Flight Control Unit

The FCU controls the hydrofoils to keep the boat foiling in a stable and efficient manner.

2.29.4 (latest)

September 1st, 2026
  • Fix an issue that could cause the unit to restart on the next takeoff after aborting a landing

2.29.2

August 26th, 2026
  • Fixes an issue where the roll angle could overshoot when performing a fast landing

2.29.1

August 20th, 2026
  • Internal improvements

2.29.0

August 17th, 2026
  • New advanced flight control algorithm for improved wave handling
  • Added fast and slow landing maneuvers based on throttle position
  • Improved roll control during landings
  • Increased front foil twist priority for improved roll stability
  • Updated foil control in displacement mode to reduce vibrations and wear
  • Refined rake control for precise movements and reduced noise
  • Enhanced flight trajectory planning for smoother transitions
  • Transitioning to bank control is now smoother after takeoff
  • Software and system monitoring optimizations

2.28.1

June 1st, 2026
  • Internal changes only, no new functionality

2.28.0

June 1st, 2026
  • Height descent is now held until both roll and pitch have settled near their landing targets
  • Improved landing altitude reference - the system now always uses the lower of the current altitude and the last reference when initiating a landing descent
  • Disabled sleep mode - improves system reliability and responsiveness
  • Fixed lockpin sensor error code - lockpin sensor no longer reports a spurious error on startup

2.27.0

May 11th, 2026
  • Smoother takeoff and landing pitch ramping
  • Add foil drive-down error handler
  • Fix yaw rate filter re-initialisation when course converges with heading
  • Wait for GPS fix to limit false GPS errors
  • Software performance improvements

2.26.3

April 14th, 2026
  • Handle GPS timeout at startup

2.26.2

March 17th, 2026
  • Improve handling of stall AoA while flying

2.26.1

March 12th, 2026
  • Internal improvements

2.26.0

March 10th, 2026
  • Software performance optimizations

2.25.0

February 12th, 2026
  • The system now automatically adjusts foil depth based on wave conditions for safer and smoother flight
  • Improved takeoff performance in wavy conditions with optimized angle settings
  • More accurate wave surface estimation for improved ride quality and altitude control
  • Optimized task startup timing for better overall system performance
  • Added support for IMU board rotation adjustments and safer calibration procedures
  • Reduced unnecessary log messages for cleaner system monitoring
  • New configuration interface for easier system configuration management

2.24.0

November 27th, 2025
  • Real-time wave data analysis and statistics for improved ride quality
  • Surface height now available to flight control system for better altitude management
  • Removed low-pass filtered GPS speed for more responsive altitude estimation
  • Fixed foil parking margin when retracting the foil

2.23.2

November 21st, 2025
  • Fixes an issue with the front actuators making a noise when retraction was running

2.23.1

October 28th, 2025
  • Fixes an issue where the aft lockpin did not go all the way in
  • Fixes an issue with the flight controller failing to update

2.23.0

October 9th, 2025
  • Fixed issue where boat could get stuck in landing mode
  • Pitch controller now actively pitches up the boat during landing for smoother landings
  • Improvements to height estimation accuracy and reliability
  • Prevent false height sensor consistency errors
  • Front wing now assists during retraction/extension for smoother operation
  • Improved speed and heading estimates
  • Internal improvements and diagnostics

2.22.2

August 22nd, 2025
  • Retraction now remembers the last position if there was an unexpected restart. This fixes an issue were retraction reported loss of calibration at start-up

2.22.1

August 20th, 2025
  • Fix an issue were the rake actuators did not stop in case of fault

2.22.0

August 13th, 2025
  • Smoother ride in waves: improved height control with gain scheduling, height damping based on pitch dynamics, and feedforward from FFS to rake to reduce height/pitch coupling
  • Gyro filters simplified to a single band‑pass for cleaner signals
  • Safer FFS behavior when foils are parked and improved magnet search behavior to keep the system in safe positions; added FFS velocity mode support in admin UI
  • More robust front foil RPM limiting to avoid unexpected landings, with better safeguards and clearer fault reporting
  • Sensors and calibration: updated radar geometries for improved alignment; pitch calibration moved to IMU level; added on‑the‑fly pitch reference offset for testing
  • General stability: numerous fixes and library updates to improve overall robustness

2.21.4

July 4th, 2025
  • Fixes an issue were the foil sometimes did not park when calibrating retraction position

2.21.3

June 30th, 2025
  • Fixed issue that could cause propulsion to turn off when going to harbor mode

2.21.2

June 19th, 2025
  • Enhanced Wave State Observer with better performance in varied wave conditions
  • Improved height estimator
  • Improved acceleration filtering for smoother speed control
  • Enhanced degraded mode system to better indicate when flight capability is limited
  • Improved foil retraction behavior to prevent unexpected foil movement
  • Always run pitch controller when control system is active and rake is ready, preventing nose dives when GPS signal is lost
  • Improved takeoff anticipation to provide smoother transitions from planing to foiling
  • Fixed an issue where RPM limits were not properly applied during certain retraction states
  • Several stability and reliability improvements to flight control systems
  • Improve takeoff in strong side wind

2.21.1

June 16th, 2025
  • Enhanced Wave State Observer with better performance in varied wave conditions
  • Improved height estimator
  • Improved acceleration filtering for smoother speed control
  • Enhanced degraded mode system to better indicate when flight capability is limited
  • Improved foil retraction behavior to prevent unexpected foil movement
  • Always run pitch controller when control system is active and rake is ready, preventing nose dives when GPS signal is lost
  • Improved takeoff anticipation to provide smoother transitions from planing to foiling
  • Fixed an issue where RPM limits were not properly applied during certain retraction states
  • Several stability and reliability improvements to flight control systems
  • Improve takeoff in strong side wind

2.21.0

May 26th, 2025
  • Enhanced Wave State Observer with better performance in varied wave conditions
  • Improved acceleration filtering for smoother speed control
  • Enhanced degraded mode system to better indicate when flight capability is limited
  • Improved foil retraction behavior to prevent unexpected foil movement
  • Always run pitch controller when control system is active and rake is ready, preventing nose dives when GPS signal is lost
  • Improved takeoff anticipation to provide smoother transitions from planing to foiling
  • Fixed an issue where RPM limits were not properly applied during certain retraction states
  • Several stability and reliability improvements to flight control systems

2.20.5

April 4th, 2025
  • Reduce the overhead of the retraction task when retraction is not running
  • Improvements to height estimation
  • Optimized foil handling on takeoff
  • Inform driver if loss of communication with the DCU
  • Inform driver if one of the lockpins are not responding
  • Improvements to front foil positioning when not foiling
  • User will now be requested to calibrate if retraction has lost its position
  • Improve GPS corrections
  • Internal improvements and bug fixes

2.20.4

April 1st, 2025
  • Bug fixes in lib code
  • Fix a minor issue with the logging of lockpin errors

2.20.3

March 26th, 2025
  • Make height control always run when control system is active
  • Only run the primary IMU at 500 Hz
  • Fix issue with logging
  • Make sure the boat speed is limited on unexpected faults

2.20.2

March 18th, 2025
  • Consistently use the correct period when retraction is running

2.20.1

March 18th, 2025
  • Run retraction task at different period when retraction is running or not