Patent Description:
Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of navigation for urban air mobility vehicles and, more particularly, to methods and systems for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft.

Urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles are often used to navigate in regions with features such as tall buildings and structures, including some buildings on which the UAM vehicle may land. In order to navigate these airspaces, it is often beneficial to have a vehicle capable of vertical takeoffs and landings. Helicopters are one example of such vehicles, however another class of vehicles known as vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) also are configured to be able to take off and land vertically. As these vehicles are deployed in urban airspaces, conventional guidance computation and display for lateral and vertical deviations may be insufficient for these vehicles to perform both fixed-wing cruising and vertical takeoffs and landings.

Reference is made to the following literature:.

The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of these above-referenced challenges.

According to certain aspects of the disclosure, systems and methods are disclosed for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft.

For instance, a method of facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft may include obtaining aircraft information including a current position and a current altitude of the aircraft and retrieving, from a database, vertiport information for a desired landing or takeoff location area including current environmental information and current traffic information. The method may further include determining, based on the aircraft information and the vertiport information, an aircraft path including a vertical path portion and a cruise path portion; determining, based on the aircraft path, a dynamic switchover point between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path; and transmitting control information to one or more aircraft propulsion systems wherein the control information includes a vertical control portion and a cruise control portion. Wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems will operate under one of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information until the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point, and wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems will operate under the other of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information after the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point.

Moreover, a system according to the present disclosure may include a memory storing instructions, and a processor executing the instructions to perform a process for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft. The process may include obtaining aircraft information including a current position and a current altitude of the aircraft and retrieving, from a database, vertiport information for a desired landing or takeoff location area including current environmental information and current traffic information. The process may further include determining, based on the aircraft information and the vertiport information, an aircraft path including a vertical path portion and a cruise path portion; determining, based on the aircraft path, a dynamic switchover point between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path; and transmitting control information to one or more aircraft propulsion systems wherein the control information includes a vertical control portion and a cruise control portion. Wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems will operate under one of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information until the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point, and wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems will operate under the other of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information after the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point.

Moreover, according to the present disclosure, a method of facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft may include obtaining aircraft information including a current position and a current altitude of the aircraft and retrieving, from a database, vertiport information for a desired landing or takeoff location area including current environmental information and current traffic information. The method may further include determining, based on the aircraft information and the vertiport information, an aircraft path including a vertical path portion and a cruise path portion; determining, based on the aircraft path, a dynamic switchover point between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path; updating the dynamic switchover point based on obtaining updated aircraft information and retrieving updated vertiport information; transmitting control information to one or more aircraft propulsion systems wherein the control information includes a vertical control portion, a cruise control portion, and a transition control portion; and displaying, on an aircraft display, the aircraft path and the dynamic switchover point. Wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems will operate under one of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information until the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point, and wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems will operate under the other of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information after the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point; and wherein two or more aircraft propulsion systems remain in operation when the aircraft operates under the transition control portion.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of navigation for urban air mobility vehicles and, more particularly, to systems and methods for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft.

The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the challenges discussed above. UAM vehicles operating in urban airspaces may benefit from an ability to take off and land vertically, in addition to the ability to cruise during fixed-wing flight. Accordingly, aircraft may be fitted with a number of displays and navigation aids to provide the operators with information, for example, the positions and heights of buildings in the airspace. When operating the aircraft, the operators may benefit from a system that has the ability to determine and display vehicle paths, including determining a switchover point between vertical propulsion and fixed-wing cruising.

In general, the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods that are able to address one or more of the above challenges by using aircraft and vertiport information to determine an appropriate path and dynamic switchover point to control one or more propulsion systems of an aircraft. For instance, a system may determine a switchover point that transitions an aircraft between vertical and cruising phases of flight in a manner that avoids obstacles while maintaining efficiency. The systems and/or methods of the present disclosure for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft may have an advantage of automatically determining a dynamic switchover point between vertical and cruise phases of flight based on a number of dynamic factors, thereby allowing the aircraft to be efficiently routed with reduced operator intervention.

Therefore, by determining the dynamic switchover point, operators may be able to provide additional attention to other aspects of aircraft flight, while still navigating an efficient path based on dynamically changing conditions.

