8th Biennial Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting & 6th Annual Electric VTOL Symposium

Sponsored by the
Arizona Chapter of AHS & AHS  (now Vertical Flight Society) International

Jan. 29-31, 2019 (Electric VTOL Short Course on Monday, Jan. 28)
Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West (reservations)
Mesa, Arizona, USA

Registration now open!

Overview: The 21st century has seen a continued emphasis on Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) and greater autonomy and automation for both military and civilian applications. Unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft are in varying stages of development all over the world, and continue to expand into the civil and military sectors for a variety of uses. Autonomy is being used to unmanned versions of manned helicopters for dull, dirty and dangerous military cargo missions. In addition, the operator-interface and human factors can be one of the most significant contributions to UAS safety and successful operations. Correspondingly, technologies and regulation are being developed to safely operate UAS, and integrate them into commercial and military airspace.

Meanwhile, automation and various levels of autonomy are being used in modern civil helicopter cockpits, while the military’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft will need to be optionally-manned or optimally-manned. Autonomy is also a key enabler for new classes of vehicles for civil missions — such as personal air vehicles, urban air mobility and air taxi missions — using electric or hybrid-electric propulsion (eVTOL).

This biennial meeting is an excellent opportunity to learn about and discuss with academic, industry, and military engineers from around the world the latest advancements in manned/unmanned, electric/hybrid/turboshaft-powered, and civil/military autonomous VTOL aircraft technology.

The Technical Meeting is being held in conjunction with the 6th Annual Electric VTOL Symposium, which will be held in parallel. The conference will feature technical paper presentation related to autonomous VTOL aircraft, while the Symposium will feature invited presentations, panel sessions and discussions on electric and hybrid electric VTOL aircraft, with a focus on urban air mobility.

InvitationPapers are invited on manned and unmanned VTOL aircraft with any level of autonomy/automation. This includes civilian and military platforms of all sizes, ranging from micro UAVs through full scale aircraft and the full range autonomy and associated enabling technologies, including fully autonomous, ground-controlled, and optionally manned vehicles, propelled by batteries, combustion engines or hybrids. Papers addressing all aspects of operator interface design, including both the air vehicle and operator control stations are also invited. Download the Call for Papers for more information.

Submit abstracts (PDF preferred) by October 1, 2018 to the meeting Technical Chairman, Dr. Ram JankiRam and Dr. Kendra Befort, Deputy Technical Chairman at uas_papers@ahsaz.org. For abstract or paper questions call +1-480-891-6057 (Ram) or +1-480-891-1979 (Kendra).

Abstract Submittal: Abstracts should be limited to no more than 1000 words, present the status of the background data to be used, summarize figures and illustrations to be used (with samples), and include a summary of important conclusions with a statement as to whether similar results have been, or may be, presented or published elsewhere.  The abstract should be sufficient to enable the reviewer to determine the quality, scope, significance, and current completion status of the information that will be submitted in the final paper.  Priority will be given to papers in which significant results and conclusions will be provided and in which future research and development are clearly defined.

Completed Papers: Authors will be notified of final selection in October. Format for the papers will be sent with the notification of selection. No paper will be scheduled for presentation if a written paper has not been received by January 14, 2019. It will be author’s responsibility to obtain all necessary clearances or releases.

Registration: Online registration now open! (Or, your can download the 2019 Autonomous eVTOL AZ Registration Form.) You do not need to be a member to register, but you do need to create an account if you don’t already have one.

Hotel: The meeting is being held at the beautiful Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West in Mesa with discounted rates available to attendees. Please support the event and stay at the conference hotel! You must book by Jan. 14 and use this link to get the special event rate: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/events/start.action?id=1808177595&key=1E97A7A8

Short Course: A 1-day Short Course on Electric VTOL will be taught onsite on the Monday before the conference/symposium begins. The course will be taught by Dr. James Wang, one of the leading figures in electric VTOL aircraft development. The cost of the course is $275 ($175 for student who are VFS members).

Sponsorships & Exhibits: A limited number of sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are available to help our corporate members get their message out about their work in autonomy and electric VTOL. Opportunities range from $1,000 to $5,000 and include complimentary registrations. Please help support this event!

For more information about Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting & eVTOL Symposium 2019, please contact us.