August 2021
The Urban Air Mobility Experiment 3 (UAM X3) Simulation Team was awarded a NASA Ames Honor Award – Group/Team Award for “developing and executing a complex airspace simulation that lays the groundwork for a future UAM traffic management system.”
NASA is researching a future where people and goods will travel by air taxis - small personal air vehicles that will fly between “vertiports” in urban areas. This is the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept, and the X3 Simulation Team was charged with laying the groundwork for this future system with a complex airspace simulation. Such simulations are used to evaluate how novel vehicles can fly in the National Airspace, reducing risk before actual vehicles must be tested. The simulations require significant planning and careful execution - but the UAM X3 Simulation had another level of complexity when it had to replan and execute its efforts under pandemic working conditions. The simulation goals were to gather key data in understanding how a future UAM traffic management system should operate, how the concept should evolve, and what technologies are needed by industry. The X3 Team created a prototype airspace system and a “sandbox” representing this future system for industry partners to test their technologies. The X3 Team also integrated airspace partners’ technologies to fly simulated scenarios. The final simulations included 90 runs evaluating system connectivity, functionality, and flight data. During the course of this testing period, the X3 team showed resourcefulness and flexibility in adjusting to the fluctuating needs of the industry partners, the projects, and the team members.
NAMS UAM X3 staff include Amir Farrahi (USRA), Alexis Clymer (Crown), Tim Bagnall (Mosaic ATM), and Jerry Wilwerding (Mosaic ATM).