Technology

Multiple UAVs flying over a metropolitan area

Doing the Math: Optimizing Routing and Scheduling for UAM Fleet Management Using Quantum Annealing

Finding the best solution to an optimization problem can help UAM operators

Writing in Scientific Reports, seven researchers from Japan’s Tohuku University and Sumitomo Corporation proposed a plan to optimize how urban air mobility (UAM) operators, infrastructure managers, and others in the UAM ecosystem manage routing and scheduling using quantum annealing. Quantum annealing, a quantum computing process, uses quantum fluctuations to find the best solution to an optimization…

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Diagram of a commercial lithium ion battery.

The Temperature’s Falling While the UAM Market Is Heating Up

The batteries used for UAM will need to cool down as well

At the heart of the impending urban air mobility (UAM) revolution are the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that will rise to the occasion to transport people and products from Point A to Point B. At the heart of those eVTOLs are the lithium-ion batteries powering their flight. Lithium-ion batteries, however, have an…

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What Would a Successful AAM Air Shuttle Network Look?

Sufficient vertiports strategically placed holds the key

As discussions evolve around the impending introduction of advanced air mobility (AAM) into the fabric of global air transportation systems around the globe much of the dialogue has centered around the aircraft — electric vertical takeoff and landing, eVTOLs — at the heart of the revolution. But the success of AAM is about much more…

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Doing the Math: Optimizing Routing and Scheduling for UAM Fleet Management Using Quantum Annealing

A quantum leap for UAM routing and scheduling.

Writing in Scientific Reports, seven researchers from Japan’s Tohuku University and Sumitomo Corporation proposed a plan to optimize how urban air mobility (UAM) operators, infrastructure managers, and others in the UAM ecosystem manage routing and scheduling using quantum annealing. Quantum annealing, a quantum computing process, uses quantum fluctuations to find the best solution to an optimization…

Read More

What Would a Successful AAM Air Shuttle Network Look?

Sufficient vertiports strategically placed are the key

As discussions evolve around the introduction of advanced air mobility (AAM) into the fabric of global air transportation systems much of the dialogue has centered around the aircraft — electric vertical takeoff and landing, eVTOLs — at the heart of the revolution. But the success of AAM is about much more than aircraft. Three researchers,…

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A multitude of air taxis flying over a cityscape.

Is UAM Better Together? The Potential and Promise of Ridesharing

NASA and Purdue University Associates Unveil PANVEL

While no one knows yet exactly how much an urban air mobility (UAM) eEVTOL air taxi ride will cost per mile, chances are the initial trips won’t be cheap. And, not cheap doesn’t bode well for rapid adoption by the traveling public. But… if a cohort of passengers want to travel from the same origin-destination…

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