Abstract
Researchers have developed many novel ways to scavenge energy from otherwise unused sources. One of the most abundant sources of predictable energy can be found in ocean waves. Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are a class of energy harvester that operate at the surface of the ocean, excited by waves. This work shows how introducing a controllable mechanical stopper to a WEC can improve its performance. The performance of the adjustable stopper is tested in Wave Energy Converter Simulator (WEC-Sim), open-source software for simulating WECs. The WEC with the stopper is compared against the same reference model without the stopper to demonstrate its effectiveness, getting upwards of a 25% increase in power output. A simple controller is developed using steady-state sea responses. This controller helps improve the power output of WECs by actively shifting their resonant frequencies to adjust WEC responses. The design shows improved performance in steady-state sea conditions. The controller is also tested in noisy and quasi-static sea states to compare the novel WEC against the baseline uncontrolled WEC.