Data Platform Enabling Wave Energy Converter Performance and Sensor Optimization: Wave Energy Converters Impact Wave Data and What to do about it?

Big data in the ocean promises to bring about significant economic, environmental and security benefits. Power remains the single biggest obstacle for big data in the ocean. Currently, there is no cost-effective power solution for off-grid, small-scale applications at sea. Expensive specialized oceanographic operations are needed to maintain small-scale power infrastructure at sea. This increases cost and results in reduced accessibility to critical ocean data for communities in need. Stakeholders need both a cost-effective energy system and a platform to collect data relevant to their needs. This project aims to leverage an existing advanced ocean wave energy device as a foundational technology and build a wave-sensing data platform directly into the device to enable better power conversion optimization. The solution will allow small-scale wave energy devices to directly measure wave dynamics, a set of critical oceanographic variables (despite disturbances created by the energy device itself). Based on feedback from pilot customers, this project aims to demonstrate a complete data platform for ocean wave sensing and data telemetry that is powered by a wave energy device. Innovative wave energy conversion optimization will be used in order to demonstrate the technical advantage and the overall sensor-package cost reduction brought forth by this novel wave-powered integrated data platform. In Phase I, the project aims to: (1) Evaluate and demonstrate the direct measurement of wave characteristics with an existing wave energy device mounted on a marine data buoy, (2) Evaluate, integrate and demonstrate the latest network communication technologies for data telemetry, (3) Demonstrate the use of inverse kinematic control algorithms and artificial intelligence to increase power output and neutralize the noise in the wave data created by the device movements. In the future, as this project is carried into Phase II and beyond, it will benefit multiple agencies and disadvantaged communities’ ocean observing objectives. This technology will meet power demand and provide vital ocean wave data for ocean observation and make emerging big data capabilities in the blue economy accessible to impacted communities. These capabilities will also directly support internationally coordinated, multi-decade, ocean-focused efforts.