Optimal Motion Control of Built-in Wave Energy Converter for Marine Data Buoys

Direct-drive wave energy converter (WEC) is a promising marine power supply device, especially suitable for offshore marine data buoys. It is worth noting that there are currently few research reports on the control system design of these WEC. This paper proposes and designs a position-velocity cascade double closed-loop control system. The control system can dynamically change the load impedance according to the oscillation of the buoy and the movement of the built-in WEC, thereby controlling the movement of the WEC to have the same frequency and phase as the wave-driven buoy oscillation. This enables the core power generation unit of the WEC to effectively generate electricity under various sea conditions. In addition, based on the hydrodynamic analysis of the buoy, an ADAMSMATLAB co-simulation model was established. The control module was designed and manufactured in the laboratory for experimentally verified on the WEC prototype.