ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,377,946, issued on Aug. 5.
"Method and apparatus for solar powered and navigationally optimized hydrofoil autonomous vessel" was invented by Christopher Todter (San Diego).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An unmanned ocean vehicle apparatus having a hull, solar array, hydrofoil, and electric thruster is operable on a surface of a body of water to travel from one point to another with long range capabilities. The unmanned ocean vehicle can further be placed in a more compact configuration, incorporating a mechanism to alternate between operational mode and collapsed storage mode to facilitate physical storage or shipment of the vehicle. Metho...