To advance the development of electric air transport, a number of companies, universities and research institutions as well as municipalities and organisations have joined forces to form the Air Mobility Initiative (AMI).
The initiative, which is funded by the Free State of Bavaria and the Federal Republic of Germany, wants to set up a series of research projects in the fields of “electric aircraft”, “air traffic management” and “vertiport”, according to the University of Stuttgart, which is involved in the AMI. The latter research field is about the infrastructure on the ground that electric aircraft need.
However, the research will not be limited to purely technical aspects, but will also develop methods for quantifying and optimising flight comfort in terms of flight mechanics – “a very important topic for the acceptance of future electric aircraft”, as Walter Fichter, Professor of Flight Mechanics and Flight Control at the University of Stuttgart, explains.
Electric aerial taxis – unlike previous passenger aircraft – should also be able to travel in urban areas. With partly high houses and long street canyons, turbulence is to be expected there. “Low-frequency aircraft movements can quickly lead to discomfort,” says the University of Stuttgart. “This effect is called kinetosis (motion sickness) and it is comparable to seasickness.”
Researchers at the university’s Institute of Flight Mechanics and Flight Control (iFR) want to use a rope robot to replicate the flight movements with test subjects. The measurement data will be used to create models of what potential passengers find comfortable and what they don’t.
“We will examine the various elements of such an air transport system in realistic projects to gain an accurate picture of the technical and regulatory requirements,” says Andreas Thellmann, head of the Air Mobility Initiative. “Electric air transport can enhance public transport, airports and time-critical mobility services, it will be environmentally friendly, quiet and safe.”
In addition to the University of Stuttgart, members of the Air Mobility Initiative include Airbus, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Flugsicherung, Diehl Aerospace, Droniq, Munich Airport, the City of Ingolstadt and Telekom.
Keyword: Air Mobility Initiative to drive electric aviation in Germany