System and method for landing and storing vertical take-off and landing aircraft
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.
1. A landing facility comprising:
a first level comprising an area that is operable as at least one of: a lower landing area or a lower storage area; and
a second level comprising an upper landing area, wherein at least a portion of the upper landing area is arranged as elevated over the area of the first level with respect to a vertical direction, the second level comprising: (i) a Touchdown Lift-Off (TLOF) marker for a VTOL aircraft, (ii) a Final Approach and Take Off (FATO) pad marker for the VTOL aircraft; and (iii) a boundary marker indicative of a safety area, the FATO pad marker encompassing the TLOF marker.
2. The landing facility of claim 1 , wherein the landing facility is positioned on a rooftop structure.
3. The landing facility of claim 2 , wherein the rooftop structure comprises at least one of: (i) a building or (ii) a parking structure.
4. The landing facility of claim 1 , wherein the landing facility is accessible by at least one of (i) stairs, (ii) one or more elevators, (iii) one or more escalators.
5. The landing facility of claim 1 , wherein the upper landing area comprises a light array.
6. The landing facility of claim 5 , wherein the light array indicates (i) the TLOF marker, (ii) the FATO pad marker, or (iii) the boundary marker.
7. The landing facility of claim 1 , wherein the FATO pad marker comprises a diameter of at least 1.5 times the diameter of a wingspan of the VTOL aircraft.
8. The landing facility of claim 1 , further comprising a charging station, the charging station comprising one or more charging devices positioned a threshold distance from the upper landing area.
9. The landing facility of claim 8 , wherein (i) the TLOF marker, (ii) the FATO pad marker, or (ii) the boundary marker comprise a predetermined shape or size.
10. The landing facility of claim 8 , wherein (i) the TLOF marker, (ii) the FATO pad marker, or (iii) the boundary marker comprise a dynamically determined shape or size.
11. The landing facility of claim 1 , wherein (i) the TLOF marker, (ii) the FATO pad marker, or (iii) the boundary marker comprise at least a contrasting color to a surface of the upper landing area.
12. The landing facility of claim 1 , wherein the safety area is associated with a threshold distance to accommodate at least pedestrians or passengers.
13. The landing facility of claim 1 , further comprising one or more security computing devices configured to perform one or more security checks.
14. The landing facility of claim 13 , wherein the one or more security checks comprises at least one of (i) passenger security checks, (ii) luggage checks, (iii) re-charging checks, (iv) refueling checks, or (v) vehicle checks.
15. The landing facility of claim 1 , further comprising one or more weather systems configured to provide weather forecasts at the landing facility, the weather forecasts are associated with of a configuration of (i) the TLOF marker, (ii) the FATO pad marker, or (iii) the boundary marker.
16. The landing facility of claim 15 , wherein a take-off or a landing direction for the VTOL aircraft is based on the weather forecasts.
17. The landing facility of claim 15 , wherein the configuration of (i) the TLOF marker, (ii) the FATO pad marker, or (iii) the boundary marker is indicative of an obstruction distance based on the weather forecasts.
18. The landing facility of claim 17 , wherein the obstruction distance is associated with unobstructed area to facilitate landing and takeoff of the VTOL aircraft.
19. The landing facility of claim 1 , wherein respective locations of the (i) the TLOF marker, (ii) the FATO pad marker, or (iii) the boundary marker are based one or more passenger statuses.
20. The landing facility of claim 19 , wherein the one or more passenger statuses comprise at least one of (i) a disability status or (ii) an age status.