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. A transportation system determines a first and a second hub for a leg of the transport request serviced by the VTOL aircraft and calculates a set of candidate routes from the first hub to the second hub. A provisioned route is selected from among the set of candidate routes based on network and environmental parameters and objectives including pre-determined acceptable noise levels, weather, and the presence and planned routes of other VTOL aircrafts along each of the candidate routes.

Abstract: A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft provides transportation to users of a network system. The network system may include multiple aircraft or other types of vehicles to provide multi-model transportation. An aircraft may include a fuselage, a truss coupled to the fuselage, and multiple distributed electric propellers coupled to the truss. The distributed electric propellers may be positioned on at least two different planes. The fuselage may include a cabin having one or more seats for the passengers arranged in a configuration that has a compact footprint, provides legroom, provides visibility to surroundings of the aircraft, or facilitates convenient ingress or egress of passengers. The aircraft may open a port cabin door and starboard cabin door for simultaneous ingress or egress of passengers.

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.

Abstract: A vertical landing and take-off aircraft VTOL transitions from a vertical takeoff state to a cruise state where the vertical takeoff state uses propellers to generate lift and the cruise state uses wings to generate lift. The aircraft has an M-wing configuration with propellers located on the wingtip nacelles, wing booms, and tail boom. The wing boom and/or the tail boom can include boom control effectors. Hinged control surfaces on the wings, tail boom, and tail tilt during takeoff and landing to yaw the vehicle. The boom control effectors, cruise propellers, stacked propellers, and control surfaces can have different positions during different modes of operation in order to control aircraft movement and mitigate noise generated by the aircraft.

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. A transportation system determines a first and a second hub for a leg of the transport request serviced by the VTOL aircraft and calculates a set of candidate routes from the first hub to the second hub. A provisioned route is selected from among the set of candidate routes based on network and environmental parameters and objectives including pre-determined acceptable noise levels, weather, and the presence and planned routes of other VTOL aircrafts along each of the candidate routes.

Abstract: A computing system for landing and storing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can be configured to receive aircraft data, passenger data, or environment data associated with a VTOL aircraft and determine a landing pad location within a landing facility based on the aircraft data, passenger data, and/or environment data. The landing facility can include a lower level and an upper level. The lower level can include a lower landing area and a lower storage area. The upper level can include an upper landing area. At least a portion of the upper level can be arranged over the lower storage area. The landing pad location can include a location within the lower landing area or the upper landing area of the landing facility. The computing system can communicate the landing pad location to an operator or a navigation system of the VTOL aircraft.

Abstract: An aircraft can include a stacked propeller to generate lift during assent and descent. The stacked propeller includes a first propeller and a second propeller that co-rotate about an axis of rotation. In one embodiment, the blades are coupled to a rotor mast that contains an internal cavity. In one mode of operation, the first propeller and/or the second propeller can be stored in the internal cavity in order to reduce drag during flight. The aircraft can include one or more stacked propellers, such as a port propeller and a starboard propeller, which rotate in opposite directions during one or more modes of flight.

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.

Abstract: Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can provide opportunities to incorporate aerial transportation into transportation networks for cities and metropolitan areas. However, VTOL aircraft can be sensitive to uneven weight distributions, e.g., the payload of an aircraft is primarily loaded in the front, back, left, or right. When the aircraft is loaded unevenly, the center of mass of the aircraft may shift substantially enough to negatively impact performance of the aircraft. Thus, in turn, there is an opportunity that the VTOL may be loaded unevenly if seating, luggage placement, and/or positions of internal components are not coordinated. Among other advantages, dynamically assigning the payloads and adjusting components of the VTOL aircraft can increase VTOL safety by ensuring the VTOL aircraft is loaded evenly and meets all weight requirements; can increase transportation efficiency by increasing rider throughput; and can increase the availability of the VTOL services to all potential riders.

Abstract: A computing system for landing and storing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can be configured to receive aircraft data, passenger data, or environment data associated with a VTOL aircraft and determine a landing pad location within a landing facility based on the aircraft data, passenger data, and/or environment data. The landing facility can include a lower level and an upper level. The lower level can include a lower landing area and a lower storage area. The upper level can include an upper landing area. At least a portion of the upper level can be arranged over the lower storage area. The landing pad location can include a location within the lower landing area or the upper landing area of the landing facility. The computing system can communicate the landing pad location to an operator or a navigation system of the VTOL aircraft.

Abstract: A vertical landing and take-off aircraft VTOL transitions from a vertical takeoff state to a cruise state where the vertical takeoff state uses propellers to generate lift and the cruise state uses wings to generate lift. The aircraft has an M-wing configuration with propellers located on the wingtip nacelles, wing booms, and tail boom. The wing boom and/or the tail boom can include boom control effectors. Hinged control surfaces on the wings, tail boom, and tail tilt during takeoff and landing to yaw the vehicle. The boom control effectors, cruise propellers, stacked propellers, and control surfaces can have different positions during different modes of operation in order to control aircraft movement and mitigate noise generated by the aircraft.

