Tuned rolling wave energy extractor
AssigneeHuntington Ingalls Incorporated
InventorsWilliam J. Laz, Todd L. Sedler, Mohamed Belkhayat
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for extracting wave energy may include a watercraft, a pendulum and an energy converter. The watercraft may be configured to roll in response to wave action and may have roll characteristics that are tunable to characteristics of the wave action. The pendulum may be supported by the watercraft to enable the pendulum to swing in response to the wave action. An energy converter may be configured to convert the relative movement of the pendulum and watercraft into electrical energy. The pendulum may also be tunable to characteristics of the wave action.
Claims21
1-35. (canceled)
A method for extracting wave energy, the method comprising:
- providing a watercraft configured to roll in response to wave action, the watercraft having variable wave response characteristics and having on-board
- a pendulum having selectively variable swing characteristics, the pendulum being disposed on the watercraft so that the pendulum can swing in response to watercraft motion resulting from the wave action, and
- a generator operatively coupled to the pendulum;
- receiving from a remote source information on wave characteristics of incoming waves;
- changing the wave response characteristics in response to the information on wave characteristics;
- setting the pendulum swing characteristics to achieve a desired swing response;
- and
- converting energy from the pendulum swing action to electrical energy using the generator.
A method for extracting wave energy, the method comprising:
- providing a watercraft configured to roll in response to wave action, the watercraft having variable wave response characteristics and having on-board
- a pendulum having selectively variable swing characteristics, the pendulum being disposed on the watercraft so that the pendulum can swing in response to watercraft motion resulting from the wave action, and
- a generator operatively coupled to the pendulum;
- receiving from a remote source information on wave characteristics of incoming waves;
- optimizing the watercraft response characteristics and the pendulum swing characteristics to achieve a desired level of kinetic energy due to pendulum swing action in response to the wave action;
- and
- converting energy from the pendulum swing action to electrical energy using the generator.
A system for extracting wave energy, the system comprising:
- a watercraft configured to roll in response to wave action, the watercraft having variable wave response characteristics;
- a platform response tuning system configured for selectively changing the wave response characteristics of the watercraft;
- a pendulum having selectively variable swing characteristics, the pendulum being disposed on the watercraft so that the pendulum can swing in response to watercraft motion resulting from the wave action;
- a pendulum tuner configured for selectively changing the swing characteristics of the pendulum;
- a wave measurement device configured for measuring wave action characteristics and being positionable remote from the watercraft;
- and
- a controller in communication with the wave measurement device, the platform response tuning system and the pendulum tuner, the controller being configured for receiving wave characteristics information from the wave measurement device, determining desirable changes to at least one of the set consisting of the wave response characteristics of the watercraft and the swing characteristics of the pendulum based at least in part on the wave characteristics information, and causing the pendulum tuner to change at least one of the set consisting of the wave response characteristics of the watercraft and the swing characteristics of the pendulum.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.