| Project Name: |
MADWEC Self-Deploying Ballast System |
| Project Title: |
MADWEC 4.0 |
| Abstract: |
MADWEC 4.0 builds on the efforts of previous years to develop a low cost and easily deployable ocean wave energy converter to harvest the energy stored in ocean waves. Current point absorber wave energy converter designs require high quantities of steel and must be anchored to the seafloor using a spar support structure, leading to high costs and limited deployment capabilities. Developing an alternative to such a structure would significantly reduce material usage and thus cost while also allowing for increased deployment capability in regions too deep for point absorber designs. This is the objective of the Maximal Asymmetric Drag Wave Energy Converter, or MADWEC project. The tasks for this project include designing, building, and testing a self-deploying ballast system that creates the maximum amount of drag possible on the upstroke and the minimum amount when sinking on the downstroke. The asymmetric drag characteristics of this design will allow for the ballast system to function similarly to as if it were anchored to the seafloor by maintaining tension in the connection cable at all times in place of the spar on point absorber designs. This ballast system is specifically designed to fit within at most half the volume of Class A sonobuoy (S-MADWEC), and thus must be collapsable to fit within the interior. Testing of the fabricated design was completed at the SMAST research center to assess its functionality and calculate the total added mass achieved by the design. |
| Faculty Advisors: |
Dr. Daniel G. MacDonald, Dr. Medhi Raessi |
| Sponsors: |
Dr. Daniel G. MacDonald, Dr. Medhi Raessi |
| Team Lead: |
Logan Martelly |
| Team Members: |
Logan Martelly, Brian Rawson, Jonathan Galvin, Jared Neikam |
| Video Link: |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN75QCpjico |
