The wave energy converter control competition (WECCCOMP): Wave energy control algorithms compared in both simulation and tank testing

John V. Ringwood*, Nathan Tom, Francesco Ferri, Yi Hsiang Yu, Ryan G. Coe, Kelley Ruehl, Giorgio Bacelli, Shuo Shi, Ron J. Patton, Paolino Tona, Guillaume Sabiron, Alexis Merigaud, Bradley A. Ling, Nicolas Faedo

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The wave energy control competition established a benchmark problem which was offered as an open challenge to the wave energy system control community. The competition had two stages: In the first stage, competitors used a standard wave energy simulation platform (WEC-Sim) to evaluate their controllers while, in the second stage, competitors were invited to test their controllers in a real-time implementation on a prototype system in a wave tank. The performance function used was based on converted energy across a range of standard sea states, but also included aspects related to economic performance, such as peak/average power, peak force, etc. This paper compares simulated and experimental results and, in particular, examines if the results obtained in a linear system simulation are borne out in reality. Overall, within the scope of the device tested, the range of sea states employed, and the performance metric used, the conclusion is that high-performance WEC controllers work well in practice, with good carry-over from simulation to experimentation. However, the availability of a good WEC mathematical model is deemed to be crucial.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103653
JournalApplied Ocean Research
Volume138
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2023

Keywords

  • Competition
  • Control
  • Estimation
  • Forecasting
  • Modelling
  • Wave energy

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