Height control on a Hydrofoil.

[Hargard339]

I would like to put a flight controller into my Hydrofoil boat to maintain the height and roll. I have a Speedy bee F405 wing FC.
The roll is sorted but the pitch is another thing. So the questions are :-
Can I use a Waterproof A02YYUW Ultrasonic Sensor with a UART output ? If so how would I configure it to maintain a constant height above the water in Inav ?.
Or another waterproof lidar sensor. Recommendations please.

I have a few VL53L0X sensors I could use But they are not waterproof. And would die quickly.

Regards Hargard.

[Hargard339]

A update Have used a VL53LOX sensor and have it displaying in the FC sensor tab, i also have ordered 2 TOF 10120 sensors that are waterproof and IC2. Now for the programming bit.

[sensei-hacker]

Apparently covering a VL53LOX is common in other use cases.

https://community.st.com/t5/mems-sensors/can-i-cover-vl53l0x-time-of-flight-sensor-with-glass-for/td-p/305995

It also occurs to me that the cover on the end of a cheap replacement TV remote is specifically designed to be transparent to IR. You can probably find a way to make the cover assembly water-resistant.

The programming bit for a VL53LOX is simply enabling surface mode and probably making some pretty tight PID adjustments.

If the infrared time-of-flight sensor turns out to not work well for a hydrofoil, I can picture an L-shaped sensor that has a small bit that skims across the surface of the water. Conceptually similar to the sensor for a fuel gauge in a gas tank.

[stronnag]

If the infrared time-of-flight sensor turns out to not work well for a hydrofoil, I can picture an L-shaped sensor that has a small bit that skims across the surface of the water. Conceptually similar to the sensor for a fuel gauge in a gas tank.

Just as an"International Moth", a high performance foiling sailing dinghy, which uses a mechanically linked "wand', forward mounted surface skimming rod, connected to the rudder horizontal foil for height control.

In the case of a flight controller, the FC could, (left as an exercise for the reader), read the wand position and adjust pitch accordingly.

[Hargard339]

Thanks for the reply's... Investigating.

Got this programmed in and it seams to be working BUT I have No servo movement. Have tried 50 instead of 5 Still no movement.

Any advice welcome.
Regards Hargard.