EN 
PT_BR 
Engineers at Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University in Russia are developing the world's first self-floating boat powered by photovoltaic panels. According to them, the vessel can achieve sustained times over water surfaces through ground effect (GEV), which is the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface.
“Solar panels are installed on the vessel’s hull and wings, while a storage system is incorporated into its core. Our ground-effect vehicle has long wings, so it moves along the air cushion itself,” the scientists said.
The group of researchers also highlights that the pilot was replaced by artificial intelligence technology, which also reduces the weight of the spacecraft during operation. “In addition, the new boat has unlimited energy reserves,” they added.
Russian engineers will test the first prototype this summer, between June and August, on the Neva River near Saint Petersburg.
Comparisons
Compared to other GEV vehicles, the new boat is said to be much lighter as it contains no residual fuel. For this reason, scientists believe it can reach higher speeds than conventional GEV vehicles, which tend to reach top speeds around 200 km/hour.
“We installed a laser radar on the boat to train the wing-to-ground vehicle to recognize obstacles and avoid them. Radio radar was also added to increase the range of the vision system to 30 miles,” the group said.
What is ground effect (GEV)?
Ground effect is an aerodynamic effect where the airflow around a body is interrupted by the ground. In aircraft, for example, they achieve an increase in lift force and also better efficiency flying close to the ground.
In racing cars, the design objective is to increase lift towards the ground and not upwards, thus achieving higher speeds in curves. The basic idea in this case is to create a low pressure region below the car.
