Wave Energy Capturing Mechanism
Wave energy capturing system design for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).
This research was conducted in a student research training group advised byProf. Weixing Chen. Aiming to improve AUVs' task endurance in the desolated and uninhabited marine environment with restricted pre-storage energy, we designed a vehicle with foldable wings to convert wave energy into electricity.
Novelty in Mechanism
To produce continuous one-way rotation in the generator and improve efficiency, a reciprocation into one-way motion mechanism was designed. It is a gearbox with multiple one-way bearings connecting the shaft of wings and the generator.
Validation
Power analysis was conducted in MATLAB. A dynamic model was established based on the Lagrange method and Cummings equation. Then, parameter identification was made to settle all the coefficients. Finally, the maximum calculated power generated by the mechanism was over 50W on an AUV of about 85W.