While this disclosure describes the systems and methods with reference to aircraft, it should be appreciated that the present systems and methods may be applicable to various other vehicles, including those of drones, spacecraft, or any other manned, unmanned, autonomous, and/or internet-connected vehicles, including vehicles operated with one or more propulsion systems and/or phases of flight.

<FIG> depicts an example of a system environment <NUM> in which systems, methods, and other aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented. The system environment <NUM> of <FIG> may include an aircraft <NUM>, a network <NUM>, vertiport <NUM>, and a database <NUM>. Aircraft <NUM> may include processor <NUM> in communication with a plurality of other components such as RF/cellular transceiver <NUM>, memory <NUM>, display/user interface (UI) <NUM>, environment sensors <NUM>, GPS <NUM>, flight controller <NUM>, and one or more propulsion systems <NUM>. Processor <NUM> may include one or more processors that comprise the computing and flight management systems of aircraft <NUM>.

Memory <NUM> may be one or more components configured to store data related to aircraft <NUM>, including instructions for operating flight components and aircraft systems (e.g., autopilot, route planning, communication). Processor <NUM> and memory <NUM> may display information to, and receive inputs from an operator of aircraft <NUM> via display/UI <NUM>. Display/UI <NUM> may be of any suitable type, such as one or more monitors, touchscreen panels, heads-up displays, and may include operator input devices such as joysticks, buttons, touch-responsive panels, mice, trackpads, voice recognition devices, and the like. As the aircraft operates, processor <NUM> may generate one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for display on display/UI <NUM>, to provide relevant and useful information to operators and/or passengers of aircraft <NUM>.

In some embodiments, processor <NUM> may communicate with environment sensors <NUM> to, for example, sense obstacles and conditions in and around aircraft <NUM> as it traverses the airspace, and communicate with GPS <NUM> in order to, for example, locate aircraft <NUM> in the airspace. Processor <NUM> may also be in communication with a flight controller <NUM> in order to, for example, provide control information to one or more propulsion systems <NUM>. Without deviating from the scope of this disclosure, aircraft <NUM> may have additional elements that can be in communication with processor <NUM>.

Aircraft <NUM> may use RF/cellular transceiver <NUM> to communicate with other elements of the system environment, for example, via network <NUM> or directly by radio communication. Network <NUM> may be implemented as, for example, the internet, a wireless network, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), or any other type of network or combination of networks that provides communications between one or more components of the system environment <NUM>. In some embodiments, the network <NUM> may be implemented using a suitable communication protocol or combination of protocols such as a wired or wireless internet connection in combination with a cellular data network.

Aircraft <NUM> may take off from, or land at, a vertiport <NUM>. Vertiport <NUM> may be configured to provide aircraft <NUM> with information, such as information regarding air traffic, weather conditions, obstacles, and/or other information useful for the flight of aircraft <NUM>. Vertiport <NUM> may include a processor <NUM>, an RF/cellular transceiver <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and one or more environment sensors <NUM>. Environment sensors <NUM> may include, for example, sensors to determine weather conditions, traffic conditions, and/or other information that may be relevant to aircraft as they take-off from, or land at, vertiport <NUM>. Processor <NUM> and memory <NUM> may collect and transmit information via RF/cellular transceiver <NUM>, for example, information collected by environment sensors <NUM>. Vertiport <NUM> may also be in communication with, for example, air traffic control, meteorologists, and/or one or more databases <NUM>.

One or more databases <NUM> may be repositories for system information such as map data, building data, flight plan data, and the like. Database <NUM> may include a processor <NUM>, a network connection <NUM>, and a memory <NUM>. Memory <NUM> may store data, processor <NUM> may access and organize the stored data to respond to requests and provide updates to the stored data, and information may be provided to other elements in system environment <NUM> via network connection <NUM>. In some embodiments, database <NUM> may communicate directly with aircraft <NUM> via network <NUM>. Further, vertiport <NUM> may be configured to relay requests for information from aircraft <NUM> to database <NUM> via its RF/cellular transceiver <NUM> or other network connection.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary method <NUM> for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the steps described herein, and the sequence in which they are presented, are merely illustrative such that additional and/or fewer steps may be included without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Beginning at step <NUM>, processor <NUM> may obtain aircraft flight information, for example from environment sensors <NUM> and/or GPS <NUM>. Aircraft flight information may include one or more of a current position, a current altitude, a current trajectory, local terrain elevation, and/or a target destination. The aircraft flight information may also establish parameters for the aircraft flight path, and/or may aid in the determination of conditions of, and/or obstacles in, the airspace.

