Architecture Technology, Inc. SBIR Phase I Award, August 2020

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) relies on vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft operating in metropolitan areas. Early operations are likely be conducted under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). Future high-density operations may incorporate a wide-range of VTOL aircraft, including remotely piloted and autonomous. Urban vertiports are potential chokepoints for UAM operations and will need some form of traffic management to maintain safe and efficient operations. Providing traditional air traffic control (ATC) services at each vertiport would be costly. Vertiport automation is needed to provide real-time air traffic and information services. The proposed Vertiport Traffic Automation System (VTAS) accommodates low-density VFR operations in the near-term and can evolve to handle future high-density, autonomous operations at close-proximity vertiports. A flexible service-based architecture adapts to vertiports with different configurations and traffic patterns; integrates with other UAM Service Suppliers; and provides an open platform for the automation to evolve as UAM operations increase.