Seminars

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) promises a future in which autonomous aircraft routinely transport passengers and cargo through dense low-altitude airspace. Realizing this vision requires autonomy that goes beyond routine navigation to continuously ensure that every flight remains safe even when unexpected hazards arise. This talk will focus on autonomy that prepares for off-nominal events before flight and responds in real time to preserve safety while maintaining orderly airspace operations.  Pre-flight contingency planning can identify reachable landing sites, generate alternate flight paths, and organize these options within a broader airspace management framework. These precomputed options provide a foundation for real-time autonomy that can rapidly adapt when hazards or failures threaten vehicle controllability or landing site reachability. An Assured Contingency Landing Management (ACLM) pipeline will be introduced that integrates contingency planning, situational awareness, and traffic-aware replanning to enable safe diversion to prepared or unprepared landing sites.  Future AAM systems must also ensure that updated flight plans remain compatible with surrounding traffic, enabling rapid deconfliction and cooperative airspace management even during emergencies. By integrating contingency flight planning with traffic-aware autonomy, the airspace itself becomes more resilient, capable of supporting both routine operations and unexpected disruptions.

Bio: Dr. Ella Atkins is Fred D. Durham Professor and Head of the Kevin T. Crofton Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department at Virginia Tech.  She was previously a Professor in the University of Michigan’s Aerospace Engineering and Robotics Departments.  Dr. Atkins holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan.  She is an AIAA Fellow and private pilot. She has authored over 300 refereed journal and conference papers. Dr. Atkins pursues research in AI-enabled autonomy and control to support resilient autonomy in manned and unmanned Aerospace applications with a focus on Advanced Air Mobility and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS).  She is Editor-in-Chief of the AIAA Journal of Aerospace Information Systems (JAIS).