Modeling for a Hydrofoil Marine Vehicle in Gazebo

While unmanned systems play an increasingly vital role in many marine applications, designing and testing a new unmanned marine system often involves substantial time, financial resources, and inherent risks. To mitigate these challenges, simulation is widely employed in the development of these systems. Among various modeling and simulation platforms, Gazebo stands out due to its user-friendly modeling capabilities, precise calculations, and low computational complexity. In this study, we present the development of a high-fidelity simulation platform in Gazebo for our unmanned marine system, Sea-U-Foil. We conduct a thorough analysis of the forces and moments acting on the Sea-U-Foil in a marine environment. To improve the fidelity of the simulation, we also incorporate the modeling of environmental factors such as waves and winds in Gazebo. Additionally, we ensure the accuracy of our simulation results by utilizing a combination of parameter identification methods, including direct measurement, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and numerical analysis to identify the parameters of Sea-U-Foil. Our modeling process in Gazebo are expected to significantly advance the development of Sea-U-Foil and similar unmanned marine vehicles.