RC Ground Effect Craft Flies with LiDAR

When an airplane flies extremely close to the ground, a bubble of high-pressure air is created underneath it, which normally only endures for a short period of time during takeoff and landing. Purpose-designed ground-effect vehicles take advantage of this phenomenon, and travel from point-to-point while staying in this zone. Such vehicles are a sort of hybrid between an airplane and a boat, as they’re normally meant for use on the water.

While rather rare in full-sized usage, Daniel Riley of the rctestflight YouTube channel and Sebastian decided to make a miniature version as shown in the video below. Since mini-ground effect aircraft aren’t nearly as stable as their full-sized cousins, they integrated a VL53L0X LiDAR rangefinder into the craft. This allows custom ArduPilot firmware to use a PID loop to adjust the throttle and maintain a low altitude.

Initially, the system was integrated into aircraft based loosely on the Singapore-build Airfish 8. First this was tried without ailerons, then with ailerons, and after rather poor results with both, the design was scrapped in favor of a more traditional Russian ekranoplan-style airframe. In the end, the ekranoplan craft was able to maintain an altitude close to the ground, and can fly as a traditional aircraft when not in "ground effect" mode.

The next step would seem to be controlling altitude with ailerons as well as throttle, however, this is an idea for the future. For now, it’s a testament to just how adaptable ArduPilot can be, and a great demonstration of what can be done with tiny LiDAR sensors!