LTI energy-maximising control for the Wave Star wave energy converter: identification, design, and implementation

Considering the Wave Star wave energy converter (WEC), which is a standard point absorber prototype, this study addresses the complete energy maximising control design procedure. The WEC model is obtained using system identification routines. Then, using the identified model, a LTI energy maximising control strategy, recently presented in the literature, is designed. Additionally, for the wave excitation force estimation, a standard Kalman filter with a harmonic oscillator is considered. Finally, for the assessment of the performance of the complete system, the controller and estimator are implemented in the numerical WEC simulation environment WEC-Sim. The system is tested under realistic conditions and satisfying performance of the LTI controller is shown. Thus, through a non-conventional approach, and considering a realistic software environment, a novel energy maximising controller is implemented, obtaining results which indicate the feasibility of the approach. Copyright (C) 2020 The Authors.