Control Software Architecture for Enabling Autonomous High-Speed Wing-In-Ground Vehicles

Wing-In-Ground (WIG) vehicles use the ground effect, where the proximity to the surface reduces induced drag and improves the lift-to-drag ratio, enabling ship-like payloads at aircraft speeds. However, near-surface operation introduces challenges in stability, navigation, and control, demanding advanced autonomy and robust software. While existing literature on WIG vehicles focuses on aerodynamics and performance, software architecture to support avionics, autonomy, and control, remains underexplored. This paper addresses this gap and proposes a software architecture design made to meet the operational needs and constraints of WIG vehicles and enable their autonomous control. We review system requirements, present a custom ARM-in-Ground (AIG) hardware platform developed under the Horizon Europe AIRSHIP project, and detail an open-source software stack integrating ROS2, Pixhawk, ArduPilot, MAVLink, and Mission Planner and Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) test results performed to evaluate system performance and resource consumption across various update command rates. This design serves as a foundation for enabling autonomy in high-speed WIG vehicles and establishes a pathway for integration with Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) frameworks, similar to those employed in modern aircraft and spacecraft. Such integration would allow WIG vehicles to manage multiple avionics functions through a shared and fault-tolerant platform, accelerating their transition from conceptual prototypes to commercially viable autonomous vehicles.