Energy Efficient Arrival with RTA Constraint for Urban eVTOL Operations

Pradeep, Priyank; Wei, Peng

doi:10.2514/6.2018-2008

Cited by 28 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…Current research on scheduling of eVTOL arrivals at a vertiport is, however, limited. In [1], [2] the arrival trajectory of eVTOLs is optimised for minimal energy consumption based on a given RTA for a multi-rotor and tandem-tilted wing eVTOL, the EHANG 184 and Airbus A 3 Vahana respectively. In [6] a study on airspace system demand is performed for a range of values that future separation requirements would need to take to support high-demand, high-tempo UAM operations.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, their required altitude at the approach fix is set to 200m. This requirement is needed to ensure clearance from high rise buildings, as well as to provide sufficient space to absorb delay through shallow descent paths [1]. Between the approach fix and the vertiport, each eVTOL flies at a predefined speed and altitude profile (see Fig.…”

Section: A Evtol Arrivals At a Vertiport -Concept Of Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We further assume that all rotors produce equal thrust. Thus, we assume an upper and lower rotor to produce equal thrust [30], such that T r = 1 8 T . The induced velocity v i is computed using Momentum Theory and v h , leading to (6).…”

Section: B Evtol Flight Dynamics Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Firstly, using the ConOps for eVTOLs arrivals (Section III-A) and the eVTOL flight dynamics (Section III-B), we determine the optimal flight trajectory with respect to energy consumption for a given RTA at the vertiport [1], [2]. The optimal trajectories are computed using the GPOPS-II software [33].…”

Section: Evtol Arrival Sequencing and Scheduling Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each eVTOL aircraft is constrained by its remaining battery energy and flight performance parameters. We provide an optimal required time of arrival (RTAs) to all the arriving eVTOLs, whose onboard avionics can then compute their energy-efficient optimal arrival trajectories using tools presented in [1], [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

eVTOL Arrival Sequencing and Scheduling for On-Demand Urban Air Mobility

Kleinbekman

Mitici

Wei

2018

2018 IEEE/AIAA 37th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC)

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Urban Air Mobility (UAM) has the ability to reduce ground traffic congestion by enabling rapid on-demand flight through three-dimensional airspace with zero operational emissions by using electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. In the long term with more UAM flights, air traffic control is expected to limit further growth of such operations. Therefore, a first research has been performed on energy-efficient trajectory optimisation for a given required time of arrival, as the arrival phase is the most safety-critical flight phase with much higher air traffic density and limited battery energy. However, research on the computation of the optimal required time of arrival (RTA) for eVTOL aircraft has not yet been performed. Unlike fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters in commercial aviation, eVTOL aircraft have different flight dynamics, limited battery energy supply and a limited number of landing spots at a vertiport such as the top of high-rise buildings. This work is the first to utilise a mixed-integer linear program that computes the optimal RTAs for eVTOLs to safely separate them for minimum delay based on remaining battery state of charge and vertiport capacity. A concept of operations for vertiport terminal area airspace design is also proposed while making use of the existing energy-efficient trajectory optimisation tool. The research serves as a basis for further development of safe and efficient UAM operations. The mathematical model can also be applied to Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) by inserting new separation requirements and flight dynamics for smaller drones when optimising a high density arrival terminal airspace.

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Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Evtol Arrivals At a Vertiport -Concept Of Operationsmentioning

confidence: 99%