Having obtained the aircraft flight information, at step <NUM>, the system may then retrieve vertiport information for a desired landing or takeoff location area. This retrieved vertiport information can include, for example, map data, current environmental information, current traffic information, and/or other information that may be relevant to aircraft <NUM> that is or will be in the vicinity of vertiport <NUM>. The vertiport information may be retrieved from vertiport <NUM> directly, and/or from one or more databases <NUM>, for example, a vertiport database maintained by an organization such as the FAA. Vertiport information may also be received from other aircraft in the airspace, concurrently and/or at a previous time.

At step <NUM>, processor <NUM> can determine an aircraft path including a vertical path portion and a cruise path portion. The current position of aircraft <NUM> and the desired destination can establish the beginning and ending points of the aircraft path. From a top down perspective, the aircraft path may be determinable based on these points, and information regarding obstacles and the like. This aircraft path can generally orient the aircraft in the airspace with respect to the current aircraft position and destination.

Having determined the aircraft path, at step <NUM>, processor <NUM> may determine a dynamic switchover point between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path. In some embodiments, as in a takeoff path, determining the dynamic switchover point between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path can include determining a climb-path angle. In embodiments, as in a landing path, determining the dynamic switchover point between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path can include determining a glide-path angle.

These climb-path and glide-path angles may be determined based on a number of factors including: the type, weight, power, fuel level, or other characteristics of the aircraft; the positions, heights, and other characteristics of buildings and structures near vertiport <NUM>; one or more guidelines regarding suitable travel angles and clearances required by FAA or other regulations; and other such factors. In takeoff situations where the climb-path angle is determined to be small, the vertical path portion of the aircraft may be extended to provide sufficient clearance of other buildings, while situations that allow a steeper climb-path angle may not require as much vertical travel. Similarly, in landing situations where the glide-path angle is determined to be small, the vertical path portion of the aircraft may be extended to provide sufficient clearance of other buildings, while situations that allow a steeper glide-path angle upon approach to vertiport <NUM> may not require as much vertical travel.

In addition to the appropriate climb-path/glide-path angles, the proximity of the switchover point to vertiport <NUM> may be a function of many factors. For example, if the particular aircraft is able to more quickly transition from forward thrust to vertical thrust, the switchover point may be located closer to vertiport <NUM>. While a faster and/or heavier aircraft may need to begin transitioning further away from vertiport <NUM>, indicating a switchover point that may be further from vertiport <NUM>.

Once the aircraft path and dynamic switchover point have been determined, processor <NUM> may, at step <NUM>, transmit control information to one or more aircraft propulsion system <NUM>. The control information can include, for example, a vertical control portion and a cruise control portion, and processor <NUM> may transmit the control information directly to one or more aircraft propulsion system <NUM> or via flight controller <NUM>. For example, one or more aircraft propulsion systems <NUM> can operate under the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information until the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point, at which point aircraft propulsion systems <NUM> can operate under the other of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information. In some embodiments, the control information can include additional components, such as a transition control portion. Such a transition control portion, may allow two or more aircraft propulsion systems <NUM> to remain in operation while the aircraft operates under the transition control portion.

In order to inform the operators and/or passengers of the dynamic switchover and flight path, the aircraft path and the dynamic switchover point can be displayed on display/UI <NUM>. Depending on the current position, current altitude, or phase of flight of the aircraft, an appropriate display mode may be selected. For example, and as discussed below with respect to <FIG> and <FIG>, a first person display mode may be employed during the cruise path portion <NUM>, while an external display mode may be employed during the vertical path portion <NUM>.

