Development of small-scale unmanned hydrofoil boats

Unmanned boats have gained a lot of interest in the maritime community during last decade. Most hydrodynamic platforms employed for unmanned are based on traditional relatively simple hulls. In present study, small-scale hydrofoil-assisted (0.6–0.7 m length and 3.5–5.5 kg mass) been developed tested. Design calculations using transverse-strip engineering method with semi-empirical correlations were applied to determine suitable dimensions hydrofoil systems. The boat hulls hydrofoils fabricated by laying up carbon-fiber cloth sheets foam cores or 3-D printed profiles. instrumented outboard propulsors electronic equipment operations both remote control autopilot modes. addition, an in-situ thrust-measuring module was designed installed at hull sterns gather thrust data GPS-measured speeds range between 0 11 m/s. proved be robust capable going over 600 distances high while autonomously following preset paths. presented methods results can assist engineers developing surface vehicles that utilize advanced concepts.