Congrats… your idea is not new. We thought about an “LSAS” Lateral Stabilization and Augmentation System" a while ago, but did not continue the idea due to other reasons. However we had contact with IFM Electronics Sensorik, Kommunikations- und Steuerungssysteme - ifm .German company specialized in all kinds of sensors…They have some ideas for this too…
We will ask them about the actual status and maybe it helps you continueing this next step of “Autoflight”
Cheers www.elevate.rocks
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Yeah that’s quite obvious. I mean pushing the limits harder through this flight controller capability. Keeping the board more stable through turns through very quick corrections - quicker than a human can do and stabilising when landing a jump would be a good example of how we can push the riding envelope. Through computer stabilisation. You seem to be very narrow minded on this innovative topic. This topic is based around pushing things further from the fully simple wings we are currently using in my opinion!
I think the truth lies somewhere in between what @Jezza and @samisin suggest. You could add control surfaces to the wings and have a flightcontroller keep the board stable (I think since the university of Florida built that super cool autonomous foil it should be doable). Problem is that without telling the board new setpoints externally (through that handheld unit) you would have to settle for self stable as the setpoint for the controller to move the board towards.
This would mean the board becomes unresponsive to both waves and rider input (I think) should the board be perfectly tuned.
Then again if you just run a very low ‘I’ gain on the PID controller the board would respond to external input like waves and rider movements but be very ‘stiff’ and dull out those inputs. The latter is what samisin seems to want to go for.
I think there are easier ways to achieve the above but doing it electronically is kinda cool right?
Edit: Should the above somehow work, most flightcontrollers have different flight modes. This could allow for turning off and on the stability aid when one would want it. Extra degree of cruise control?
I’m not too interested in getting this working on a board but in a hydrofoil boat which is much closer too the ‘keep stable and steer based off of external setpoint (steering) inputs’ situation.
No matter how good the electronics are, an experienced user will always do better. The reason for this is their anticipation of a potential situation is far superior to any AI. Once you have enough experience your muscle memory will put your body in the perfect place every time. There’s a reason experienced drivers turn off most electronic aids when they race consumer style cars.
*Another massive issue is that with an aid, you won’t learn the skills needed to master a foil without the aid. So ultimately you’ll never sharpen your skills properly…
You can strap as many sensors as you want to yourself, but they won’t help because there are times when you are lying, standing, kneeling or bending. So you can’t take a differential between them. Then there’s also personal style so the sensors would need to be continuously calibrated.
Then with any sensors on the board you will need to calibrate them to tell them when the board is level. Except these will need to be calibrated on the fly and then you have the challenge that the level point is different at different speeds and through turns.
Sonar won’t work because when you bank the board for a turn the board to water height changes. The same happens when you go through waves…
What Sami is wanting to do here is equivalent to trying fly an airplane by making all the passengers run from side to side.
I’m not saying he can’t try, I just think it’s an endless rabbit hole where there are much easier and proven solutions already.
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Hello Sami, Maybe an easier approach would be to first just control the altitude by adjusting the prop speed?
That way, you avoid the complexities of moving parts on your foil. The down side is that you only somewhat control the z axe but with just one sensor. For example, you can reduce power if you are going to breach the surface. This should greatly help beginners.
This year, I have finished building a foiling catamaran with full electronic stabilisation and it’s not been a walk in the park but it flies at 3 times the speed of the wind. We are using ultrasound sensors to get the altitude of the Catamaran and then use actuators to control flaps on the T foils and the rake on the rudders. For the ultrasonic sensor we had to use high power ones from Senix otherwise the reflection was not strong enough. I have ordered a cheaper version from Aliexpress for my next eFoil build and will let you know if it works.
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Amazing work Clarin, I alway love to get guidance from people with real results! I totally agree. Basic control to start and then we will see how far we can push the envelope. Can you please share part number or Lin to the sonar sensor you are using?
That’s impressive! Did you DIY the control systems or did you buy a ready made unit?
Thanks,
We use these: Senix
And I have ordered this [One] (AliExpress) for testing from AliExpress. I haven’t tested it and don’t know if it will work for this application.
@Jezza it’s all custom, as nothing exists on the market today. Usually, foiling sailboats are stabilized mechanically with a wand or auto regulated with J foils.
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Got any videos of it? Splashelec make foil control systems and can customise them too. I have seen another on the market too, but can’t remember the name now.
You are well informed 
Bernt from Splashelec is our guru and this system was 100% developed by us. There are others working on similar systems (most are French from Lorient) but it’s definitely not a turn key system.
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How about for an autonomous search and rescue foil platform?
We can raise a visual scanner as high as we can make it stable.
Definitely good points you make there Jezza, about driving aids being turned off by the faster drivers etc, I do agree.
Yes Those auto flight systems are not a must have but could be seen as comfort option, like we have the cruise control already;-)
For determination those tank level sensors work fine (microwave)
Or you might think of a tube at the mast that hosts a radar measurement…
But it will be a long journey to get it work properly
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I have been riding my friends lift efoil for last couple of weekends. It was clear to me immediately this thing control system can be improved a lot!
For those who has ideas about assisted ride with flight controller, I just want to let you know that it definitely will work and will help to bring more riders and fun to the ride! So please ignore those who says it is impossible I earn my living with proving these people wrong, don’t let them to define what can be done and what not.
Pitch control with IMU is definitely and easily possible and will make beginners life more easier,
With Water dept sensor to keep steady foiling and avoiding the prop to get out of water is easy and definitely possible. limit is you imagination so please ignore those without imagination!
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How is the remote ?
I have all VESC data and gps information stored in sd card, throttle control and cruise mode button working great,
Mostly dealing with mechanical parts these days. The Hiorth remote trigger system is not going to work with sensors installed inside the housing.
I need to change screen layout bigger fonts bigger meters, currently I have too much information displayed, Thinking of two or 3 different user delectable screen layout.
Also thinking to add VESC throttle setting adjustable in the remote. Like curve adjustment and type and max throttle setting.
What will get more riders into efoil will be the price of boards on the market going down, adding complexity will get prices to increase even further…
Based on experience My view is different . What will bring down the price is more demand so manufacturing and tooling cost go down drastically. Demand will go up if more average consumers can enjoy it. Since I was following the industry, I love to bring Dji mavic drone Example. compare to 5 years go complexity of dji drones these days is crazy , image processing , obstacle avoidance on all angles, proprietary long range communications… but simplicity of use brought so many customers that you can buy that super advanced device below 800$! If it takes 3 hours for me to stand up on the dumb board for the first time, who has been doing extreme sports professionally for last 23 years, no way Average consumers can be convinced they will learn it in single rental session. Complexity will be resolved once for all
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All my mates who tried my setup got up within 15min… 3 of them even got up straight away. Most of them never foiled before… Just need a stable foil, smooth power curve and a well balanced setup…
If it takes you 3 hours to get up on the Lift sorry but this is not a gear issue…
Learning how to foil is part of the game and it is a lot of fun. I’m foiling on SUP, kite, tow behind the boat and from far Efoil is the easiest way to get into foiling.
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It might me but I am doing these sort of stuff in daily basis. what I am trying to say we are different and not representing the whole demographic. Plus complexity once it is done it is done. I guess we should be open minded to see what happens rather than killing and blocking imagination.