How the Future of Air Mobility Accelerator Helped Firstco Advance their work on Vertiports
For AAM to become a reality and serve the whole community, and not just the privileged few, operational efficiencies will need to be found. Vertiport economics will not be able to support traditional on-site management and Operation & Maintenance (O&M) strategies found at traditional airports, instead they will need to leverage technology including centralised remote control and monitoring.
Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) refers to the next generation of air transportation aiming to revolutionise urban and regional mobility using electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, autonomous technologies, and advanced infrastructure (Vertiports) to provide a sustainable future mode of transport providing benefits including:
• Reduced traffic congestion
o Alleviated ground traffic congestion using aerial routes
o Faster travel
• Point-to-point travel
o Improved Accessibility
o Connecting remote and underserved areas
• Environmental sustainability
o Reduced carbon emissions
o Improved air quality
For AAM to become a reality and serve the whole community, and not just the privileged few, operational efficiencies will need to be found. Vertiport economics will not be able to support traditional on-site management and Operation & Maintenance (O&M) strategies found at traditional airports, instead they will need to leverage technology including centralised remote control and monitoring.
Using their 25 years of experience within the transport infrastructure sector delivering major Critical National Infrastructure projects, Firstco have now developed a Vertiport Management System (VMS). The VMS is the digital infrastructure required to enable the remote management of a distributed vertiport network from a single interface.
In recognition of this, Firstco were awarded a place on the Connected Places Catapult, Future of Air Mobility (FoAM) Accelerator, a six-month program to help SMEs bring innovative products to market.
Firstco used this programme to accelerate the VMS development and ensure the system will be fit for purpose, robust and reliable.
One of the most valuable aspects of the programme was the access to a range of stakeholders including industry partners, eVTOL manufacturers, regulatory bodies, and infrastructure providers. Firstco used this access to better understand the key challenges facing the adoption of this new form of mobility and understand how it could shape our future cities. This information was used to refine the VMS to address fundamental future mobility challenges including:
- Situational Awareness: Enabling connectivity between various systems serving as a ‘single source of the truth.’
- Data-driven Decision-making: Leveraging data analytics to provide valuable insights and predictive capabilities, their solution enables stakeholders to make data-driven decisions enhancing efficiency.
- Sustainability and Environmental Impact: Sustainable practices and reducing the environmental impact of transportation are key priorities within the AAM future mobility ecosystem supported by our VMS functionality such as optimising vehicle charging and teleoperations.
The FoAM Accelerator gave Firstco the opportunity to participate in live trials at Cranfield University and demonstrate at industry events such as the Future of Sustainable Skies Summit. This allowed Firstco to test their vertiport technology in a real-world environment and get feedback from industry thought leaders. This informed peer review was essential in helping Firstco to improve their product and make it more adaptable to different use cases.
