Posted by Bob Abell on 19/07/2016 18:13:38:
Thank you, DG
I was thinking along the lines of those Skegway thingies, for balance control
But they would need calm waters?………Or could a PC take care of such inconveniences?
Bob
Things are stable when the force pushing something out of balance is less than the natural restoring force of the system. If the natural restoring force is large compared to the disturbing force, the system is stable, but sluggish to respond. if the forces are more equal, the system is agile, and if the disturbing force is greater than the restoring force the system is unstable.
An unstable system requires constant control inputs to keep it in a desired state, and this was impractical for most systems until rapid computer control became possible and cheap. Nowadays we often have Electronic Stability Control in our cars – so that if the car moves into a situation where the normal restoring forces are diminished – water or ice on the road, for instance, the car can still be controlled.
Stability design means having an appreciation of the size and rapidity of control feedbacks in a system, and is usually heavily mathematical. In the modelling world, we often short-circuit the maths by designing things that 'look and feel' right, based on extensive experience. However, as you can see from the youtube clips, we are only just starting to gather the experience necessary to build stable foil yachts, and so anyone working in this field would be well advised to have at least a basic knowledge of stability theory. It may be that clever design can avoid the need for computer assisted feedback altogether, but I note that (the few) youtube yacht foils I have seen have all had servo connections to the foils… **LINK**
Incidentally, I don't think a colour-coordinated dress is an essential part of the design… 
Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 20/07/2016 08:52:20