Route Design for Chungbuk-type Urban Air Mobility Using Numerical Methods Techniques and Validation Through High-fidelity Simulation

Urban air mobility (UAM) represents an innovative air transportation concept that has been attracting great attention in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. UAM, which is currently implemented as manned aircraft controlled by human pilots, is similar to the operation of conventional aircraft. However, according to the UAM Concept of Operations v1.0, which is a UAM operation and development document issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and the K-UAM roadmap presented by the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, the ultimate goal for UAM is the implementation of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Thus, relevant productive research and development studies are being conducted continuously. In this paper, a flight path design that is suitable for the Chungbuk-type UAM vehicle designated for operation in Chungcheongbuk-do. Various numerical analysis techniques are applied to determine the optimal flight path by using an initial route design and linearization process. The study area is focused on the Miho River passing through the Cheongju Airport and Osong Station, which is the core base of the target aircraft. Thus, a comprehensive methodology is proposed. Flight experiments are run within a high-fidelity simulation environment to validate the proposed route. The experiment is performed to demonstrate the suitability and feasibility of the proposed route by ensuring successful navigation while the UAM vehicle adheres to the designated flight path and avoids restricted areas. © ICROS 2024.