Vertiport Human Automation Teaming Toolbox

A mature advanced air mobility (AAM) system envisions hundreds of vertiports supporting high-density operations in complex environments. It is commonly recognized that vertiports will be the bottleneck of regional vertiport networks, thereby constraining the flow of traffic and impacting the financial bottom line. While it is also acknowledged that vertiports will require elevated levels of automation, the role in which the vertiport manager plays in teaming with automated resource scheduling systems has yet to be studied in detail. We propose to develop Vertiport Human Automation Teaming Toolbox (V-HATT), a simulation capability focused on vertiport airside operations with direct human vertiport manager oversight. In Phase I, we will develop vertiport manager user interface requirements, investigate vertiport surface and airspace design variables, evaluate vertiport surface resource scheduling algorithms, and develop a proof-of-concept simulation capability. In Phase II, we will build the vertiport manager user interface, develop terminal airspace separation and queuing algorithms, develop the integrated simulation capability, validate interfaces with human-in-the-loop for select use cases, and demonstrate contingencies in bottleneck analysis.

The High Density Vertiplex Subproject (HDV) may plug-in their vertiport automation technologies into V-HATT to test the effectiveness with HITL. Similarly, Air Traffic Management Exploration (ATM-X) Project has several Subprojects with potential applicability including: UAM Airspace Management, Digital Information Platform (DIP), and Extensible Traffic Management (XTM). Additionally, V-HATT may be of interest to NASA Ames Human Systems Integration Division as a toolkit amongst others developed evaluating the human’s role in AAM.

V-HATT can be utilized to evaluate tradeoffs against vertiport design, scheduling algorithms, and human-machine interactions for both public and private organizations who require an understanding of vertiport operational performance to aid in realistic planning and investment decisions. V-HATT may be transformed to a commercial vertiport operational software serving any ownership and usage model.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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