Sky highway: An air traffic structure for low-altitude heterogeneous VTOL aircraft

AbstractThe development of a new mode of air transport, i.e., low alti tude aircraft, rises with the advancement of aviation and communication technologies. This promotes the concept of advanced air mobility (AAM) and increases engagement from both industry and academia to tackle the futuristic air traffic management challenges in the shared low-altitude airspace. Current research either focuses on airspace design for safety purpose or swarm control to maximize the airspace performance. To achieve an effective balance between airspace safety and productivity, a sky highway structure that consists of airways and intersections is proposed, where traffic network, route, and swarm control design are all considered. The corresponding controller design principles are raised to achieve real-time conflict resolution among aircraft while improving traffic efficiency. In the sky highway, each aircraft will have a designated route, and an airway, similar to a highway road, can accommodate multiple aircraft performing free flight simultaneously. The geometrical structure of the proposed sky highway with corresponding flight modes to support large-scale operation is studied briefly one by one. In this paper, the proposed sky highway structure is investigated and presented, and different analyses are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the airspace structure.