DLR Magazin 167: Beflügelnde Aussichten

Zukünftige Luftfahrzeuge müssen möglichst klimafreundlich und leise sein – trotzdem sollte der Komfort während der Reise nicht auf der Strecke bleiben. Neue Kabinenkonzepte könnten diese Anforderungen erfüllen. Am DLR-Institut für Systemarchitekturen in der Luftfahrt in Hamburg-Finkenwerder untersucht ein Team von Industriedesignerinnen und -designern, wie Menschen in Zukunft unterwegs sein möchten, wie sich ihr Reiseverhalten aufgrund der Pandemie ändern könnte und welche Auswirkungen dies auf die Gestaltung von Flugzeugen hat. Das Team erarbeitet neue Konzepte für eine modulare Flugzeugkabine, die an die Bedürfnisse der Menschen angepasst ist, und bezieht dafür auch die Passagiere in den Designprozess mit ein

Simulative Bewertung von Personenbewegungen in der Flugzeugkabine unter Berücksichtigung einer pandemischen Lage

Es ist davon auszugehen, dass die Covid-19 Pandemie den Luftverkehr weiterhin noch nachhaltig beeinflussen wird. Die Anzahl der angebotenen Sitzkapazitäten ist seit Pandemiebeginn um 50% eingebrochen und die ICAO-Prognose zeigt, dass vorpandemische Kapazitäten auch dieses Jahr noch nicht wieder erreicht werden, sondern etwa 20% darunter liegen. Weiterhin ist die Wiederaufnahme der Flugverbindungen stark von pandemischen Restriktionen geprägt. Neben der Vorlage von Impfzertifikaten oder Genesenennachweisen ist das Tragen von Masken und das Einhalten von Abständen erforderlich beziehungsweise wird empfohlen. In der Flugzeugkabine selber ist allerdings nur das Tragen einer Maske notwendig, andere Maßnahmen zur Ansteckungsreduzierung wie das Einhalten von Abständen werden für die Passagiere in der Regel nicht angewendet. Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit wird der Einfluss unterschiedlicher Konzepte beim Boarding und Deplaning der Passagiere auf ein mögliches Ansteckungsrisiko simulativ untersucht und bewertet, mit dem Ziel, ein leistungsfähiges Boardingkonzept zur Reduktion von Risiko-Begegnungen zu entwickeln. Durch die Modellierung und Simulation von Personenbewegungen kann wirksam untersucht werden, wie leistungsfähig frühe, neuartige und auch unkonventionelle Designkonzepte bezüglich der Schnittstellenprozesse des Boarding und Deplaning sind. Im Rahmen der Weiterentwicklung der Kabinenmodellierung und der dortigen Personenbewegungen wurde ein Bemessungswerkzeug zur Bewertung des Ansteckungsrisikos beim Boarding und Deplaning für die Passagiere in eine bestehende Simulationsumgebung integriert. Zur Anwendung kommt dabei der Algorithmus zur Bestimmung von Risikobegegnungen aus der Kombination von zu geringem Abstand und Dauer der Abstandsunterschreitung wie in der Corona-Warn-App angewendet

POST-PANDEMIC FLIGHT: ESTABLISHING THE MISSION OF THE AIRCRAFT CABIN OF THE FUTURE FROM THE PASSENGER’S POINT OF VIEW

As this paper is written, the world has been struck with a global pandemic, difficult to contain and very easy to spread. The most effective countermeasure so far is social distancing, to ensure no aerosols are exchanged. This poses a vast challenge in small, enclosed spaces, like an aircraft cabin. Unfortunately, such a countermeasure has had a great impact on the airlines and their business all over the globe. As the pandemic is not subsiding and scientists are predicting that similar situations will emerge more often in the future, it is highly necessary to take a look at the current state of the air travel and what it will have to offer to the passengers of the future. In the scope of InDiCaD (Innovative Digital Cabin Design), an internal project at German Aerospace Center (DLR), research has been done on the impact of the Covid-19 on the willingness of the passengers to fly under the given circumstances. The results of the research are threefold; firstly, a scenario where Covid-19 has left no traces, then a scenario where the consequences are enormous and the last one where the passengers are still willing to travel, albeit with an extra set of demands concerning health. These scenarios were used as a base to form mission definition for the cabin of the future as well as the fictive persona’s, depicting the passengers of the future. Through a series of workshops, there requirements have been used as foundation for building the morphological chart, consisting of partial design solutions. In this paper, the method of gathering and analysing the data will be shown as well as the resulting mission definition. The forth flowing list of requirements for designing an innovative cabin from a passenger’s point of view, able to cope with these unpreceded circumstances, will also be presented. The results of the workshop series will be shown, as well as an example of possible design outcome. To wrap up, an outlook into the future work during the project will be depicted, including the in-depth research as well as conceptual design solutions for the posed challenges

