Submerged wave energy converter for shallow and deep water operations

A submerged wave energy converter apparatus, comprising:

• a planar, horizontally oriented absorber body with an upper surface and a bottom surface, said absorber body having at least one aperture between the upper surface and bottom surface and an aperture closure;
• a support base disposed beneath the bottom surface of the absorber body;
• four hydraulic cylinders coupled to the absorber body and to the support base, said cylinders configured to the compress or expand linearly with movement of the absorber body relative to the support base;
• a hydraulic system connected to each cylinder;
• a restoring force mechanism configured to return a displaced absorber body to a set position;
• a controller with a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor;
• wherein said instructions, when executed by the processor, perform steps comprising:
• sensing an absorber body load with at least one pressure sensor,
• controlling the winch motor of the mooring system to govern the depth of the absorber body,
• controlling actuation of one or more aperture closures of the absorber body,
• controlling the damping coefficient of the hydraulic cylinders to increase or decrease load on the absorber body, and
• controlling buoyancy of the apparatus with the ballast system,
• wherein displacement of the absorber body relative to the support base in response to wave action and corresponding linear movement of the cylinders pressurizes fluid in the hydraulic system;
• and
• wherein the apparatus is able to extract energy from water waves by surge, heave, pitch, roll, yaw, and sway wave absorber excitation.