Powering the Woods Hole X-Spar Buoy with Ocean Wave Energy—A Control Co-Design Feasibility Study

Daniel T. Gaebele (), Ryan G. Coe, Giorgio Bacelli, Thomas Lanagan, Paul Fucile, Umesh A. Korde and John Toole
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Daniel T. Gaebele: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA
Ryan G. Coe: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA
Giorgio Bacelli: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185, USA
Thomas Lanagan: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
Paul Fucile: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
Umesh A. Korde: Johns Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
John Toole: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-27

Abstract: Despite its success in measuring air–sea exchange, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) X-Spar Buoy faces operational limitations due to energy constraints, motivating the integration of an energy harvesting apparatus to improve its deployment duration and capabilities. This work explores the feasibility of an augmented, self-powered system in two parts. Part 1 presents the collaborative design between X-Spar developers and wave energy researchers translating user needs into specific functional requirements. Based on requirements like desired power levels, deployability, survivability, and minimal interference with environmental data collection, unsuitable concepts are pre-eliminated from further feasibility study consideration. In part 2, we focus on one of the promising concepts: an internal rigid body wave energy converter. We apply control co-design methods to consider commercial of the shelf hardware components in the dynamic models and investigate the concept’s power conversion capabilities using linear 2-port wave-to-wire models with concurrently optimized control algorithms that are distinct for every considered hardware configuration. During this feasibility study we utilize two different control algorithms, the numerically optimal (but acausal) benchmark and the optimized damping feedback. We assess the sensitivity of average power to variations in drive-train friction, a parameter with high uncertainty, and analyze stroke limitations to ensure operational constraints are met. Our results indicate that a well-designed power take-off (PTO) system could significantly extend the WEC-Spar’s mission by providing additional electrical power without compromising data quality.

Keywords: ocean observation; autonomous systems; wave energy conversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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