Wisk Aero, the US based Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) company and Skyports, designer, developer, and operator of vertiports, have released a Concept of Operations (ConOps), which they say identifies how autonomous eVTOL aircraft and operators can integrate with vertiports, including interactions with Providers of Services for UAM (PSUs).
“The ConOps outlines the upgrades, retrofits, and procedure changes that will be required to accommodate safe operations for autonomous eVTOL aircraft. It also defines the journey of an autonomous eVTOL aircraft and its relationship to UAM-specific, aircraft-agnostic infrastructure and the necessary systems and interactions between the aircraft, the aircraft’s fleet operator, and the vertiport” says the press release.
The companies report that “while AAM services will initially launch with piloted vehicles, they, and the broader industry recognize that autonomy is the key to unlocking the scalability, accessibility, and affordability needed to realize the full potential and total addressable market of AAM.” Wisk and Skyports are therefore seeking to define autonomous eVTOL vertiport operations in order to ensure that vertiports and other ground-based infrastructure will be capable of supporting the autonomous operations needed for long-term success.
To date, Wisk and Skyports say the AAM industry has been heavily focused on the development of aircraft and associated technology. The release of the ConOps highlights the companies say will help evaluate operational considerations for infrastructure and other ecosystem elements as the industry approaches the launch of both piloted and autonomous operations. Download the Concept of Operations here.
For more information
https://wisk.aero/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-04-12-Wisk-Skyports-ConOps-Autonomous-eVTOL-Operations-FINAL.pdf
(Image: wisk.aero)
