VTOL aircraft for network system
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.
1 . A computer-implemented method for data transmission between aircraft, comprising:
accessing data corresponding to an output of a sensor of a first aircraft of a fleet of aircraft;
computing an estimated location of an object in an airspace around the first aircraft based on the data corresponding to the output the sensor of the first aircraft;
transmitting data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to a second aircraft of the fleet of aircraft, wherein the object is undetectable by a sensor of the second aircraft when the estimated location of the object is received at the second aircraft; and
computing an update for a navigation route for the second aircraft to avoid the object, wherein computing the update for the navigation route for the second aircraft comprises presenting the update for the navigation route on a display of the second aircraft or on a client device located onboard the second aircraft.
2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the sensor of the first aircraft comprises one or more of a camera, a radar sensor, a LiDAR sensor, and an acoustic sensor.
3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the sensor of the first aircraft comprises of a camera;
accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft comprises accessing data corresponding to an image from the camera; and
computing the estimated location of the object comprises computing the estimated location of the object based on the image from the camera.
4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the sensor of the first aircraft comprises of a radar sensor;
accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft comprises accessing data corresponding to an output from the radar sensor; and
computing the estimated location of the object comprises computing the estimated location of the object based on the output from the radar sensor.
5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft comprises accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft via one or more computing devices located onboard the first aircraft;
computing the estimated location of the object in the airspace around the first aircraft comprises computing the estimated location of the object in the airspace around the first aircraft via the one or more computing devices located onboard the first aircraft; and
computing the update for the navigation route for the second aircraft comprises computing the update for the navigation route via one or more computing devices located onboard the second aircraft.
6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that a distance between the first aircraft and the second aircraft is less than a threshold distance,
wherein transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft comprises transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft when the distance between the first aircraft and the second aircraft is less than the threshold distance.
7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft comprises transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft with an identifier of the second aircraft.
8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising accessing data corresponding to a radar image from an off-aircraft sensor located offboard the fleet of aircraft, wherein computing the estimated location of the object is further based on the radar image from the off-aircraft sensor.
9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the object is one of a bird, a balloon, a cloud, a drone, or an aircraft that is not part of the fleet of aircraft.
10 . A system for data transmission between aircraft, comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that store instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to perform operations, the operations comprising
accessing data corresponding to an output of a sensor of a first aircraft of a fleet of aircraft,
computing an estimated location of an object in an airspace around the first aircraft based on the data corresponding to the output the sensor of the first aircraft,
transmitting data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to a second aircraft of the fleet of aircraft, wherein the object is undetectable by a sensor of the second aircraft when the estimated location of the object is received at the second aircraft, and
computing an update for a navigation route for the second aircraft to avoid the object, wherein computing the update for the navigation route for the second aircraft comprises presenting the update for the navigation route on a display of the second aircraft or on a client device located onboard the second aircraft.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the sensor of the first aircraft comprises one or more of a camera, a radar sensor, a LiDAR sensor, and an acoustic sensor.
12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the sensor of the first aircraft comprises of a camera;
accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft comprises accessing data corresponding to an image from the camera; and
computing the estimated location of the object comprises computing the estimated location of the object based on the image from the camera.
13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the sensor of the first aircraft comprises of a radar sensor;
accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft comprises accessing data corresponding to an output from the radar sensor; and
computing the estimated location of the object comprises computing the estimated location of the object based on the output from the radar sensor.
14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:
accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft comprises accessing the data corresponding to the output of the sensor of the first aircraft via one or more computing devices located onboard the first aircraft;
computing the estimated location of the object in the airspace around the first aircraft comprises computing the estimated location of the object in the airspace around the first aircraft via the one or more computing devices located onboard the first aircraft; and
computing the update for the navigation route for the second aircraft comprises computing the update for the navigation route via one or more computing devices located onboard the second aircraft.
15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining that a distance between the first aircraft and the second aircraft is less than a threshold distance,
wherein transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft comprises transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft when the distance between the first aircraft and the second aircraft is less than the threshold distance.
16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft comprises transmitting the data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to the second aircraft with an identifier of the second aircraft.
17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise accessing data corresponding to a radar image from an off-aircraft sensor located offboard the fleet of aircraft, wherein computing the estimated location of the object is further based on the radar image from the off-aircraft sensor.
18 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the object is one of a bird, a balloon, a cloud, a drone, or an aircraft that is not part of the fleet of aircraft.