Efficient VTOL resource management in an aviation transport network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12230146-B2
Application number	US-202117514823-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2021
Priority date	Apr 25, 2017
Publication date	Feb 18, 2025
Grant date	Feb 18, 2025

Abstract

A transport network management system identifies a service objective for a plurality of VTOL aircraft and retrieves VTOL data including locations of the plurality of VTOL aircraft. An estimate of demand for transport services to be provided at least in part by one of the VTOL aircraft is generated and routing data for the plurality of VTOL aircraft is determined based on the estimated demand and the service objective. Routing instructions based on the routing data are sent to at least a subset of the VTOL aircraft.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for intra-city VTOL aircraft routing within a geographic area comprising:
accessing data indicative of user ground-based travel within one or more geographic regions;
accessing data indicative of one or more parameters associated with a transport network configured to provide services using vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the VTOL aircraft comprising a propulsion mechanism for horizontal and vertical thrust;
performing a simulation of the transport network based on the data indicative of user ground-based travel and the one or more parameters associated with the transport network, wherein performing the simulation comprises:
initializing an aerial transportation model based on the data indicative of user ground-based travel and the one or more parameters associated with the transport network, wherein the aerial transportation model comprises a plurality of nodes and a plurality of arcs between the plurality of nodes, at least a portion of the plurality of nodes representing candidate hubs of the transport network for vertical take-off and landing, and at least a portion of the plurality of arcs representing candidate routes for the VTOL aircraft,
computing a flow of riders and the VTOL aircraft through at least the portion of the plurality of nodes representing the candidate hubs and at least the portion of the plurality of arcs representing the candidate routes; and

providing an output based on the simulation, wherein the output indicates:
hub locations for a plurality of hubs where the VTOL aircraft can take off and land via one or more landing or launching pads physically positioned on infrastructure within the geographic area to allow the VTOL aircraft to vertically take off and land for air travel within the geographic area; and
one or more routes between at least a portion of the hub locations.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein computing the flow of riders and the VTOL aircraft comprises modeling the flow of riders and the VTOL aircraft through at least the portion of the plurality of nodes and at least the portion of the plurality of arcs using the aerial transportation model, and wherein performing the simulation comprises:
selecting at least a portion of the candidate hubs for the output based on the modeling.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the output comprises a map interface for display, wherein the map interface comprises a map with the hub locations and the one or more routes overlaid on the map.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters associated with the transport network comprise at least one of: (i) one or more parameters associated with the VTOL aircraft; or (ii) one or more parameters associated with one or more of the plurality of hubs.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more parameters associated with the plurality of VTOL aircraft comprise at least one of: (i) a rider capacity; (ii) an airspeed; (iii) a charging rate; (iv) a travel distance without recharging, (v) whether a battery can be swapped; (vi) a time needed for take-off or landing; or (vii) a type of VTOL aircraft.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more parameters associated with one or more of the plurality of hubs comprise at least one of: (1) a distance between hubs; (ii) time to load or unload riders; or (iii) time restrictions on VTOL aircraft transportation.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters associated with the transport network comprise initial candidate locations for the candidate hubs.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the initial candidate locations for the plurality of hubs is identified via user input.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the initial candidate locations for the plurality of hubs is automatically identified.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein performing the simulation of the transport network comprises:
determining an estimated demand for transport services based on the data indicative of user ground-based travel; and
computing the flow of the riders and the VTOL aircraft through at least the portion of the plurality of hubs of the transport network based on the initial candidate locations and the estimated demand for transport services.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the estimated demand comprises: (i) an initial demand that is based on the data indicative of user ground-based travel, the data indicative of user ground-based travel comprising historical data, and (ii) a future demand that is based on transport requests for a configuration of the transport network.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the output further comprises a recommendation associated with at least one of: (i) hub infrastructure; (ii) hub design; (iii) hub charging stations; (iv) a distance between hubs; or (v) VTOL aircraft storage at a hub.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising executable computer program code, the computer program code when executed causing one or more processors to perform operations for intra-city VTOL aircraft routing within a geographic area comprising:
accessing data indicative of user ground-based travel within one or more geographic regions;
accessing data indicative of one or more parameters associated with a transport network configured to provide services using vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the VTOL aircraft comprising a propulsion mechanism for horizontal and vertical thrust;
performing a simulation of the transport network based on the data indicative of user ground-based travel and the one or more parameters associated with the transport network, wherein performing the simulation comprises:
initializing an aerial transportation model based on the data indicative of user ground-based travel and the one or more parameters associated with the transport network, wherein the aerial transportation model comprises a plurality of nodes and a plurality of arcs between the plurality of nodes, at least a portion of the plurality of nodes representing candidate hubs of the transport network for vertical take-off and landing, and at least a portion of the plurality of arcs representing candidate routes for the VTOL aircraft,
computing a flow of riders and the VTOL aircraft through at least the portion of the plurality of nodes representing the candidate hubs and at least the portion of the plurality of arcs representing the candidate routes; and

providing an output based on the simulation, wherein the output indicates:
hub locations for a plurality of hubs where the VTOL aircraft can take off and land via one or more landing or launching pads physically positioned on infrastructure within the geographic area to allow the VTOL aircraft to vertically take off and land for air travel within the geographic area; and
one or more routes between at least a portion of the hub locations.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 13 , wherein computing the flow of riders and the VTOL aircraft comprises modeling the flow of riders and the VTOL aircraft through at least the portion of the plurality of nodes and at least the portion of the plurality of arcs using the aerial transportation model, and wherein the operations further comprise:
selecting at least a portion of the candidate hubs for the output based on the modeling.

Assignees

• Joby Aero Inc

Inventors

• Goel Nikhil
• Petersen Jon
• Badalamenti John
• Moore Mark

Classifications

• G08G5/56

  for two or more aircraft · CPC title

• G08G5/34

  for flight plan modification · CPC title

• G08G5/32

  for flight plan preparation · CPC title

• G06Q50/47

  Passenger ride requests, e.g. ride-hailing · CPC title

• G06Q50/40 Primary

  Business processes related to the transportation industry (shipping G06Q10/083) · CPC title