Vehicle / Systems
Technological advances in electric propulsion and control systems, computer systems, sensors, precision position and navigation information, and other areas are facilitating the development and operation of new air vehicles potentially capable of safe, reliable, and low-noise flight, including vertical flight, with simplified vehicle operations or autonomy and with lower operating and maintenance costs than conventional aerial mobility.
This transformation, or AAM, is leading to an expansion of the potential opportunities where flight is utilized to accomplish tasks in industries across the economy and in ways that have the potential to be safe, environmentally responsible, and acceptable to the community.
While in its infancy today, AAM has the potential to bring profound changes across passenger transport, cargo logistics, deliveries, and business and consumer services, in addition to broad second-order effects across these industries.
AAM includes manned and unmanned, autonomous and pilot-supervised aircraft of any size and mission operating safely and responsibly in an integrated NAS.
These can include both electric and hybrid aircraft (eVTOL and hVTOL)
The term, AAM, applies less to specific aircraft than to the overall method of operations and purpose.
Participants of the integrated NAS must meet high standards in terms of the overall integrity of the vehicle, its navigation system, and its adherence to assigned path and airspace.
The diverse set of envisioned AAM operations range from commercial transport and air taxi services to drone surveillance and inspection in urban to rural regions.
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SUPPLY CHAINS
Mature supply chains, including secure digital processes to track parts and ensure authenticity and traceability, and enable rapid ordering and receipt of parts.
Approaches for supply chain qualification are developed to keep pace with levels of production required for UAM aircraft manufacturing and maintenance.
Safety-critical and sensitive aerospace components subject to strict quality and authenticity standards are verified via secure electronic processes for tracking and authentication.
Secure processes improve efficiency and traceability throughout the supply chain and deliver higher levels of assurance that parts are authentic and approved.
Supply chains have matured to support hundreds of UAM aircraft operating in metropolitan areas by leveraging approaches from the automotive and other industries while ensuring the levels of security and safety needed for air travel.
For example, supply chains have less dependency on single suppliers, with greater diversity of manufacturers and distributorsof parts and materials.
Close integration among the OEMs, fleet operators, and component manufacturers allows for optimized supply chain management, manufacturing, and cost control.
AIRCRAFT SAFETY
Aircraft Development and Production
- UAM aircraft designs and technologies have been developed and evaluated for safety, redundancy, risk,
operational suitability, and environmental impact (e.g., noise and emissions).
- Safety engineering is incorporated into the UAM aircraft design process.
- UAM aircraft are designed for safety and availability for the characteristics of the local markets in which they operate (e.g., geographic locations [such as Denver], temperature extremes, rapid wind speed and directional changes, and significant microclimate turbulence zones).
- At UML-4, the community, through the National Campaign and FAA leadership, has established an
acceptable level of safety for UAM operations. The UAM system has not onl y met this level of safety but
also will continue to improve over time, just as the commercial airline fleet has done historically.
- Cabins are safe for passengers and cargo and designed to maximize passenger safety with integrated
crashworthiness principals.
- Designs also account for safe and efficient access to the cabin by passengers—including children and persons with disabilities.
- Beyond passenger comfort, cabins are designed to provide the highest possible levels of safety for both nominal and off-nominal events.
- Supply chain characteristics are similar to the automotive industry while assuring the levels of security and safety needed for air travel.
- Sensitive/critical aerospace components subject to strict quality and authenticity standards are verified via secure electronic process for tracking and providence and authentication (i.e., block chain, digital authentication).
– Secure processes improve efficiency and traceability throughout the supply chain over paper -based methods at the same time delivering higher levels of assurance that parts are authentic and approved. These digital tools accompanied by effective security risk management frameworks, tools, and standards protect the manufacturing of aircraft against a range of security threats (cyber and physical).
- Mature supply chains, including secure digital processes to track parts and ensure authenticity and traceability, enable rapid ordering and receipt of parts.
- Supply chains to support the UAM industry are matured to support hundreds of aircraft operating in metropolitan areas.
- Characteristics are similar to the automotive industry while assuring the levels of security and safety needed for air travel.
- The convergence of electrified propulsion systems, lightweight structures, and other advanced technologies are widely used in VTOL aircraft configurations and aircraft structures and tested for reliability and crashworthiness.
- These advanced technologies allow for the design of aircraft with lower manufacturing and operational cost as well as lower noise signatures that meet or exceed current safety standards.