Urban Mobility: Airtaxi Cabin from a Passengers Point of View

Within German Aerospace Center (DLR), a project called HorizonUAM was launched in July 2020. Its main goal is to develop and design an aerial vehicle which would support the infrastructure of the ever-growing cities. The vehicle will be designed for the four different scenarios: airport shuttle, intracity transport, intercity transport and suburban connection. This paper shows the research concerning the potential users of the vehicle including their requirements and shows a possible design solution for an airtaxi cabin. The process has followed the Design Thinking Method, ensuring a central role for the users. To determine whether there are potential passengers willing to use such a vehicle, in-depth research has been done. Data found in previously done research has been compared with results of the in-house research, consisting of a number of workshops with representatives of German population as well as results form questionnaires sent out to a different group of German population. Based on this data, different fictive personas are created, to aid in understanding of the user’s needs. In addition, trend analysis on how the urban mobility is developing, has also been executed. The state-of-the-art solutions available are analyzed and their strengths and weaknesses determined. The entire research has resulted in an extensive list of requirements for the design of the cabin. To address such a complex design challenge, a morphological chart has been created, systematically deconstructing the main function into subfunctions. This has been done by multiple workshops with a constant team. This paper will show how the different scenarios influence the cabin design and will establish whether it is possible to serve multiple scenarios with a single cabin, from a passenger’s point of view. In addition, it will demonstrate the level of acceptance among alleged passengers and their vision on how a cabin of such a vehicle should look like and what it should focus on. Furthermore, it will display how the results of previously committed research are translated into first ideas, sketched as well as 2D as 3D

A User-Centered Cabin Design Approach to Investigate Peoples Preferences on the Interior Design of Future Air Taxis

A User-Centered Cabin Design Approach to Investigate Peoples Preferences on the Interior Design of Future Air Taxi

Futuristic meets elderly – Are seniors potential passengers for air taxis?

Futuristic meets elderly – Are seniors potential passengers for air taxis

A user centric Cabin Design using the Design Thinking approach

Within German Aerospace Center (DLR), a project called HorizonUAM was launched in July 2020. Its main goal is to develop and design an aerial vehicle which would support the infrastructure of the ever-growing cities. The vehicle will be designed for the four different scenarios: airport shuttle, intracity transport, intercity transport and suburban connection. This presentation shows the research concerning the potential users of the vehicle including their requirements and a forth flowing potential design solution for an airtaxi cabin. The process has followed the Design Thinking Method, ensuring a central role for the users. To determine whether there are potential passengers willing to use such a vehicle, in-depth research has been done. Data found in previously done research has been compared with results of the in-house research, consisting of a number of workshops with representatives of German population as well as results from questionnaires sent out to a different group of German population. Based on this data, different fictive personas are created, to aid in understanding of the user’s needs. In addition, a trend analysis on how the urban mobility is developing, has also been executed. The state-of-the-art solutions available are analyzed and their strengths and weaknesses determined. The entire research has resulted in an extensive list of requirements for the design of the cabin. This research shows how the different scenarios influence the cabin design and will establish whether it is possible to serve multiple scenarios with a single cabin, from a passenger’s point of view. In addition, it will demonstrate the level of acceptance among alleged passengers and their vision on how a cabin of such a vehicle should look like and what it should focus on. Furthermore, it will display how the results of previously committed research are translated into first ideas, sketched as well as 2D as 3D

Urban Air Mobility-Insights into the Virtual and User Centric Design Process for a Future eVTOL Cabin Concept

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is currently one of the fastest growing fields in future mobility research. Despite the huge potential, however, processes such as designing future eVTOL cabins are complex and create various challenges for researchers and designers all over the world. Within the project Horizon UAM at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the user-centered design of future cabins constitutes an important aspect to consider the potential acceptance of newly developed eVTOL concepts from the very beginning. This presentation describes the user-centered design approach and a 3D cabin concept of a cabin design focusing the use cases “Airportshuttle” and “Intracity”. Within the framework of the Design Thinking method, the user research and the identification of central requirements play an essential role. In the course of this, the central results from a focus group study and an online survey in the area of acceptance and cabin design will be presented. The definition of the layout based on ergonomic and anthropometric parameters will be explained in a further step. The determination of a layout and the definition of the usable installation space are important factors for the following ideation and design phase. In the final part, different design concept pieces and ideas are summarized and will be presented as a combined 3D cabin design concept. This research and the presented concept provide important insights into the cabin design process for innovative transportation vehicles. On the one hand, the early involvement of different user groups in the design process enables an increased understanding of the main user requirements and needs. This provides a broader perspective for designers and potentially raises the acceptance towards Urban Air Mobility for future passengers. On the other hand, the cabin design is an essential puzzle piece for the development of a complete air taxi system as well as the extended investigation of central passenger acceptance parameters in the course of the Horizon UAM project