The Novel Ocean Wave Energy Converter (WEC) project is a collaboration between researchers at University of California at Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) and United States Naval Academy (USNA). The goal of this project is to design and develop a novel excitation scheme for use in buoy WECs that would improve the power harnessing potential of these devices. To that end, we have designed a mechanical system that attaches to a heaving float/buoy and is able to trap and release surrounding water twice per cycle, creating additional excitation. This transforms the WEC into a hybrid dynamical system with state-dependent parameter changes. For more informaton on the operation of the modulation scheme, please take a look at the animation or read a selection from our publications on this subject.

This work is supported by a grant from NSF.

For more information about ocean wave energy, please click here.