Efficient VTOL Resource Management in an Aviation Transport Network

Abstract

A transport network management system identifies a service objective for a plurality of VTOL aircraft and retrieves VTOL data including locations of the plurality of VTOL aircraft. An estimate of demand for transport services to be provided at least in part by one of the VTOL aircraft is generated and routing data for the plurality of VTOL aircraft is determined based on the estimated demand and the service objective. Routing instructions based on the routing data are sent to at least a subset of the VTOL aircraft.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 accessing data indicative of a demand for transport requests;   accessing data indicative of locations of a plurality of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft;   accessing data indicative of battery levels of each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft;   determining, based on the demand of transport requests, the locations of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, and the battery levels of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, a route for each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, each route specifying a destination for the VTOL aircraft and one or more way points while traveling to the destination; and   sending routing instructions to at least one of the VTOL aircraft of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, the routing instructions based on the determined route for the at least one VTOL aircraft.   
     
     
         22 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 estimating a future demand for future transport services; and   determining the route for each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft also based on the future demand for future transport services.   
     
     
         23 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 pairing a user associated with at least one of the transport requests to the at least one VTOL aircraft.   
     
     
         24 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein each VTOL aircraft is associated with one or more VTOL parameters, and wherein the operations further comprise:
 accessing the one or more VTOL parameters for the at least one VTOL aircraft,   wherein the one or more VTOL parameters for the at least one VTOL aircraft are indicative of a number of seats on the at least one VTOL aircraft.   
     
     
         25 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the route for each VTOL aircraft is associated with at least one path between two hubs of a transport network. 
     
     
         26 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the routing instructions comprise an amount of time for the respective VTOL aircraft to spend charging. 
     
     
         27 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein each transport request comprises a request for transport services and a destination for a user associated with the respective transport request. 
     
     
         28 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 sending, for a client device associated with a user, information indicative of how a transport request for the user will be serviced.   
     
     
         29 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 28 , wherein the information indicative of how the transport request for the user will be serviced is indicative of the at least one VTOL aircraft. 
     
     
         30 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 21 , wherein each transport request is associated with a request for aerial transportation. 
     
     
         31 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising executable computer program code, the computer program code when executed causing one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 accessing data indicative of a demand for transport requests;   accessing data indicative of locations of a plurality of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft;   accessing data indicative of battery levels of each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft;   determining, based on the demand of transport requests, the locations of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, and the battery levels of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, a route for each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, each route specifying a destination for the VTOL aircraft and one or more way points while traveling to the destination; and   sending routing instructions to at least one of the VTOL aircraft of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, the routing instructions based on the determined route for the at least one VTOL aircraft.   
     
     
         32 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 31 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 estimating a future demand for future transport services; and   determining the route for each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft also based on the future demand for future transport services.   
     
     
         33 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 31 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 pairing a user associated with at least one of the transport requests to the at least one VTOL aircraft.   
     
     
         34 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 31 , wherein each VTOL aircraft is associated with one or more VTOL parameters, wherein the one or more VTOL parameters are indicative of a number of seats on the respective VTOL aircraft. 
     
     
         35 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 31 , wherein the route for each VTOL aircraft is associated with at least one path between two hubs of a transportation network. 
     
     
         36 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 31 , wherein the routing instructions comprise instructions associated with charging. 
     
     
         37 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of  claim 31 , wherein each transport request comprises a request for transport services and a destination for a user associated with the respective transport request. 
     
     
         38 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 31 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 sending, for a client device associated with a user, information indicative of the at least one VTOL aircraft that is paired with the transport request for the user.   
     
     
         39 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 38 , wherein the at least one VTOL aircraft is a human-pilot VTOL aircraft or an autonomous VTOL aircraft. 
     
     
         40 . A computing system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising executable computer program code, the computer program code when executed causing the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 accessing data indicative of a demand for transport requests; 
 accessing data indicative of locations of a plurality of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft; 
 accessing data indicative of battery levels of each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft; 
 determining, based on the demand of transport requests, the locations of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, and the battery levels of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, a route for each of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, each route specifying a destination for the VTOL aircraft and one or more way points while traveling to the destination; and 
 sending routing instructions to at least one of the VTOL aircraft of the plurality of VTOL aircraft, the routing instructions based on the determined route for the at least one VTOL aircraft.