworthiness of eVTOL aircraft and systems are the critical issues to be considered in eVTOL design process. Regarding to the flight control system, its complexity of design and interfaces with other airborne systems require detailed safety assessment through the development process. Based on SAE ARP4754A, a forward architecture design process with comprehensive safety assessment is introduced to achieve complete safety and hazard analysis. The new features of flight control system for eVTOL are described to start function capture and architecture design. Model-based system engineering method is applied to establish the functional architecture in a traceable way. SFHA and STPA methods are applied in a complementary way to identify the potential safety risk caused by failure and unsafe control action. PSSA with
Ning, ChengweiZhang, HaoWeng, HaiminMa, Ran
The advanced air mobility sector — which includes electric-powered urban and regional aircraft — may become a $1.5 trillion market by 2040. New startup Aerovy Mobility could benefit airport and vertiport operators and real estate developers looking to establish advanced air mobility technology at existing and potential sites
Electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles for urban air mobility (UAM) are garnering increased attention from both the automotive and aerospace industries, with use cases ranging from individual transportation, public service, cargo delivery, and more. Distributed electric propulsion systems are their main technical feature; they determine vehicle size and propulsion efficiency and provide distributed thrust to achieve attitude control. Considering the intended role of eVTOL vehicles, ducted-fan systems are ideal choice for the propulsor, as the duct provides a physical barrier between the rotating blades and the human, especially during the take-off and landing phases. Key Technology Challenges of Electric Ducted Fan Propulsion Systems for eVTOL introduces the main bottlenecks and key enablers of ducted-fan propulsion systems for eVTOL applications. Based on the introduction and discussion of these important issues, this report will help eVTOL engineers understand the
Qian, YupingZhang, YangjunZHUGE, WEILIN
Urban air mobility (UAM) is a fast-growing industry that utilizes electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technologies to operate in densely populated urban areas with limited space. However, atmospheric icing serves as a limitation to its operational envelope as in-flight icing can happen all year round anywhere around the globe. Since icing in smaller aviation systems is still an emerging topic, there is a necessity to study icing of eVTOL rotors specifically. Two rotor geometries were chosen for this study. A small 15-inch rotor was selected to illustrate a multirotor UAV drone, while a large 80-inch rotor was chosen to represent a UAM passenger aircraft. The ice accretion experiments were conducted in an icing wind tunnel on the small 15-inch rotor. The icing simulations were performed using FENSAP-ICE. The ice accretion simulations of the 15-inch rotor sections at –5 °C show a large, rather streamlined ice shape instead of the expected glaze ice characteristics. At –15 °C
Heramarwan, HenidyaMüller, NicolasHann, RichardLutz, Thorsten
Community noise at vertiports is one of the most important questions related to upcoming urban air mobility (UAM) operations. While fixed-wing and/or fixed-rotor aircraft can mainly be treated by their changing operational parameters, such as rotor or propeller rpm, tilt-wing or tilt-engine configurations are more difficult to simulate because of their constantly changing noise emission and spatial radiation characteristics. The work presented in this paper is providing an overview of the noise situation at a virtual vertiport which is being approached and departed by a tilt-wing air-taxi in different ways. Several different departure procedures are simulated with the same generic air-taxi. For the noise emission semi-empiric methods were used. During the air-taxi’s descent and climb, different tilt configurations are included, mainly defined by the time dependent engine’s tilt-angle, but also related to different approach paths. Each approach or departure procedure is generating
Bauer, Michael
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) remotely administered a psychoacoustic test in fall of 2022 as the first of two phases of a cooperative Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicle noise human response study. This first phase, described here, was a Feasibility Test to compare human subject responses with a previous in-person psychoacoustic test that found an annoyance response difference between small Uncrewed Aerial System (sUAS) noise and ground vehicle noise. This paper discusses the Feasibility Test online layout, sound calibration method, software development, stimuli selection, test subject recruitment, and test administration. Test performance is measured through comparison of annoyance response data with the previous in-person test. The test also investigated whether a contextual cue to test subjects influenced their annoyance response. Response differences between test subjects in geographically distinct areas are analyzed. Administrative challenges that were
Krishnamurthy, SiddharthaRizzi, StephenBiziorek, RyanCzech, JosephBerg, JeffreyTannler, DillonBean, DevinAyrapetyan, ArmanNguyen, AndrewWivagg, Jonathan
The future is expected to bring Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) vehicles, including small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles and regional air mobility (RAM) vehicles. These manned and unmanned vehicles are propelled by rotors. Rotors tend to generate tonal sound as their blades interact periodically with airflow features. Since people are more sensitive to tonality, including tones, than broad band sound, AAM generated tonality is expected to be an important consideration for design. In this paper several tonality metrics are examined for their ability to explain perceived annoyance of AAM flyover noise as measured by NASA’s Rotorcraft Sound Quality Metric 1 (RoQM-1) test. The various investigated metrics use one-third octave band, narrow band, and autocorrelation analysis. It is observed that tonality influences but does not control perceived flyover noise annoyance due to other sound qualities like roughness, consistent with previous work. The metrics are
Oppenheimer, Charles H.
