OCEAN WAVE ENERGY CONVERTER

MAJOR AIDS TO NAVIGATION (ATON) ARE ESSENTIAL SIGNPOSTS FOR SAFE PASSAGE ALONG COASTAL AND OFFSHORE SEAWAYS. PRESENTLY, THEIR SIGNALS ARE POWERED BY ON-SITE ENGINE GENERATORS REQUIRING CONSIDERABLE AND COSTLY MAINTENANCE. ATON AUTONOMY WILL BE GREATLY INCREASED WITH DEEP DISCHARGE BATTERY TECHNOLOGY PROVIDING THAT ON-SITE CHARGING SOURCES ARE USED. AMONG NATURALLY AVAILABLE SOURCES, THE UNCEASING ENERGY OF OCEAN WAVES IS MOST PROMISING. AN OCEAN WAVE ENERGY CONVERTER WILL BE DEVELOPED. PHASE I WILL INVESTIGATE HARDWARE COMPONENTS OF AN INNOVATIVE MODULAR DESIGN THAT UTILIZES A RESPONSIVE TRANSMISSION TO OPTIMIZE ELECTRICAL ENERGY OUTPUT FROM WIDELY VARIABLE FORCES OF RECIPROCATORY MOTION. COMPARATIVE TESTING OF SOME INTERCHANGEABLE COMPONENTS WILL PERMIT RECOGNITION OF VIRTUOUS SYSTEMS AS INFLUENCED BY SIMULATION OF REAL WAVE EFFECTS. ITERATIVE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT WILL USE REAL WAVE DATA TO FURTHER CHARACTERIZE THE DESIGN OPERATION OVER A WIDE HYDRODYNAMIC RANGE TO DEMONSTRATE THE POTENTIAL EFFICIENCY OF SUCH A SYSTEM. THE PHASE I RESEARCH WILL THEN BASE PHASE II CONSTRUCTION PARAMETERS, COMPLETE TESTINGFOR VALIDATION OF THE SYSTEM DESIGN, AND COMPLETE GENERATIONOF AN ACCURATE SOFTWARE DATA BASE FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. THE RESULT OF THIS PROGRAM WILL BE A LONG LIFE, MODULAR, STATION KEEPING SYSTEM THAT PRODUCES ELECTRICITY FROM WATER WAVE ENERGY.