- New testing and verification methods, such as analysis tools, support cost-effective rapid production, update, and modification at higher levels of safety.
- New techniques of non-destructive examination and testing are matured and applied for efficient, cost- effective airworthiness.
- Closer integration between the OEMs, fleet operators, and manufacturers optimize supply chain management, manufacturing, and cost control.
- UAM aircraft designs and technologies have been developed and evaluated for safety, redundancy, risk, operational suitability, and environmental impact (e.g., noise and emissions).
- Aircraft have been developed that produce acceptable levels of noise adherent to noise standards.
- Advanced technologies (e.g., electrified propulsion systems, lightweight structures) allow for the design of aircraft with lower manufacturing and operational cost as well as lower noise signatures
that meet or
exceed current safety standards.
- Aircraft noise is addressed primarily through advanced designs and the incorporation of noise- reduction technologies that enable quiet aircraft
operations.
- Aircraft are designed to meet noise levels that are acceptable to the communities in which they operate.
- Noise is measured and considered in the context of a fleet in addition to a single aircraft. Noise
standards for UAM continue to evolve.
- Cabins are designed so that necessary maneuvers do not provide significant adverse impact to passenger comfort.
- For example, cabin design minimizes cabin vibration and noise, provides effective climate control, and assures passenger safety and comfort during turbulence.
- These have been developed based on extensive consumer research and testing to develop strong understanding of metrics for passenger acceptance (e.g., ambient noise, natural and powered illumination, vibration, temperature, and seating acceptability, and ride quality). Designs also account for safe and efficient access to the cabin by passengers—including children and persons with disabilities.
- Cabin designs support communication between passengers by reducing ambient noise or providing headsets, and likely support other conveniences, such as personal communication devices and room for luggage.
- Validated tool sets supported by high-speed computing and advanced automation in design, manufacturing, and testing accelerate development cycles and bring most promising concepts to market more quickly and more efficiently.
- Automated systems, avionics software, real-time data transmission, and, in some cases, RPICs prevent flight into environmental operating conditions that the aircraft is not certified for based on data gathered from the PSU Network.
Individual Aircraft Management and Operations
- At UML-4, UAM onboard technology enables performance capabilities needed to safely conduct medium-density operations in populated urban environments.
- These technologies enable aircraft to safely detect and avoid obstacles in the air and on the ground, to safely land in emergency situations, and reduce risk in emergencysituations.
- Safe urban flight management of individual aircraft is ensured by ATM provided by PSUs for operation and strategic deconfliction in the UOE.
- Ground-based systems such as the ILS or its equivalent and systems to support en route UAM operations augment aircraft systems to provide additional safety, monitoring, and awareness.
- It is expected the operational procedures avoid sensitive areas (e.g., due to safety or concerns) as well as permanent and temporary areas where restri ctions may be in place by the FAA or negotiated with local authorities.
- It is anticipated that the increasingly automated capabilities of aircraft reduce cost for aircraft crew training and aircraft operations while maintaining an equivalent level of safet y.
- To address the ground operations and maintenance barrier, UAM aircraft data is streamed for FOQA/MOQA services to improve flight safety.
- It is assumed that at UML-4 maintenance processes have been developed that are FAA-certified to ensure aircraft are safely maintained by qualified maintenance professionals.
- Ground operations and maintenance activities include cybersecurity precautions as updates and changes to the automated system present cybersecurity concerns.
- It is anticipated that the increasingly automated capabilities of aircraft reduce cost for aircraft crew training and aircraft operations while maintaining an equivalent level of safety.
- Fleet operators factor local noise limitations during flight planning and during flight.
- UML-4 likely has a combination of operations where failure cases are fully automated profiles and other cases that require some human intervention (e.g., to activate an automated contingency landing plan). At UML-4, aircraft are highly automated and capable of performing most operations with minimal human interaction.
- It is anticipated that the increasingly automated capabilities of aircraft reduce cost for aircraft crew training and aircraft operations while maintaining an equivalent level of safety.
- During off-nominal and contingency situations, the aircraft crew has the ability to activate an automated contingencylanding plan.
- Automation at UML-4, more advanced than what is currently available, provides much higher speeds of computation and decision-making that enables the aircraft’s automated systems to identify the lowest- risk emergency-landing alternative.
- At UML-4, it is anticipated that advanced methods have been developed to test and certify semiautonomous operation, and existing regulations have been adapted to certi fy UAM aircraft operations.
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