Vertex Project

About Vertex

This international collaborative research project, titled Vertiport Ecosystem for future urban air mobility (VERTEX), we focus on the study of AI agents for eVTOL and vertiport operations because of their central role in ensuring the performance, safety, and resilience of the broader UAM ecosystem. eVTOL operations involve several critical challenges, including autonomous or human-supervised decision-making, route adaptation under uncertainty, battery and charging constraints, fault detection and recovery, and safe operation in dense and highly variable urban environments.

Vertiports, in turn, must satisfy a wide range of demanding operational requirements, including the capacity to accommodate multiple eVTOLs, compliance with noise and environmental regulations, adaptation to changing weather conditions, and the management of limited energy and charging resources. In addition, vertiports operate under a complex regulatory landscape shaped by federal, state, municipal, and environmental authorities. They may also experience high traffic demand during peak periods and remain exposed to operational failures, cascading disruptions, and security threats, including cybersecurity risks.

Failures or inefficiencies in vertiport operations may result in accidents, service interruptions, and substantial economic and societal losses. These challenges highlight the need for intelligent, trustworthy, and robust AI-based solutions capable of improving the reliability, adaptability, and safety assurance of next-generation UAM infrastructure.