In order to be responsive to changing conditions such as traffic and weather conditions, aircraft <NUM> may obtain updated aircraft and vertiport information and update the dynamic switchover point accordingly. The updated aircraft information can include, for example, updates to the current position and the current altitude of the aircraft, and updated vertiport information can include updates to the current environmental information and current traffic information. Further, in some embodiments, portions of the calculated path, such as the vertical path portion, may be transmitted to vertiport <NUM> and/or database <NUM> to provide updates to the current traffic information available to other aircraft.

<FIG> depicts an exemplary aircraft landing path in an exemplary airspace <NUM>. As aircraft <NUM> navigates above buildings and structures <NUM> in airspace <NUM>, aircraft <NUM> may proceed along a cruise path <NUM> approaching the destination vertiport <NUM>. During this portion of the path, aircraft <NUM> may be operating under the power of a propulsion system <NUM> configured to provide forward thrust. In order to land at vertiport <NUM>, aircraft <NUM> may transition, at switchover point <NUM>, to a transition segment <NUM> of the flight path. During this transition segment <NUM>, one or more propulsion systems <NUM> of aircraft <NUM> may transition from the forward thrust provided during the cruise path <NUM> to a vertical thrust in order to vertically land at vertiport <NUM>. This transition allows aircraft <NUM> to move from the transition segment <NUM> of the flight path to the vertical path <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary method <NUM> for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Beginning at step <NUM>, processor <NUM> may obtain aircraft information including a current position and a current altitude of the aircraft. At step <NUM>, the system may then retrieve, from a database, vertiport information for a desired landing or takeoff location area including current environmental information and current traffic information. Based on the aircraft information and vertiport information, at step <NUM>, processor <NUM> can determine an aircraft path including a vertical path portion and a cruise path portion. Based on the aircraft path, at step <NUM>, processor <NUM> may determine, a dynamic switchover point between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path. Once the aircraft path and dynamic switchover point have been determined, processor <NUM> may, at step <NUM>, transmit control information to one or more aircraft propulsion systems, wherein the control information includes a vertical control portion and a cruise control portion.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in <FIG>, display/UI <NUM> may display first person display GUI <NUM>. GUI <NUM> can depict buildings/structures <NUM>, and destination vertiport <NUM> from the vantage of the aircraft. In some embodiments, processor <NUM> associated with GUI <NUM> may generate and display the cruise path <NUM>, the dynamic switchover point <NUM>, transition segment <NUM>, and vertical path <NUM> in such a way that the operators and/or passengers of the aircraft can view the current aircraft path, including the points at which operation of aircraft propulsion systems <NUM> may change.

As illustrated in <FIG>, once the aircraft begins the vertical descent to landing or as it takes off, display/UI <NUM> may display an external display GUI <NUM>, a representation of the aircraft from a third person point of view. GUI <NUM> may include aircraft <NUM>, buildings/structures <NUM>, the destination vertiport <NUM>, the vertical portion <NUM> of the aircraft path, and a predicted landing spot <NUM> as viewed from a position in the vicinity of vertiport <NUM>, but external to the aircraft itself. Such a display may allow the operators and/or passengers of the aircraft to have a better sense of the progress of aircraft <NUM> along vertical path portion <NUM>, as well as the location of predicted landing spot <NUM> as predicted by the aircraft, which may be difficult for forward facing operators/passengers.

Systems and methods for facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft in accordance with the present disclosure may be able to determine an appropriate path and dynamic switchover point to control one or more propulsion systems of an aircraft and to provide an aircraft operator with an appropriate view of the aircraft as it traverses an airspace. Automatic and dynamic determination of the switchover point for the aircraft may reduce or eliminate the need for an aircraft operator to manually calculate the control inputs needed to transition the aircraft from the cruise portion of the flight path to the vertical portion of the flight path. This in turn may allow the switchover point and transition to be a function of more and more current factors, such as traffic, weather conditions, buildings and structures in the vicinity of the vertiport, and other relevant factors.

