ADVANCED AIR MOBILITY IN SINGAPORE

ADVANCED AIR MOBILITYIN SINGAPORE

Dr. James Wang

Professor and Director of

eVTOL Research & Innovation Centre at

Nanyang Technological University

[email protected]

Presented at NASA International AAM Day

3 March 2021

Image Source:

Copyright © 2020 Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. All rights reserved.

Singapore’s Vision for AAM

To facilitate and enable the beneficial

and innovative use of advanced air

mobility (AAM) in Singapore as part

of our Smart Nation Vision

Singapore’s operating environment poses great challengesRisk-based approach adopted to provide facilitation of AAM usage in a safe and controlled manner

❖ Densely Built-up Landscape

• Land Area: 721 sq km

• Population: 5.6 million

❖ Highly Congested Airspace

• 5 aerodromes

SAFETY(AVIATION AND PUBLIC)

• Protected areas

established over security-

sensitive installations

• Security concerns

• Noise management

• Public acceptance and

community integration

SECURITY NOISE

CHALLENGES

• Congested airspace

shared between civil and

military operations

• High urbanization and

density

TECHNOLOGY

INFRASTRUCTUREPUBLIC

ACCEPTANCE

AAM

BUILDING

BLOCKS

REGULATIONS

PARTNERSHIPS

Balancing the benefits

and risks that come

along with AAM

Balanced and

sustainable approach

Effective coordination among

Government stakeholders to

enable safe and efficient AAM

implementation

Whole-of-Government

approach to AAM

Constant engagement with other

regulators and stakeholders to

ensure alignment

In-step with the development and

advancement of technologies

Progressive and

adaptive regulations1. REGULATIONS

SCHEDULING

MANAGEMENT

AIR TRAFFIC

CONTROL AND

TECHNICAL

OPERATIONS

MAINTENANCE

FIRE SAFETY

PILOT REST

GATES WITH

NAVIGATIONAL

AIDS

TOUCHDOWN

AND

LIFT-OFFAREA

PASSENGER

FACILITIES AND

SECURITY

2. INFRASTRUCTURE

RECHARGING

AND BATTERY

SWAPPING

Image Source:

Source: “Public acceptance of drone applications in a highly urbanized environment,” Technology in Society 64 (2021) 101462

3. PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE

Singapore launched its first eVTOL Research and Innovation Centre in 2019

4. TECHNOLOGY

Mission Statement

To be the world’s leading research and innovation

centre for manned and unmanned eVTOL aircraft.

We nurture talent, create and incubate innovative

commercializable eVTOL technologies, and transform

the future of transportation.

NTU EVTOL RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CENTRE

• Aerodynamics, aeroelasticity, acoustics

• Vehicle architecture & optimization

• Flight dynamics, autonomous control

• Propulsion

• Smart materials

• Structure design for lean manufacturing

Aerospace EngineeringA

B

C

• Human factors

• Logistics & operations research

• Systems engineering & management

• Design studies

D

Clean Energy • Fuel cells

• Wind & tidal energy

• Clean tech & environment

• Other alternative energy systems

Manufacturing• Additive manufacturing and 3D printing

• Precision machining

• Reliability

• Surgical robots & remote diagnosis

• Rehabilitation robots

• Virtual reality

• Intelligent systems

Robotics and Intelligent

SystemsE

Micro/Nano-Fabrication

and Micro systemsF

• Thin films & coatings

• MEMS & BioMEMS

• Data storage

• Sensors & actuators

OthersG

• Electric motor design

• Big data

• Air traffic control

KEY AREAS OF RESEARCH

Systems and Engineering

Management

5. PARTNERSHIPS

New product in service

Qualification/certification

Flight Test

Demo/prototype

Small scale test

Technology formulation

Rig test (expanded

design space)

Basic research

Basic principles (Ideas)Technology gaps (Needs)

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

NTU’s core

competencies

NTU eVTOL Centre

partnering with

industry and

Government

Supporting

commercialization

Technology

Readiness Level

A new AAM economy and efficient transport system

DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY READINESS

THROUGH PARTNERSHIP

World Class R&D at NTU in Air TransportationNTU AAM RESEARCH FOCUS AREAS

1.Vehicle Design

― eVTOL aircraft architecture

― Fault tolerant autonomous flight

control

― Aerodynamics, aeroelasticity

― Electric motor

― System integration

❖ Partner with local and

international companies and

SME

2.Electrification

― New batteries

― Hybrid energy solution

― Charging

― Recycling

― Structure embedded batteries

― Safety and affordability

❖ Partner with Singapore

Battery Consortium, and

producers

3.Structure and

Manufacturing

― New materials

― Lighter weight structure

― New coating

― Embedded sensors

― New manufacturing

process

― Industry 5.0 Smart factory

― Design-for-manufacturing

❖ Partner with

ASTAR SIMTech and

companies

THANK YOU

Dr. James WangDirector of eVTOL Research and Innovation Centre

[email protected]