Design and Testing of an Unmanned Hydrofoil Prototype

With the rise of drones and autonomous vehicles, one vehicle type that has not been extensively considered for unmanned operations is the hydrofoil. Most commonly seen in high speed ferries and racing sailboats, hydrofoils are wings that lift the boat hull out of the water and significantly increase the speed of the boat across all wave conditions. In order to further explore the suitability of hydrofoils for use as small unmanned watercraft, a three foot long hydrofoil was designed and built to serve as a technology demonstrator and research platform. The main areas of focus are how to enable the foil wings to operate best in the flow conditions resulting from the small size of the wings and the development of an active control system to manage the foils. Areas of further development and applications include fully autonomous hydrofoils that could be used for lake sampling or data collection in a less intrusive manner to the ecosystem than a full size motor boat.  The research and experience gained through this work will provide an important starting point for the further optimization and application of hydrofoils to small scale watercraft.