# A Survey of the Effects of Vehicle Configuration on Urban Air Mobility +
## 4 Conclusions
Three main types of urban transportation can be considered; personal, air-taxi, and larger transportation. Requirements ofeach of these applications are studied in this paper and the most suitable configuration for UAM applications is introduced. For personal and family transportation, small aircraft with VTOL capabilities, such as multirotors, dual-systems, and helicopters, are suitable options. The cyclocopter and Magnus-effect configurations could also be considered due to their small size and payload capacity despite the low focus on them. For air-taxi, configurations like tilt-rotor, helicopter, and tilt-wing are more suitable due to their higher number of passengers and longer flight range. Fixed-wing and lighter-than-air configurations are the best solutions for larger transportation due to their high speed, range, endurance, cargo capacity, and number of passengers. For emergency response, high-speed aircraft with hover flight capability is needed, making helicopters, hybrid, and multirotors suitable configurations. Gyrodyne is also a potential solution due to its higher range, cargo, and speed than VTOLs but it is not studied enough so far. Tilt-body aircraft also have good potential for emergency response despite urban transportation. For cargo delivery, almost any configuration could be considered depending on the cargo size, but gyrodyne, Magnus-effect, and morphing wing configurations are neglected ones that have good potential. For aerial surveillance, configurations such as lighter than air, dual system, multirotor, and tilt-rotor are suitable options due to their hover flight capability and long endurance in low heights. For entertainment flights, lighter than air and gyroplanes are the most popular configurations due to their comfort and ability to provide a good view for passengers. One of the technologies which is shown to be highly suitable for UAM applications is distributed propulsion. This study indicates the high potential of DP due to its performance and safety (robustness against failure), in UAM applications and the necessity of more research in this area. However, it requires more research to remedy some of the important challenges, such as energy efficiency, heat management, and integration with existing UAM configurations. The certification of DP systems, noise reduction, and regulating air traffic in cities still lack adequate regulatory coverage. Filling those gaps will be instrumental in realizing the full potential of DP, making UAM solutions safer, more scalable, and sustainable. Urban air mobility (UAM) has a bright future ahead with multi-utility VTOL, HTOL, and hybrid aircraft configurations coming into applications for urban transportation, emergency response, and delivery of goods. The future of UAM, however, presents a series of challenges, mainly arising from limitations imposed on payload capacity, endurance, and energy efficiency, with emphasis on electrical and hybrid systems. Any advances to distributed propulsion, energy storage, lightweight materials, and autonomous systems in the future would therefore be welcomed to UAM performance, scalability, and sustainable solutions. The integration of UAM into urban infrastructure is also contingent on developing regulatory systems, infrastructure, and building public acceptability. With technological innovations to counter the challenges in this sector, UAM stands a great chance of changing the game in urban transport by providing access to a greener mobility option for future cities. Conceptualization, S.D. and J.R.; methodology, J.R. and A.M.; formal analysis, S.D. and A.M.; investigation, S.D., K.H. and B.E. ; data curation, B.E. ; writing--original draft preparation, K.G. ; writing--review and editing, V.S. ; supervision, V.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received no external funding. Not applicable. All of the data are taken from open sources.