DETERMINING VTOL DEPARTURE TIME IN AN AVIATION TRANSPORT NETWORK FOR EFFICIENT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• US 20190325757A1
• Filed: 03/28/2019
• Published: 10/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Joby Aero, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Goel, Nikhil, Petersen, Jon David, Badalamenti, John Conway, Moore, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 11,295,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 17/08 by ballast supply or discharge
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 29/00 Aircraft capable of landing or taking-off vertically, e.g. vertical take-off and landing [VTOL] aircraft rotorcraft B64C27/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/102 specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/104 involving a plurality of aircrafts, e.g. formation flying traffic control systems for aircraft G08G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/652 Take-off delivering or retrieving payloads G05D1/667
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/695 for maintaining a fixed relative position of the vehicles, e.g. for convoy travelling or formation flight
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0013 with a ground station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0026 located on the ground
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0043 Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0065 for taking-off
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0082 for monitoring traffic from a ground station radar or analogous systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0091 for monitoring atmospheric conditions radar or analogous systems specially adapted for meteorological use G01S13/95; meteorology G01W
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/025 Navigation or guidance aids radar or analogous systems specially adapted for landing purposes G01S13/913

Abstract

A request for transport services that identifies a rider, an origin, and a destination is received from a client device. Eligibility of the request to be serviced by a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is determined based on the origin and the destination. The client device is sent an itinerary for servicing the transport request including a leg serviced by the VTOL aircraft. Confirmation is received that the rider has boarded the VTOL aircraft and determination made as to whether the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders. Instruction are sent to the VTOL aircraft to take-off if one or more conditions are met.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a client device, a request for transport services, the request identifying a rider, an origin, and a destination;

determining based on the origin and the destination that the transport request is eligible to be serviced, at least in part, by a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft;

sending, to the client device, an itinerary for servicing the transport request, the itinerary including a leg serviced by the VTOL aircraft;

receiving confirmation that the rider has boarded the VTOL aircraft;

determining, based on demand data, that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders; and

sending an instruction to the VTOL aircraft to take-off responsive to one or more conditions being met.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the request is eligible to be serviced by the VTOL comprises:

determining a distance between the origin and the destination; and

determining the request is eligible if the distance is within a predefined range.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the request is eligible to be serviced by the VTOL comprises:

estimating a first amount of time to travel from the origin to the destination using only ground-based transportation; and

estimating a second amount of time to travel from the origin to the destination using the VTOL aircraft; and

determining the request is eligible if the second amount of time is a threshold amount less than the first amount of time.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein estimating the second amount of time comprises:

identifying a plurality of candidate VTOL aircraft;

identifying, for each candidate VTOL aircraft, a take-off location and a landing location;

estimating, for each VTOL aircraft, a total time required for the rider to travel from the origin to the take-off location via ground-based transportation, from the take-off location to the landing location via the candidate VTOL aircraft, and from the landing location to the destination via ground-based transportation;

selecting a candidate VTOL aircraft with a lowest total time; and

using the estimated total time for the selected candidate VTOL aircraft as the estimate of the second amount of time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders comprises:

calculating, based on the demand data, a probability that an additional rider will board the VTOL aircraft within a specified time; and

determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait if the probability exceeds a threshold.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the specified time is determined by:

estimating a take-off time for the VTOL aircraft that results in a threshold percentage reduction in journey time for the rider relative to using only ground-based transportation; and

setting the estimated take-off time as the specified time.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more conditions include a current time being the specified time.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation that the rider has boarded the VTOL aircraft is received from the client device.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable computer program code that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a client device, a request for transport services, the request identifying a rider, an origin, and a destination;

determining based on the origin and the destination that the transport request is eligible to be serviced, at least in part, by a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft;

sending, to the client device, an itinerary for servicing the transport request, the itinerary including a leg serviced by the VTOL aircraft;

receiving confirmation that the rider has boarded the VTOL aircraft;

determining, based on demand data, that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders; and

sending an instruction to the VTOL aircraft to take-off responsive to one or more conditions being met.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein determining the request is eligible to be serviced by the VTOL comprises:

determining a distance between the origin and the destination; and

determining the request is eligible if the distance is within a predefined range.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein determining the request is eligible to be serviced by the VTOL comprises:

estimating a first amount of time to travel from the origin to the destination using only ground-based transportation; and

estimating a second amount of time to travel from the origin to the destination using the VTOL aircraft; and

determining the request is eligible if the second amount of time is a threshold amount less than the first amount of time.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein estimating the second amount of time comprises:

identifying a plurality of candidate VTOL aircraft;

identifying, for each candidate VTOL aircraft, a take-off location and a landing location;

estimating, for each VTOL aircraft, a total time required for the rider to travel from the origin to the take-off location via ground-based transportation, from the take-off location to the landing location via the candidate VTOL aircraft, and from the landing location to the destination via ground-based transportation;

selecting a candidate VTOL aircraft with a lowest total time; and

using the estimated total time for the selected candidate VTOL aircraft as the estimate of the second amount of time.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders comprises:

calculating, based on the demand data, a probability that an additional rider will board the VTOL aircraft within a specified time; and

determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait if the probability exceeds a threshold.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders further comprises:

estimating a take-off time for the VTOL aircraft that results in a threshold percentage reduction in journey time for the rider relative to using only ground-based transportation; and

setting the estimated take-off time as the specified time.

15. A computer system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable computer program code, the computer program code when executed causing the one or more processors to perform operations including;

receiving, from a client device, a request for transport services, the request identifying a rider, an origin, and a destination;

determining based on the origin and the destination that the transport request is eligible to be serviced, at least in part, by a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft;

sending, to the client device, an itinerary for servicing the transport request, the itinerary including a leg serviced by the VTOL aircraft;

receiving confirmation that the rider has boarded the VTOL aircraft;

determining, based on demand data, that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders; and

sending an instruction to the VTOL aircraft to take-off responsive to one or more conditions being met.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein determining the request is eligible to be serviced by the VTOL comprises:

determining a distance between the origin and the destination; and

determining the request is eligible if the distance is within a predefined range.

17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein determining the request is eligible to be serviced by the VTOL comprises:

estimating a first amount of time to travel from the origin to the destination using only ground-based transportation; and

estimating a second amount of time to travel from the origin to the destination using the VTOL aircraft; and

determining the request is eligible if the second amount of time is a threshold amount less than the first amount of time.

18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein estimating the second amount of time comprises:

identifying a plurality of candidate VTOL aircraft;

identifying, for each candidate VTOL aircraft, a take-off location and a landing location;

estimating, for each VTOL aircraft, a total time required for the rider to travel from the origin to the take-off location via ground-based transportation, from the take-off location to the landing location via the candidate VTOL aircraft, and from the landing location to the destination via ground-based transportation;

selecting a candidate VTOL aircraft with a lowest total time; and

using the estimated total time for the selected candidate VTOL aircraft as the estimate of the second amount of time.

19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders comprises:

calculating, based on the demand data, a probability that an additional rider will board the VTOL aircraft within a specified time; and

determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait if the probability exceeds a threshold.

20. The computer system of claim 19, wherein determining that the VTOL aircraft should wait for additional riders further comprises:

estimating a take-off time for the VTOL aircraft that results in a threshold percentage reduction in journey time for the rider relative to using only ground-based transportation; and

setting the estimated take-off time as the specified time.