Abstract
This study investigates the integration of wave energy converters (WECs) with unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) docking systems, addressing critical challenges in both energy sustainability and docking reliability for persistent UUV operations. While small WECs do not generate sufficient power for grid-scale applications, they serve as essential platforms for advancing WEC technology and enabling small-scale energy applications, such as UUV charging. However, research on WEC-UUV systems remains limited, with no prior study comprehensively analyzing the influence of key design components on system performance and safety. Chen et al, 2024, established a valuable framework but relied on a theoretical WEC model (RM3) with oversimplifications that can lead to power overestimation while neglecting extreme conditions, end stops, and system survivability. Additionally, their study considered only three degrees of freedom (DOF) for docking motion, whereas a full six-DOF representation is needed particularly yaw motion, which is crucial for UUV alignment. To address these gaps, this study employs a realistic field deployed WEC ( TigerRAY) and systematically analyzes how tether stiffness, mooring configuration, and docking station hydrodynamics influence system performance. The conventional UUV docking station is further adapted with a heave plate to provide additional reactive force, reducing heave motion and improving docking conditions. These findings contribute to optimizing WEC-UUV integration, offering insights applicable not only to WEC-powered UUV docking but also to mobile floating docks tethered to autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs).