Latching control of deep water wave energy devices using an active reference

This paper investigates latching type control on a floating wave energy converter in deep water. An on-board, actively controlled motion-compensated platform is used as a reference ('active reference') for power absorption and latching. A variational formulation is used to evaluate an optimal control sequence in the time domain. Time domain simulation results are presented for a heaving buoy in small-amplitude waves. Results are compared with an equivalent system where latching and power absorption are from a sea-bottom-fixed reference. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.