Urban Air Mobility Passenger Ride Quality

The urban air mobility (UAM) concept seeks to rapidly transport people around urban areas using aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). This emerging market has the potential to reduce commute times and reduce congestion by utilizing three-dimensional airspace rather than solely surface streets or rail systems. Most of the aircraft configurations identified for UAM operations use multiple rotors, use electric propulsion, and are more similar in flight to helicopters than fixed-wing aircraft. A number of challenges with UAM vehicles and operations must be addressed before this concept reaches wide public acceptance; a major one being the passenger experience. Passengers must feel that UAM aircraft are as safe and as comfortable as other modes of transportation in order to reach wide public use. Major passenger acceptance concerns include perceived safety, vehicle motion noise and vibration, availability and access, passenger well-being, and environmental impact. Solutions that address these concerns would provide benefit to UAM concepts and increase the rate of passenger acceptance. CRG proposes to develop, test, and validate a control system for improving the passenger experience in urban air mobility operations.