This paper describes a psychoacoustic test in the Exterior Effects Room (EER) at the NASA Langley Research Center. The test investigated the degree to which sound quality metrics (sharpness, tonality, etc.) are predictive of annoyance to notional sounds of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles (e.g., air taxis). A suite of 136 unique (4.6 second duration) UAM rotor noise stimuli was generated. These stimuli were based on aeroacoustic predictions of a NASA reference UAM quadrotor aircraft under two flight conditions. The synthesizer changed rotor noise parameters such as the blade passage frequency, the relative level of broadband self-noise, and the relative level of tonal motor noise. With loudness constant, the synthesis parameters impacted sound quality in a way that created a spread of predictors both in synthesizer parameters and in sound quality metrics. Forty subjects listened to the suite of UAM noise stimuli in the EER and judged each sound individually on a standard scale of
Boucher, MatthewRafaelof, MenachemBegault, DurandChristian, AndrewKrishnamurthy, SiddharthaRizzi, Stephen
Autonomy is a key enabling factor in uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) applications ranging from cargo delivery to structure inspection to passenger transport, across multiple sectors. In addition to guiding the UAS, autonomy will ensure that they stay safe in a large number of off-nominal situations without requiring the operator to intervene. While the addition of autonomy enables the safety case for the overall operation, there is a question as to how we can assure that the autonomy itself will work as intended. Specifically, we need assurable technical approaches, operational considerations, and a framework to develop, test, maintain, and improve these capabilities. We make the case that many of the key autonomy functions can be realized in the near term with readily assurable, even certifiable, design approaches and assurance methods, combined with risk mitigations and strategically defined concepts of operations. We present specific autonomy functions
Bartlett, PaulChamberlain, LyleSingh, SanjivCoblenz, Lauren
TOC
Tobolski, Sue
Accurate and robust knowledge of battery internal states and parameters is a prerequisite for the safe, efficient, and reliable operation of electric flying cars. Battery states such as state of charge (SOC), state of temperature (SOT), and state of power (SOP) are of particular interest for urban air mobility (UAM) applications. This article proposes a new safety-oriented multi-state estimation framework for collaboratively updating the SOC, SOT, and SOP of lithium-ion batteries under typical UAM mission profiles that explicitly incorporates the underlying interplay among these three states. Specifically, the SOC estimation is performed by combining an adaptive extended Kalman filter with a timely calibrated battery electrical model, and the key temperature information, including the volume-averaged temperature, highest temperature, and maximum temperature difference, is estimated using an adaptive Kalman filter based on a simplified 2-D spatially-resolved thermal model. The SOC and
Liu, WenxueKhalatbarisoltani, ArashHou, CongHu, Xiaosong
Expanding various future mobilities such as purpose built vehicle (PBV), urban air mobility (UAM), and robo-taxi, the application of autonomous driving system (ADS) technology is also spreading. The main point of ADS is to ensure safety by monitoring vehicle anomalies to prevent functional failure or accident. In this study, a model-based diagnosis and prognosis process was established using degradation data generated during autonomous driving simulation. A vehicle model was designed using Modelica/Dymola, and autonomous driving simulation was performed by integrating the lane keeping assistant (LKA) system with the vehicle model using Matlab/Simulink. Degradation data for the 3 components (a shock absorber damper, a suspension bush, and a tire) of the chassis system were input into the integrated simulation model. The degradation behavior was monitored with K-nearest neighbor (K-NN) and Gaussian mixture model (GMM). The remaining useful life (RUL) for each component was estimated
Lee, Kyung-WooSung, Dae-UnHan, Yong HaYoo, YeongminLee, Jongsoo
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is bringing this year's XPONENTIAL 2023 to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. The event, which runs from May 8 - 11, will feature three days of educational programming and more than 600 exhibitors representing all aspects of the unmanned vehicle and robotics industries showcasing their latest technology to attendees from all over the world. So, what's on tap for this year's XPONENTIAL 2023? The theme for this year's XPONENTIAL is “The Blueprint for Autonomy” and AUVSI has updated the event with new features based on attendee feedback
The rapidly advancing field of Advanced Air Mobility featuring electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing capable aircraft will create an increased demand for commercial pilots. In addition, the automation schemes for these new aircraft designs will likely change the skills required and demands placed on pilots of these vehicles. Therefore, recruiters and training facilities must understand which basic performance resources predict success to identify the best candidates to learn to fly this new class of aircraft. This study assesses the basic performance resources of ab initio students and experienced pilots in electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft simulators. Researchers recruited 82 military volunteers to participate in this study by spending one day learning to fly one of the two simulators available. This study included approximately equal numbers of ab initio students and rated pilots. Researchers randomly assigned participants to either a highly augmented aircraft simulator
Combs, Elizabeth K.Ellis, StephenHaley, DonTaranto, MatthewAnderson, AndrewCarrea, NicholausNissen, TimothyBlum, DavidBourne, Raymond
