The over-arching project objective is to fully develop and validate optimal controls frameworks that can subsequently be applied widely to different WEC devices and concepts. Optimal controls of WEC devices represent a fundamental building block for WEC designers that must be considered as an integral part of every stage of device development. Using a building-blocks approach to optimal controls development, this effort will result in the full development of a feed-forward and feed-back control approach and a wave prediction system. Phase I focused primarily on numerical offline optimization and validation using wave tank testing of three industry partners? WEC devices, including CalWave, Ocean Energy, and Resolute Marine Energy. These industry partnerships allowed us to identify optimal control strategies for these different WEC topologies at different maturity levels. Phase II focused on demonstrating an integrated control system on a custom-built prototype for at-sea testing. A secondary focus during phase II is to adapt our systems identification, controls and wave-prediction frameworks to become more robust and comprehensive in respect to capability, robustness, and reliability. RE Vision Consulting leads this project and has compiled the final public domain report included in this submission.

A report on state estimation for advanced control of wave energy converters (WECs), with supporting data models and slides from the overview presentation. The methods discussed are intended for use to enable real-time closed loop control of WECs.

This project shows that the choice of a secondary DOF for survivability is a viable option to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) in WEC designs. This report will cover the calculation of the concluded LCOE advantage using Dehlsen Associates’ “Centipod” WEC, but will also discuss the entire project from start to finish, including mid and high-fidelity modeling, survival mode trade study, wave basin testing, and design tool cross-verification and validation.

This project successfully developed methods for numerical modeling of sediment transport phenomena around rigid objects resting on or near the ocean floor. These techniques were validated with physical testing using actual sediment in a large wave tank. These methods can be applied to any nearshore structure, including wave energy devices, surge devices, and hinged flap systems. These techniques can be used to economically iterate on device geometries, lowering the cost to refine designs and reducing time to market. The key takeaway for this project was that the most cost-effective method to reduce sediment transport impact is to avoid it altogether. By elevating device structures lightly off the seabed, sediment particles will flow under and around, ebbing and flowing naturally. This allows sediment scour and accretion to follow natural equalization processes without hydrodynamic acceleration or deceleration effects of artificial structures. This submission includes the final technical report for this DOE project. The objective of this project was to develop a set of analysis tools (hydrodynamics and structural models providing inputs into a sediment model), and use those tools to identify and refine the optimal device geometry for the Delos-Reyes Morrow Pressure Device (DMP), commercialized by M3 Wave LLC as "APEX."

The core objectives of this project is to improve the power capture of three different wave energy conversion (WEC) devices by more than 50% using an advanced control system and validate the attained improvements using wave tank and full scale testing. In parallel, we will bring along the development of a wave prediction system that is required to enable effective control and test it at full scale. The purposes of this report are to: 1. Plan and document the 1/25th scale device testing at the wave-tank facility; 2. Document the test article, setup and methodology, sensor and instrumentation, mooring, electronics, wiring, and data flow and quality assurance; 3. Communicate the testing results between the associated members; 4. Facilitate reviews that will help to ensure all aspects (risk, safety, testing procedures, etc.); 5. Provide a systematic guide to setting up, executing and decommissioning the experiment.

Small Scale WEC Performance Modeling Data is performance data from downscaled models of common WEC devices and their calculated performance outputs. This data is used by the Small WEC interactive modeling tool hosted by PRIMRE. The devices include a point absorber, a two-body point absorber (RM3), an oscillating surge device (OSWEC), and an attenuator type device (McCabe Wave Pump). One of the primary use cases for this work is to give an easy way to compare power output for a variety of WECs and model sizes.

Final Technical Report for "Advanced Controls for the Multi-pod Centipod WEC device" describing project parameters, organization, task activities, accomplishments, and conclusions. See other submissions under this DOE project for economic viability, design geometry, and modeling.

Quarterly Technical Report for "Advanced Controls for the Multi-pod Centipod WEC device" describing project parameters, organization, task activities, accomplishments, and conclusions. See other submissions under this DOE project for economic viability, design geometry, and modeling. The purpose of this quarterly report is to release a progress report immediately, while the final report and remaining project items await release before the moratorium date.

Laboratory Testing for the Delos-Reyes Morrow Pressure Device (DMP), commercialized by M3 Wave LLC as "APEX." Content Model of 1:5 testing of thirteen different APEX I and APEX II configurations in the Hinsdale Long Wave Flume with a 0.5m deep sediment bed and under 4 different wave conditions at Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory.

This dataset includes data from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) wave energy converter (WEC) and a nearby located Sofar Spotter buoy. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute has developed and deployed a small two-body point absorber wave energy device suitable to autonomous underwater vehicle, sensor system, and even aquaculture farm needs. For more information on the MBARI WEC see the research journal attached in the submission.