Airborne Motorworks AeroRise

AeroRise
Airborne Motorworks Inc.
Spokane Valley, Washington, USA
www.airbornemotorworks.com

Airborne Motorworks was founded in 2014 and is based in Spokane, Washington, USA. The company's purpose is to make electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flying cars for advanced air mobility (AAM) and other practical delivery drones urban and rural areas. The company also specializes in developing high performance electric powertrains. The company has developed artificial intelligence software capable of providing flight training and autopilot features called iPilot™. The core of Airborne Motorworks green propulsion technology is safety, utility, thrust capacity, stability, design freedom, battery life/power and efficiency.

The Research and Development facilities of the company are located in Spokane, Washington. Initial manufacturing will take place outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Corporate management is based in the greater Houston area in Texas, close to NASA.

In planning a trip with their eVTOL aircraft, the pilot can input their destination into iPilot™ and will see a virtual roadway appear on the windshield. A dashed center line will give drivers the impression of a highway in the sky, allowing them to stay on track during the flight. Airborne Motorworks will use a combination of cameras, LiDAR, and ultrasonic sensors to provide Spherical Visibility™ around vehicles at up to 820 feet (250 meters) of range.

Autopilot enables automatic steering, acceleration and braking on virtual roadways. These sensors will detect nearby hard and soft objects when they encroach on virtual lanes and they will provide guidance when parking. All Airborne Motorworks aircraft will have hardware for self-driving with safety as a priority. iPilot™ will allow short and long distance trips with minimal assistance from the pilot. Pilots simply need to tell their aircraft where to go.

The company has also designed, manufactured and patented their Electromagnetic Gyroscopic Propulsion (EGP) system which includes a shrouded nacelle with a propeller guard which includes the propeller-fan, electric motor, gyroscope and other electronics for a powerful yet stabilized flight. The company states their shrouded propellers produce 10 times the amount of thrust than a similar sized open propeller. The propeller assembly also has a redundant motor design.

The Airborne Motorworks AeroRise is an eVTOL heavy-lift rescue platform that holds a pilot/rescuer and three passengers. The aircraft is square, has a flat floor and uses four protected propeller-fans with propeller guards, at the four corners of the aircraft for propulsion and for stability. The company describes the AeroRise as a magic carpet. The aircraft is powered by batteries.

The platform has no seating and the pilot and passengers stand when being rescued. Everyone is protected from falling off the floor by a handrail supported by posts along the perimeter of the platform. There are at least two sections of the handrail which slide open to enter and exit the aircraft. The platform has one step on each side of the aircraft to help people walk on and off the aircraft. If a person accidentally steps on a propeller-fan, they are safe from getting hurt from the propellers due to the propeller guards.  

The aircraft is a very stable aircraft due to the proprietary Electromagnetic Gyroscopic Propulsion system which is very useful during precise rescue operations allowing victims to step onto a solid platform that doesn't move easily when weight is added to the aircraft. The aircraft lands on its fuselage making the aircraft less complex, have a lower purchase price and requires less maintenance in the field.

The aircraft has been made for any type of rescue operation such as rescuing people from a burning building, water rescues, flood victims, mountain rescues or on the battlefield. The AeroRise can also be effectively used as a search and rescue (SAR) aircraft and with only a handrail and posts on the aircraft, it provides first responders with excellent views in all directions to find people. The aircraft can also be used to transport cargo with or without a pilot.

iPilot™ software will make the AeroRise platform aircraft easy to fly and will also allow autonomous missions from field operators miles away. There are also several safety features and redundant systems on the flying platform.

The company has made mock-ups of the AeroRise and has displayed them at trade shows. However, the company has not stated when a prototype will be made and flown or when they expect to see serial production of the AeroRise rescue platform.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL heavy-lift passenger rescue platform aircraft
• Piloting: 1 pilot Piloted or autonomous
• Capacity: 3 passengers
• Cruise speed: Unknown
• Range: Unknown
• Flight Time: Unknown
• Propellers: 4 propeller-fans
• Electric Motors: 4 electric motors (with a redundant motor design)
• Power source: Batteries
• Fuselage: Unknown material, possibly carbon fiber
• Landing gear: Lands on the airframe
• Safety feature: The propeller-fan is in a shrouded nacelle with a propeller guard to prevent large items such as birds or people from being hit. The propeller-fan assembly uses a gyroscopic type of gimble suspension making the propeller-fan assembly extremely stable. There is a redundant motor design and a patented thrust system for emergency landings.

Company Insights:

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Resources:

• Airborne Motorsworks website
• Airborne Motorsworks Facebook
• Airborne Motorsworks Twitter
• Airborne Motorsworks YouTube Channel
• Airborne Motorsworks LinkedIn
• Video: eVTOL Issue: Thrust, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
• Video: Stability, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
• Video: Safety, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
• Video: Design Issue: Flexibility, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 12, 2020
• Video: Airborne: What We Do, Airborne Motorworks, Sept. 13, 2020