Patent ID: 10759537

Abstract:
Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can provide opportunities to incorporate aerial transportation into transportation networks for cities and metropolitan areas. However, VTOL aircraft can be sensitive to uneven weight distributions, e.g., the payload of an aircraft is primarily loaded in the front, back, left, or right. When the aircraft is loaded unevenly, the center of mass of the aircraft may shift substantially enough to negatively impact performance of the aircraft. Thus, in turn, there is an opportunity that the VTOL may be loaded unevenly if seating and/or luggage placement is not coordinated. Among other advantages, dynamically assigning the VTOL aircraft payloads can increase VTOL safety by ensuring the VTOL aircraft is loaded evenly and meets all weight requirements; can increase transportation efficiency by increasing rider throughput; and can increase the availability of the VTOL services to all potential riders.