IP Library Granted Patent US 12,725,099
Granted Patent B2
US 12,725,099 · App. 18/749,087 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Dynamic aircraft routing

Inventors: Ian Andreas Villa (San Francisco, CA); Thomas Prevot (San Jose, CA); John Conway Badalamenti (Six Mile, SC); Mark Moore (Crossville, TN)
Assignee: JOBY AERO, INC.
G06Q10/047B64C29/00B64C29/0016G01C21/20G01C21/3461G06Q10/06315G08G5/26G08G5/30G08G5/32G08G5/34G08G5/56B64C29/0025B64C29/0033B64C2220/00G05D1/654G05D2109/23G10K2210/1281G10K2210/3016G10K2210/30231
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,725,099
App. No.
18/749,087
Granted
Sep 1, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A request for transport services that identifies a rider, an origin, and a destination is received from a client device. Eligibility of the request to be serviced by a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is determined based on the origin and the destination. A transportation system determines a first and a second hub for a leg of the transport request serviced by the VTOL aircraft and calculates a set of candidate routes from the first hub to the second hub. A provisioned route is selected from among the set of candidate routes based on network and environmental parameters and objectives including pre-determined acceptable noise levels, weather, and the presence and planned routes of other VTOL aircrafts along each of the candidate routes.

Claims (40)

1 . A computing system for performing aircraft identification, the computing system comprising:

a distributed sensing array, wherein the distributed sensing array comprises:

a plurality of sensors distributed across a vertiport;

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors cause the computing system to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:

obtaining sensor data from one or more of the plurality of sensors, wherein the sensor data describes noise associated with an aircraft in a vicinity of the vertiport; and

processing the sensor data to obtain a sensor-based identification of the aircraft, wherein the noise associated with the aircraft corresponds to a type of the aircraft.

2 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise:

tracking the aircraft after obtaining the sensor-based identification.

3 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise:

processing, using a backend protocol, an identification of the aircraft; and

confirming the identification using the sensor-based identification.

4 . The computing system of claim 1 , comprising:

a sensor aggregation module operable to receive and aggregate data from the plurality of sensors;

wherein the operations comprise:

processing the sensor data using the sensor aggregation module to obtain the sensor-based identification of the aircraft.

5 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise one or more sensors selected from: sonic sensor systems, ultrasonic sensor systems, LIDAR sensor systems, camera sensor systems, or radar sensor systems.

6 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor-based identification indicates that the aircraft is associated with an operator other than a first operator.

7 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the aircraft is uncommunicative.

8 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the first operator is associated with the vertiport, and wherein the aircraft is uncommunicative with one or more communications channels associated with the first operator.

9 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise microphones that are affixed at the vertiport.

10 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise one or more microphones that are fixed to, within the vicinity of the vertiport, at least one of: ground based infrastructure, a ground vehicle, an air vehicle, or a user device.

11 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:

obtaining sensor data from one or more of a plurality of sensors of a distributed sensing array, wherein the distributed sensing array comprises the plurality of sensors distributed across a vertiport, wherein the sensor data describes noise associated with an aircraft in a vicinity of the vertiport; and

processing the sensor data to obtain a sensor-based identification of the aircraft, wherein the noise associated with the aircraft corresponds to a type of the aircraft.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , comprising:

tracking the aircraft after obtaining the sensor-based identification.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , comprising:

processing, using a backend protocol, an identification of the aircraft; and

confirming the identification using the sensor-based identification.

14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , comprising:

processing the sensor data using a sensor aggregation module to obtain the sensor-based identification of the aircraft, the sensor aggregation module operable to receive and aggregate data from the plurality of sensors.

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise one or more sensors selected from: sonic sensor systems, ultrasonic sensor systems, LIDAR sensor systems, camera sensor systems, or radar sensor systems.

16 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the sensor-based identification indicates that the aircraft is associated with an operator other than a first operator.

17 . The computer-implemented method of claim 16 , wherein the aircraft is uncommunicative.

18 . The computer-implemented method of claim 16 , wherein the first operator is associated with the vertiport, and wherein the aircraft is uncommunicative with one or more communications channels associated with the first operator.

19 . The computer-implemented method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise one or more microphones that are fixed to, within the vicinity of the vertiport, at least one of: ground based infrastructure, a ground vehicle, an air vehicle, or a user device.

20 . A vertiport, comprising:

a plurality of sensors distributed across the vertiport; and

a computing system operable to obtain sensor data from one or more of the plurality of sensors, wherein the sensor data describes noise associated with an aircraft in a vicinity of the vertiport, the computing system operable to process the sensor data to obtain a sensor-based identification of the aircraft, wherein the noise associated with the aircraft corresponds to a type of the aircraft.

Assignments (5)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE THE SPELLING OF THE FIRST INVENTOR'S NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 72574 FRAME 634. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT.. Recorded Jan 20, 2026
From: VILLA, IAN ANDREAS; PREVOT, THOMAS; BADALAMENTI, JOHN CONWAY; MOORE, MARK
To: UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 075371/0692 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 16, 2025
From: UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: UBER ELEVATE, LNC.
Reel/Frame 073229/0081 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 16, 2025
From: UBER ELEVATE, INC.
To: JOBY ELEVATE, INC.
Reel/Frame 073997/0133 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 26, 2025
From: JOBY ELEVATE, INC.
To: JOBY AERO, INC.
Reel/Frame 073040/0852 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 15, 2025
From: VILLA, !AN ANDREAS; PREVOT, THOMAS; BADALAMENTI, JOHN CONWAY; MOORE, MARK
To: UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 072574/0634 →
Continuity (5)
Continuation 17570071 · Jan 6, 2022
Continuation 16405493 · May 7, 2019
Provisional Application 62668745 · May 8, 2018
Provisional Application 62668176 · May 7, 2018
Related Publication 20250022378A1 · Jan 16, 2025
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