Re:Foiling Electric Boat
by chrisdalke on Thursday August 20, 2020 @10:14AM
(#24223457)
There's a whole community of DIYers building e-foil boards at https://efoil.builders/. I haven't actually built one because I don't think I would ride it enough to justify the cost.
I do lurk on that forum and check out the projects people are making, there's a lot of really cool work done to 3d print propellers and other structural parts and bring the cost of manufacturing down. Between rapid prototyping and chinese BLDCs / ESCs, small electric vehicles like e-foils are actually reasonably priced to build yourself.
This is awesome - thanks for sharing! The commercial efoils have caught my eye but they're definitely outside my price range. Cool to see that you can get a efoil and a fun project a lower cost
Re:Foiling Electric Boat
by chrisdalke on Thursday August 20, 2020 @04:43PM
(#24228706)
Of course, once you buy the 3d printer, filament, metal cutting supplies, various epoxies and waterproofing sealants, cabling, soldering tools, and nuts and bolts...
I've read some on the subject, and got a book by a famous boat designer, Kotaro Horiuchi, which describes the actions of the float controllers you are talking about as well as other aspects. Foil boats have to be fairly lightweight at the moment, which is why the america's cup boats are designed the way they are.
I've also seen those e-foil surfboards but have never tried them as the price point seems absurd.
My board (and all the foils I see on surf gear) just have enhanced static stability based on some combination of dihedral, a fuselage, and a negative lift rear wing, very similar to an airplane. That's because it's down to a shift of body weight, sailing forces, etc.
It's become all the rage in the last 2-3 years with things still not quite standardized. I had to drill out my foil-approved board to get larger M10 bolts in there.