Under the emerging urban air mobility (UAM) concept, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft were designed to alleviate urban traffic congestion due to their advantages of low take-off and landing site requirements, less pollution, low noise, and strong stability. However, due to the high-level power consumption of eVTOL and only having air flight mode, this kind of aircraft has a severe shortage of cruising range. To improve the endurance and dynamic performance, the flying car designed in this paper added a ground driving mode based on eVTOL and used distributed ducted fans to provide lift. And the influence of different power transmission routes on the dynamic and economic performance of the flying car was analyzed. On this basis, the overall take-off weight of the flying car was estimated through an iterative algorithm, and parameter design and power system matching for each part of the components were conducted. Finally, this paper used MATLAB/Simulink to build a
Shao, YifanLiu, LiangXu, Zhaoping
This SAE Aerospace Standard (AS) defines qualification requirements, and minimum documentation requirements for forward and aft facing seats in Advanced Air Mobility aircraft. The goal is to achieve occupant protection under normal operational loads and to define test and evaluation criteria to demonstrate occupant protection when the seat is subjected to statically applied ultimate loads and to dynamic test conditions. While this document addresses system performance, responsibility for the seating system is divided between the seat manufacturer and the installation applicant. The seat manufacturer’s responsibility consists of meeting all the seat system performance requirements. The installation applicant has the ultimate system responsibility in assuring that all requirements for safe seat installation have been met. This AS is dependent on AS8049D and cannot be used without it. This AS provides revisions to the corresponding sections of AS8049D to incorporate new material specific
Aircraft Seat Committee
Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles are set to revolutionize the mobility of man and material in near future. One of the key areas to explore is how operational efficiency can be maximized through the next generation Maintenance framework. The UAM operational models may fundamentally change how aircraft maintenance is conducted. An important aspect of UAM is low altitude flying. This enables cellular technologies to be leveraged for air-to-ground as well as air-to-air communication. This implies a low cost, high speed air-to-ground data pipe is available, which leads to the concept of Digital Twin to be leveraged to optimize the operation and maintenance. This enables near real time availability of the state of UAM vehicle and its subsystems, even when it is flying. This paper captures the Next-Gen Maintenance framework along with several value-added services that can be built around it
Kulkarni, SandeepPanicker, RenjuKadeppagari, MuraliElahi, Imtiaz
The main aim of operating the navigation database server from ground station (Web/cloud) is to operate a single navigation database server across all aircrafts and navigation database updates can be performed at one place. which will be effective and quick, thus no need to update the navigation database in each flight for every 28 days. UAM refers to a safe and efficient air transportation system that uses transformative new airborne technology, manned and unmanned, to move people and goods in a metropolitan area, operating the navigation data base server from ground station might be the first step towards including the FMS system in urban air mobility (UAM). the proposed system can run as standalone application and provides serveries to all aircrafts from single resource; thus, the system will provide services with low cost
Kollapudi, Sudheer
Urban air mobility (UAM) refers to urban transportation systems that move people by air. UAM offers the potential for reducing traffic congestion in cities and providing an integrated approach to urban mobility. With the emergence of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, drone technology, and the possibility of automated aircraft, interest in this topic has grown considerably for private sector solution providers—including aerospace and technology companies—as well as urban planners and transportation professionals. Unsettled Issues Concerning Urban Air Mobility Infrastructure discusses the infrastructure requirements to effectively integrate UAM services into the overarching urban transportation system to enable multimodal trips and complete origin to destination travel. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio
McQueen, Bob
Advanced air mobility (AAM) refers to urban transportation systems that move people and goods by air. This has significant implications for reducing traffic congestion in cities and for providing an integrated approach to urban mobility. With the emergence of drone technology and the possibility of more autonomous aircraft, interest has grown considerably in AAM. Unsettled Issues in Advanced Air Mobility Certification discusses the impact of AAM on private sector solution providers including aerospace and technology companies and goes into solutions for urban planners and transportation professionals for better integration across all AAM modes. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio
McQueen, Bob
Flying cars—as a new type of vehicle for urban air mobility (UAM)—have become an important development trend for the transborder integration of automotive and aeronautical technologies and industries. This article introduces the 100-year history of flying cars, examines the current research status for UAM air buses and air taxis, and discusses the future development trend of intelligent transportation and air-to-land amphibious vehicles. Unsettled Topics Concerning Flying Cars for Urban Air Mobility identifies the major bottlenecks and impediments confronting the development of flying cars, such as high power density electric propulsion, high lift-to-drag ratio and lightweight body structures, and low-altitude intelligent flight. Furthermore, it proposes three phased goals and visions for the development of flying cars in China, suggesting the development of a flying vehicle technology innovation system that integrates automotive and aeronautic industries. Click here to access the full
Zhang, YangjunQian, YupingZhuge, Weilin
With the continuous growth of the unmanned aircraft industry, and the anticipated trajectory to come with urban air mobility solutions, commercial civil applications, and more, suppliers are often asked, “Does my UAS need a transponder?” Vehicle designers need to understand the current and anticipated requirements to make an informed decision on incorporating transponders into an aircraft
Items per page:
1 – 48 of 48