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 - 20 . (canceled)
21 . A computer-implemented method for data transmission, comprising:
accessing data associated with a sensor of a first aircraft;
accessing data associated with a ground-based sensor;
computing an estimated location of an object in an airspace based on at least one of the data associated with the sensor of the first aircraft or the data associated with the ground-based sensor;
transmitting data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to a second aircraft when the second aircraft is within a threshold distance to the first aircraft or the ground-based sensor; and
computing an update for a navigation route for the second aircraft to avoid the object.
22 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the sensor of the first aircraft and the ground-based sensor are of a common type of sensor.
23 . The computer-implemented method of claim 22 , wherein the sensor of the first aircraft and the ground-based sensor comprise one or more of a camera, a radar sensor, a LiDAR sensor, and an acoustic sensor.
24 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the ground-based sensor is coupled to a moving object.
25 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein:
the ground-based sensor detects the object at a first time and the sensor of the first aircraft detects the object at a second time; and
the first aircraft computes an update for a navigation route of the first aircraft based on the ground-based sensor detecting the object at the first time.
26 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the threshold distance is based on a threshold network distance that is indicative of a proximity between the first aircraft and the second aircraft to connect to a network to transmit or receive information.
27 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , further comprising:
computing a size of the object based on at least one of (i) the data associated with the sensor of the first aircraft or (ii) the data associated with the ground-based sensor.
28 . The computer-implemented method of claim 27 , wherein the object is associated with a risk level based on object size.
29 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the object is one of a bird, balloon, a cloud, a drone, or an aircraft that is not part of the first aircraft.
30 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the first aircraft determines a confidence level, wherein the confidence level is indicative of a degree of certainty associated with the estimated location of the object.
31 . A system for data transmission, 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 associated with a sensor of a first aircraft;
accessing data associated with a ground-based sensor;
computing an estimated location of an object in an airspace based on at least one of the data associated with the sensor of the first aircraft or the data associated with the ground-based sensor;
transmitting data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to a second aircraft when the second aircraft is within a threshold distance to the first aircraft or the ground-based sensor; and
computing an update for a navigation route for the second aircraft to avoid the object.
32 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the sensor of the first aircraft and the ground-based sensor are of a common type of sensor.
33 . The system of claim 32 , wherein the sensor of the first aircraft and the ground-based sensor comprise one or more of a camera, a radar sensor, a LiDAR sensor, and an acoustic sensor.
34 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the ground-based sensor is coupled to a moving object.
35 . The system of claim 31 , wherein:
the ground-based sensor detects the object at a first time and the sensor of the first aircraft detects the object at a second time; and
the first aircraft computes an update for a navigation route of the first aircraft based on the ground-based sensor detecting the object at the first time.
36 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the threshold distance is based on a threshold network distance that is indicative of a proximity between the first aircraft and the second aircraft to connect to a network to transmit or receive information.
37 . The system of claim 31 , further comprising:
computing a size of the object based on at least one of (i) the data associated with the sensor of the first aircraft or (ii) the data associated with the ground-based sensor.
38 . The system of claim 37 , wherein the object is associated with a risk level based on object size.
39 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the first aircraft determines a confidence level, wherein the confidence level is indicative of a degree of certainty associated with the estimated location of the object.
40 . One or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-readable instructions that are executable by one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform operations, the operations comprising:
accessing data associated with a sensor of a first aircraft;
accessing data associated with a ground-based sensor;
computing an estimated location of an object in an airspace based on at least one of the data associated with the sensor of the first aircraft or the data associated with the ground-based sensor;
transmitting data corresponding to the estimated location of the object to a second aircraft when the second aircraft is within a threshold distance to the first aircraft or the ground-based sensor; and
computing an update for a navigation route for the second aircraft to avoid the object.