A generic eVTOL aircraft taking off / landing on a helipad on the ground in a rural green location with lots of grass and trees on a bright sunny day.
Crown Consulting Inc. has been selected by NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to study the effects of ride quality on passenger acceptance of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept involving advanced passenger-carrying vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.
The initial Phase I effort will last six months, with the potential for follow-on funding to further mature the technology.
Past work has related passenger comfort to noise and vibration, but no measure has been developed relating passenger acceptance to the combination of noise, vibration and vehicle motion. Novel electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designs can be expected to have different motion dynamics from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, the basis of past studies.
Phase I, which includes developing a plan for a Phase II effort to measure the effects of ride quality with human subjects in a physical simulation environment, will create a framework to fill this knowledge gap.
Crown Consulting has teamed with Quantitative Scientific Solutions (QS-2) for this project to provide analytics expertise. Crown Chief Technology Officer Dr. Tom Edwards, says this work will enable resolution of a major barrier to successful implementation of UAM.
About Crown
Crown Consulting Inc. is shaping the future of air transportation with concept development, design and deployment of systems and aircraft. We bring more than three decades of experience working with the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, states and industry. Our science and research, programs and engineering, and integration and infrastructure service areas integrate industry-leading air mobility technology and planning support, engineering, information solutions and advanced analytics that enhance system performance and provide robust air mobility solutions for government and industry clients. For more information, visit crownci.com.