The general discussion of this disclosure provides a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the present disclosure may be implemented. In one embodiment, any of the disclosed systems and/or methods may be executed by or implemented by a computing system consistent with or similar to that depicted and/or explained in this disclosure. Although not required, aspects of the present disclosure are described in the context of computer-executable instructions, such as routines executed by a data processing device, e.g., a server computer, wireless device, and/or personal computer. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that aspects of the present disclosure can be practiced with other communications, data processing, or computer system configurations, including: internet appliances, hand-held devices (including personal digital assistants ("PDAs")), wearable computers, all manner of cellular or mobile phones (including Voice over IP ("VoIP") phones), dumb terminals, media players, gaming devices, virtual reality devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, set-top boxes, network PCs, mini-computers, mainframe computers, and the like. Indeed, the terms "computer," "server," and the like, are generally used interchangeably herein, and refer to any of the above devices and systems, as well as any data processor.

Aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a special purpose computer and/or data processor that is specifically programmed, configured, and/or constructed to perform one or more of the computer-executable instructions explained in detail herein. While aspects of the present disclosure, such as certain functions, are described as being performed exclusively on a single device, the present disclosure may also be practiced in distributed environments where functions or modules are shared among disparate processing devices, which are linked through a communications network, such as a Local Area Network ("LAN"), Wide Area Network ("WAN"), and/or the internet. Similarly, techniques presented herein as involving multiple devices may be implemented in a single device. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and/or remote memory storage devices.

Aspects of the present disclosure may be stored and/or distributed on non-transitory computer-readable media, including magnetically or optically readable computer discs, hard-wired or preprogrammed chips (e.g., EEPROM semiconductor chips), nanotechnology memory, biological memory, or other data storage media. Alternatively, computer implemented instructions, data structures, screen displays, and other data under aspects of the present disclosure may be distributed over the internet and/or over other networks (including wireless networks), on a propagated signal on a propagation medium (e.g., an electromagnetic wave(s), a sound wave, etc.) over a period of time, and/or they may be provided on any analog or digital network (packet switched, circuit switched, or other scheme).

Program aspects of the technology may be thought of as "products" or "articles of manufacture" typically in the form of executable code and/or associated data that is carried on or embodied in a type of machine-readable medium. "Storage" type media include any or all of the tangible memory of the computers, processors or the like, or associated modules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives, disk drives and the like, which may provide non-transitory storage at any time for the software programming. All or portions of the software may at times be communicated through the internet or various other telecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enable loading of the software from one computer or processor into another, for example, from a management server or host computer of the mobile communication network into the computer platform of a server and/or from a server to the mobile device. Thus, another type of media that may bear the software elements includes optical, electrical and electromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces between local devices, through wired and optical landline networks and over various air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such as wired or wireless links, optical links, or the like, also may be considered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unless restricted to non-transitory, tangible "storage" media, terms such as computer or machine "readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution.

The terminology used above may be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific examples of the present disclosure. Indeed, certain terms may even be emphasized above; however, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be overtly and specifically defined as such in this Detailed Description section. Both the foregoing general description and the detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the features, as claimed.

As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "having," including," or other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus.

In this disclosure, relative terms, such as, for example, "about," "substantially," "generally," and "approximately" are used to indicate a possible variation of ±<NUM>% in a stated value.

The term "exemplary" is used in the sense of "example" rather than "ideal. " As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural reference unless the context dictates otherwise.

Claim 1:
A method (<NUM>) of facilitating takeoff and landing of an aircraft (<NUM>) comprising:
obtaining (<NUM>) aircraft information including a current position and a current altitude of the aircraft;
retrieving (<NUM>), from a database, vertiport information for a desired landing or takeoff location area including current environmental information and current traffic information;
determining (<NUM>), based on the aircraft information and the vertiport information, an aircraft path including a vertical path portion (<NUM>) and a cruise path portion (<NUM>);
determining (<NUM>), based on the aircraft path, a dynamic switchover point (<NUM>) between the vertical path portion and the cruise path portion along the aircraft path; and
transmitting (<NUM>) control information to one or more aircraft propulsion systems wherein the control information includes a vertical control portion and a cruise control portion;
wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems (<NUM>) will operate under one of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information until the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point, and wherein the one or more aircraft propulsion systems will operate under the other of the vertical control portion or the cruise control portion of the control information after the aircraft reaches the dynamic switchover point.