A study of technical features of UAM/eVTOL

Utsav Niroula1.
Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, 67260, USA

I. Introduction
With the rapid increase in population over the past decade urban sprawling has become one of the major issues
and pose a threat to the environment. Urban sprawl refers to the growth of urban areas to satisfy the needs of the
growing population in terms of housing and infrastructure such as roads. On itself urban sprawling can be looked at
urbanization (some might call it development) of rural areas around a major city as a result of better availability of
jobs, education or health care. It has increased automobile dependency which also has an impact on the environment.
One of the major effects of urban sprawling is the increase in the commute duration resulting in high traffic density in
major cities. [1] As a result people waste a lot of time in traffics which goes unproductive, money wasted over fuel.

This has motived a lot of companies like Uber, Airbus to invest billions of dollars in Urban Air Mobility (UAM)
vehicles which utilizes the three-dimensional transport systems; reducing the commute duration. Till this date, the
most popular proxy for UAM are helicopters which has been operational for a very long period. But helicopters and
loud, have high emission and prone to accidents. In 2016 a total of 106 accidents were recorded by the FAA out of 17
were labeled as fatal. Although FAA claims to have 12 percentage reduction in accidents from 2013 to 2016, these
numbers are still high. [2] UAM addresses these problems by Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) system which
uses multiple rotors to generate lift increasing the redundancy of the UAM [3]. They also have the capacity for Vertical
Take off and landing (VTOL) which allows them to land and take off from a smaller port. In addition, the addition of
autonomy could also help enhance the approachability of UAM to general public so that flying UAM as easy as driving
cars. In this paper we will discuss few technical aspects of UAM which makes them a are a better option for futuristic
travel.

II.Application of DEP

For the UAM to be better than present day helicopters we need an advanced propulsive system which is less prone
to fatal accidents and possesses higher aerodynamic efficiency. Also considering the need of minimal human effort
and skill need to maneuver the vehicle as opposed to traditional helicopter pilots. DEP plays a vital role in making
UAM feasible. With an application of powerful computational system to maintain stability and a given trajectory,
UAM could be more user friendly.

Fig 1: SCEPTOR 4.0 design configuration [4]

The application of DEP’s is one of the most advantageous features of UAM. The multiple propellers attached at the
leading edge of the wing allows for a higher lift to drag ratio increasing the dynamic pressure on the wing. This allows
the aircraft to fly at low air speed with increase in the cruise efficiency. Also reducing the landing and takeoff distance
thus needing a smaller port. It also successfully reducing the size of the wing thus allowing the vehicle to be small and
applicable in an urban area. Also, smaller size of the vehicle results in smaller drag profile over the vehicle. The graph
below shows the lift to drag ratio of SCEPTOR 4.0. The horizontal axis represents the velocity while the vertical axis
represents the height of the level flight. As noticed between the unpowered and powered flight in the graph, the
required altitude of flight decreases with the increase in the velocity assuming we have adequate power supply to
operate the rotors. The wing tip propeller tend to add 5-10% increase in lift to drag ratio. [4]

Figure 2: SPECTOR 4.0 performance, Left: Power off, Right: Cruise Propeller at Power for Level flight

The use of multiple rotors increases the redundancy of the UAM, typically using up-to 6 or more electrically powered
motors. The loose of a motor may result in a loss of climb rate and speed but with other existing rotors the vehicle
will be able to maintain stable flight. DEP vehicles tend to have more downwash velocity as compared to the tradition
helicopters which allows more rapid descent and in combination with multiple rotors, they also avoid the vortex ring
areas. For example, the helicopter usually has a downwash force of 2-10 pound of thrust per square foot while DEP
has a 10-20 pound of thrust per square foot depending on the configuration. [3] The application of DEP also allows
for a VTOL configuration with allows the vehicle to land and takeoff from a tiny space typically a roof top or small
ports or open spaces.

III.Autonomous UAM

Autonomy can help improve the safety of the UAM plus make the vehicle more user friendly; as we are talking
about replacing the present automobile with UAM. The UAM should be as easy to fly as driving a car. The autonomy
in car can help establish trust over autonomous and can help with the growth and development of the UAM. A full
autonomous (Level 5 as shown in figure 3) system could go a long way in bringing UAM in day to day usages. The
diagram below shows SAE Autonomous technology through which autonomous automobiles development is going
through. In addition, Uber has already started taking passengers in level 3 autonomous cars allowing people to be
more comfortable autonomous systems. A similar growth in autonomous UAM can be expected but the development
of autonomous ground vehicles cannot be ensured with the use of similar technology. [3]

Although autonomy does sound like the best option for UAM it not as easy to design as it in cars. The flight plan in
UAM will depend on weather conditions. The avoidance of harsh weather is a must in-order to provide smooth and
turbulence-less flight. Accurate weather prediction before and during the flight is also an important for safe flight. The
possibility of cross wind should also be considered because cross wind during landing could be very dangerous and
even a challenge for a well-trained commercial airline pilot. As UAM have restricted airspace as compared to
helicopter and airplanes so maintaining a safe altitude to avoid terrain and bad weather is also an important factor.
The vehicle should also have reserve power for safe landing and to maintain stable flight.[5]
 Figure 3: SAE autonomous road-vehicle Taxonomy

Another approach that jump start the initial working of the UAM is on-ground remote pilots as military drone
uses. The pilot will retain the overall responsibility of flight planning and monitoring in coordination with the
technology. The pilot will be monitoring the weather and making changes to the flight path to ensure safe and
smooth flight.

IV.Conclusion

The application of DEP has made UAM possible to VTOL and have comparatively higher redundancy as compared
to helicopters. It has also made urban mobility more efficient. In added autonomy to vehicles improves the safety. But
in many aspects, it’s not completely feasible to compare helicopters with UAM as they both serve different purpose.
For UAM missions’ helicopters are inefficient but helicopters are not constrained by range and have higher hover
capacity.

V.References

[1] “Urban sprawl," Wikipedia, [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_sprawl.

[2] “USA Helicopter accident decrease,” FAA, [Online]. Available:
https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=87406.
[3] “Fast-Forwading to the Future of On-Demand, Urban Air Transportation Uber-Elevate, 2016 [Online]
https://www.uber.com/elevate.pdf
[4] Design and Performance of the NASA SCEPTOR Distributed Electric Propulsion Flight Demonstrator,NASA,
Borer, Nicholas K., Moore, Mark D, Patterson, Michael D., Viken, Jeffrey K., DOI: 20160010157
[5] “Transformational Autonomy and Personal Transportation: Synergies and Differences between Cars and Planes”,
NASA. [Online] http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160010146.pdf