NDM project
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
What if small country towns could be physically connected? How could a robust network of air routes influence their economic growth? We deeply believe in a new vision of city, based on connection, sustainability and technology. We also believe that as skyscrapers are made by an assembly of bricks, also a new kind of city can be generated by the connection of small towns. To accomplish our mission, we are going to design a cheap and sustainable electrical Vertical Take Off and Landing system.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
There are several rural areas in Italy, and in Europe in general, interested by a decreasing of the population living there in favor of the growth of large cities. In particular, rural and poorly connected areas are losing their appeal for people who might be living or starting a business there. Indeed, the low efficiency of infrastructures plays a key role in the settling of people in the most connected urban areas. On the other hand, the hectic lifestyle and the loss of contact with nature cause a high level of stress to a growing part of the population. In this context, our mission is to revolutionize the idea of cities and urban areas, starting a renaissance for small rural towns and for European population lifestyle. To do so, we conceived a system capable of carrying people and objects from a small town to another one, and to the main city of the region. In our vision each town will be provided by authorized stations in which an electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft will take off and land, thus generating a robust network between all of the interested towns. This network will make life in those places desirable, because it will match the people need for connectivity with their need for relax, green areas, and so on. This will lead to a repopulation of rural areas, followed by a net growth of business opportunities. The consequent change of perspective could also cause a reduction of the overbuilding that characterize cities outskirts, helping the retraining of abandoned old structures in the countryside.
Key objectives for sustainability
The world of transports is facing a progressive transition to electric. In the last decade electrical batteries have been developed in order to increase their efficiency and their sustainability (in terms of production and recycling). For this reason, the idea of an electrical aircraft is in line with the most advanced sustainable technologies. Our goal is to design our eVTOL aircraft not only with the will of making it efficient, but also keeping in mind all the guidelines linked to circular economy. In other words, we are not going to design only a useful tool, but we want to change the concept of enterprise and factory, starting from the beginning and being aligned with the most promising companies that work for a sustainable industrial world. Therefore, we are going to carefully choose materials, components and production strategies to minimize the environmental impact. Moreover, we think that such a transport system will decrease the use of cars, thus indirectly decreasing CO2 emissions. Often, indeed, in poorly connected regions cars represent the only way to transport people and objects.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
First of all, we are collaborating with designers to give life to a futuristic aesthetic design for our craft. Our goal is to create something that will inspire people while using it. One of the purposed functionalities of the aircraft will be to have a wide windshield that will provide a great view for passengers. Moreover, we want to achieve a good compatibility with all the technological devices, so that the user could easily monitor his/her travel by a smartphone application. We also believe that a connection between a smartphone application and several cameras and sensors output will also provide a great and inspiring experience in the everyday life. Shifting the focus on the consequences caused by the growing of our purposed network, the requalification of rural areas will also provide great improvements in terms of aesthetics (i.e. the rebuilding of an abandoned structure). Furthermore, we believe that generating a desirable environment will also collect architects, engineers and investors in general that will change towns in better, giving them a new life.
Key objectives for inclusion
Our eVTOL will be designed to be accessible for everyone, and will be provided of all the features needed by disabled people in order to give them the same opportunities of every other person. But we believe that the key role in term of inclusion will be the possibility to people who live away from each other to gather in common places without the need of hours of travel. Our system will travel at almost at 350 km/h, and it will travel for distances considered as a perfect radius (distance by road is not the same). This will lead to the possibility of gathering in different places also after a day spent working or studying. We hope that this will also lead to a rebirth of rural communities.
Innovative character
In the last years many eVTOL projects are being developed. None of them is trying to change the lifestyle for ordinary people. The innovative character of our system will be defined by a relatively cheap cost. This will make its use affordable for everyone, and for every small business that will grow up in the interconnected areas. Moreover, the innovation in our idea is represented by the network that we want to generate, not only by the aircraft. By the way, also the design of the craft itself will be strongly innovative. We intend to make it take off and land in vertical configuration, and travelling in cruise mode using aerodynamic surfaces. Moreover, most of the propulsion efficiency guidelines will be taken into account, being in line with all the most competitive existing companies. The battery will be also removable, so that when landed the aircraft could take off after only a few minutes, without waiting the time needed for charging.
