Autonomous Air Taxi Separation via Centroid Vectoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current urban air taxi management systems lack effective methods for ensuring safe separation of air taxis in shared airspace, particularly in metropolitan environments with limited visibility, poor weather, and high traffic density, as they rely on visual flight rules and do not account for autonomous adjustments in trajectory to maintain safe distances without central guidance or communication between pilots.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for autonomously determining and directing air taxis to maintain safe separation by creating a virtual reference formation airspace and using centroid vectoring to generate target separation vectors, allowing air taxis to independently adjust their trajectories without human intervention, ensuring safe separation without relying on central guidance or communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If visual flight rules and centralized air traffic control are used for air taxi management, then safety standards can be maintained through established procedures, but the system cannot support high traffic density and tight spacing in urban environments
Solution Approach 1:
Each air taxi is equipped with an autonomous separation unit that independently calculates penetration airspaces, determines centroids, and generates target separation vectors without requiring centralized air traffic control intervention. The system enables air taxis to self-manage separation by autonomously adjusting trajectories based on real-time position data from other air taxis, thereby supporting high urban traffic density while maintaining safe separation standards
Solution Approach 2:
The autonomous separation system continuously receives real-time position data from multiple air taxis, dynamically updates penetration airspace calculations, and adjusts target separation vectors in response to changing traffic conditions. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the system to adapt to high-density urban environments while maintaining reliable safe separation through continuous monitoring and autonomous trajectory adjustment
2Adaptability or versatility
If autonomous trajectory adjustment is implemented without central guidance, then air taxis can independently maintain safe separation in high-density environments, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous separation system divides the complex task of air traffic management into discrete functional modules: position data reception, penetration airspace construction, centroid determination, and target separation vector generation. Each module performs a specific function independently, reducing overall system complexity while enabling sophisticated autonomous operation. The segmentation allows the system to handle high-density urban traffic through modular, manageable components rather than a monolithic complex system
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces virtual constructs as intermediaries to simplify autonomous separation: penetration airspaces serve as virtual boundaries around each air taxi, centroids act as mathematical reference points for separation calculations, and target separation vectors provide standardized guidance commands. These intermediary concepts bridge the gap between raw position data and autonomous trajectory adjustment, reducing system complexity by providing structured intermediate representations that facilitate independent operation without centralized control
3Reliability
If safe separation distances are maintained at thousands of feet as per visual flight rules, then collision risk is minimized, but the efficiency and scalability of urban air mobility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous separation system dynamically adjusts separation parameters based on real-time traffic conditions, replacing the static thousands-of-feet separation requirement of visual flight rules with adaptive, condition-based separation distances. By changing the separation parameter from a fixed large value to a dynamically optimized value, the system maintains collision avoidance reliability while enabling tighter spacing and higher scalability for urban air mobility operations
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from static visual flight rules with fixed separation distances to dynamic autonomous separation that continuously adapts to changing traffic conditions. The autonomous separation unit constantly updates penetration airspaces and target separation vectors based on real-time position data, enabling the system to maintain safe separation at variable distances that optimize both collision avoidance and operational efficiency. This dynamic approach allows air taxis to operate closer together when conditions permit, thereby improving scalability while maintaining reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A system for urban air mobility monitors flight separation for compliance with a safe separation distance. A reference formation airspace is established for a reference air taxi based on minimum longitudinal, lateral and vertical parameters. When penetration of the reference formation airspace is detected, a penetration airspace is established. A centroid of the penetration airspace is determined and a target separation to the centroid is supplied to the air taxi to reestablish safe separation. The extent of separation is also safely contained by the presence of virtual air taxis whose positions on the periphery of the penetrated airspace serve to limit potential penetration of surrounding air taxi air spaces.