How about a foiling USV?

I’ve been watching the latest videos from HydroContest 2017 in Switzerland and am intrigued by some of the foiling boats they’ve designed. Here’s a video from last year:

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Wow! This is very cool. I wonder how being a foil vessel would affect adding sensors, sonar, etc. I’m sure these are a lot more sensitive to changes in weight, balance, and drag then a normal USV.

GPS and sonar would probably benefit from going a bit faster than the normal USV. Reducing the drag caused by the sonar transducer would have to be a priority though. I wonder how large a vessel could be propelled on a foil by two B.R. T200 thrusters? Interesting challenge…

GPS, singlebeam sonar, and temperature would be fine at those higher speeds. From what I have experienced, side scan starts to degrade in resolution after 3kts. You can’t really use T200s for this, they have the torque to move largeish USVs, but not the speed. I’d recommend a high speed direct drive brushless motor with a high speed propeller or a jet drive. Luckily there are a few 3D printable jet drives on Thingiverse and even a small hydroplane boat.