Abstract
Wave energy converters (WEC) offer a unique opportunity to generate the necessary power to expand underwater research performed by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Traditional ROV deployments depend upon research vessels for deployment and retrieval. This constrains survey lengths, makes deployments dependent upon sea conditions, and increases costs significantly. Pairing WECs with docking stations to power ROVs presents an opportunity to expand underwater research, seafloor mapping, and a host of Blue Economy applications. A numerical model of a free-floating WEC-ROV system has been built to enhance the understanding of the associated hydrodynamics and energy transfer of the WEC-ROV system. Utilizing a representative Pierson-Moskowitz wave spectrum with a significant wave height of 0.5 m and peak period of 7 s, a Wave-to-ROV numerical framework is presented, which focuses on ocean observation structures, seawater mineral extraction, and desalination. Concurrently, there is an increasing amount of offshore research and work requiring the use of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). UUVs include both autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). These vehicles have expanded naval workers, ocean scientists, and engineers’ opportunities to: conduct oceanographic surveys [1]; acquire metocean data [2]; take representing the WEC’s ability to charge the docking station and power the ROV. This novel simulation, which couples the WEC power generation to ROV dynamics, presents a comprehensive representation of the WEC-ROV system’s hydrodynamics, cable dynamics, and the system’s recharging and docking capability. The model includes representation of the WEC forces, a numerical scheme for ROV motion planning, and the dynamics of the ROV and docking station. The power take-off (PTO) system is characterized by a representative passive spring damper system. Impact on WECROV power performance and docking performance is explored and quantified.