Abstract: A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft provides transportation to users of a network system. The network system may include multiple aircraft or other types of vehicles to provide multi-model transportation. An aircraft may include a fuselage, a truss coupled to the fuselage, and multiple distributed electric propellers coupled to the truss. The distributed electric propellers may be positioned on at least two different planes. The fuselage may include a cabin having one or more seats for the passengers arranged in a configuration that has a compact footprint, provides legroom, provides visibility to surroundings of the aircraft, or facilitates convenient ingress or egress of passengers. The aircraft may open a port cabin door and starboard cabin door for simultaneous ingress or egress of passengers.

Abstract: Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can provide opportunities to incorporate aerial transportation into transportation networks for cities and metropolitan areas. However, VTOL aircraft can be sensitive to uneven weight distributions, e.g., the payload of an aircraft is primarily loaded in the front, back, left, or right. When the aircraft is loaded unevenly, the center of mass of the aircraft may shift substantially enough to negatively impact performance of the aircraft. Thus, in turn, there is an opportunity that the VTOL may be loaded unevenly if seating, luggage placement, and/or positions of internal components are not coordinated. Among other advantages, dynamically assigning the payloads and adjusting components of the VTOL aircraft can increase VTOL safety by ensuring the VTOL aircraft is loaded evenly and meets all weight requirements; can increase transportation efficiency by increasing rider throughput; and can increase the availability of the VTOL services to all potential riders.

Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments for employing off board sensors to augment data used by a ground based autonomous vehicle. In some aspects, the off-board sensors may be positioned on another autonomous vehicle, such as an aerial autonomous vehicle (AAV). The disclosed embodiments determine uncertainty scores associated with ground regions. The uncertainty scores indicate a need to reimage the ground regions. An AAV may be tasked to reimage a region having a relatively high uncertainty score, depending on a cost associated with the tasking.

Abstract: A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft provides transportation to users of a network system. The network system may include multiple aircraft or other types of vehicles to provide multi-model transportation. An aircraft may include a fuselage, a truss coupled to the fuselage, and multiple distributed electric propellers coupled to the truss. The distributed electric propellers may be positioned on at least two different planes. The fuselage may include a cabin having one or more seats for the passengers arranged in a configuration that has a compact footprint, provides legroom, provides visibility to surroundings of the aircraft, or facilitates convenient ingress or egress of passengers. The aircraft may open a port cabin door and starboard cabin door for simultaneous ingress or egress of passengers.

Abstract: A vertical landing and take-off aircraft VTOL transitions from a vertical takeoff state to a cruise state where the vertical takeoff state uses propellers to generate lift and the cruise state uses wings to generate lift. The aircraft has an M-wing configuration with propellers located on the wingtip nacelles, wing booms, and tail boom. The wing boom and/or the tail boom can include boom control effectors. Hinged control surfaces on the wings, tail boom, and tail tilt during takeoff and landing to yaw the vehicle. The boom control effectors, cruise propellers, stacked propellers, and control surfaces can have different positions during different modes of operation in order to control aircraft movement and mitigate noise generated by the aircraft.

Abstract: Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can provide opportunities to incorporate aerial transportation into transportation networks for cities and metropolitan areas. However, VTOL aircraft can be sensitive to uneven weight distributions, e.g., the payload of an aircraft is primarily loaded in the front, back, left, or right. When the aircraft is loaded unevenly, the center of mass of the aircraft may shift substantially enough to negatively impact performance of the aircraft. Thus, in turn, there is an opportunity that the VTOL may be loaded unevenly if seating and/or luggage placement is not coordinated. Among other advantages, dynamically assigning the VTOL aircraft payloads can increase VTOL safety by ensuring the VTOL aircraft is loaded evenly and meets all weight requirements; can increase transportation efficiency by increasing rider throughput; and can increase the availability of the VTOL services to all potential riders.

Abstract: A computing system for landing and storing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can be configured to receive aircraft data, passenger data, or environment data associated with a VTOL aircraft and determine a landing pad location within a landing facility based on the aircraft data, passenger data, and/or environment data. The landing facility can include a lower level and an upper level. The lower level can include a lower landing area and a lower storage area. The upper level can include an upper landing area. At least a portion of the upper level can be arranged over the lower storage area. The landing pad location can include a location within the lower landing area or the upper landing area of the landing facility. The computing system can communicate the landing pad location to an operator or a navigation system of the VTOL aircraft.

Abstract: An aircraft can include a stacked propeller to generate lift during assent and descent. The stacked propeller includes a first propeller and a second propeller that co-rotate about an axis of rotation. In one embodiment, the blades are coupled to a rotor mast that contains an internal cavity. In one mode of operation, the first propeller and/or the second propeller can be stored in the internal cavity in order to reduce drag during flight. The aircraft can include one or more stacked propellers, such as a port propeller and a starboard propeller, which rotate in opposite directions during one or more modes of flight.

Abstract: A computing system for landing and storing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft can be configured to receive aircraft data, passenger data, or environment data associated with a VTOL aircraft and determine a landing pad location within a landing facility based on the aircraft data, passenger data, and/or environment data. The landing facility can include a lower level and an upper level. The lower level can include a lower landing area and a lower storage area. The upper level can include an upper landing area. At least a portion of the upper level can be arranged over the lower storage area. The landing pad location can include a location within the lower landing area or the upper landing area of the landing facility. The computing system can communicate the landing pad location to an operator or a navigation system of the VTOL aircraft.